Moving to Japan; need better language skills

So I recently found out that I will be moving to Japan sometime early next year for work related reasons.

I do speak a little Japanese and know enough to get around without too many problems (I hope)... But I have to be honest, I'm absolutely terrified. I've started Rosetta Stone and I'm up to Unit 5 on Level 1 and I have yet to learn something new/useful.

People who are native speakers of English and are now fluent in Japanese, how did you learn the language aside from going there?

I want to get A LOT better at it before I actually go. Not fluent, but I'd like to be able to hold a semi-decent conversation.

Also, I fucking suck at kanji. (I think I know somewhere between 200-250.) I'm reading Heisig, but is there anything else I could be doing for that?

I'm sorry, but I'm horrified of going to live somewhere for 2 years where I can't talk to people outside of work. (I know I had the option of declining, but it was too good of an opportunity to pass up)


tl;dr I'm moving to Japan in 6 months. How can I drastically improve my language skills before then?

Rosetta stone sucks seems to be the consensus.
I use anki (flashcard program) for kanji.
I've done a bit of pimsleur and it helps to repeat stuff even though I felt like a retard.
You can get a penpal to practice writing/talking.
Take classes? (probably not fast enough)
Use a grammar textbook/dictionary to look up grammar you don't get, but grammar is not the biggest hurdle.
I use http://www.alc.co.jp/ to get sentence examples. Once you get a hang of the basics, learning new idioms through example is pretty easy.

What kind of work are you going to be doing? In English or Japanese?

>>2
Thanks a lot. I think I'll continue with Rosetta Stone just because it's helping me with my listening skills... Although the vocabulary I'm getting from it seems to consist of nothing more than useless words like hat and jump.

I've already taken 2 years of Japanese and, although I would love to take another level of it, I just don't have the time right now.

Also, the website, http://www.alc.co.jp/... Wow, I cannot read it at all. Way too much advanced kanji (I'm pretty bad with it). D:

Everything else I'm looking into, though. Downloaded Anki, downloading Pimsleur... Where can I find a penpal, though? Is there a site that has people specifically looking for help with a foreign language? Like he can help me with Japanese and I can help him with English?

As for what I'm doing, it's just business negotiations and managing a project which I really shouldn't say anything about. The majority of my work will be in English and I'll have an interpreter for the stuff that isn't. I'm just worried about not having a social life while I'm over there outside of work.


If anyone has more suggestions, they'd be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

You could try mixi.jp. You'll need an invitation, though. Sort of like a Japanese facebook.

There's also www.penpal-net.info which is completely free with no invitation needed or anything.

There's plenty of Japanese who want to improve their English, hopefully they'll be willing to help you with Japanese in return.

>>4
Thanks a lot. I'll be sure to look into that soon. (Too lazy right now)


I'm still open for suggestions.

mixi requires an e-mail adress from a Japanese mobile phone company now, so I guess that's out for you. You could take a look at http://lang-8.com/ if you want something like that. It's not for Japanese exclusively but about 90% of it is anyway.

Also you should probably take a look at www.alljapaneseallthetime.com - you may or may not buy everthing the guy says (this site is capable of stirring up a lot of rage) but he does have a lot to say about learning Japanese very intensively over a short period, so I'm sure you'll get something out of it.

Also, the website, http://www.alc.co.jp/... Wow, I cannot read it at all. Way too much advanced kanji (I'm pretty bad with it). D:
You don't need to read anything, just input what you want to look up in the little box.
As for penpals, I got mine through a friend so I'm not too sure what the good penpal websites are. I would stay away from the "language exchange" kind of deal if possible because you might end up teaching more than learning.

>>6
>Also you should probably take a look at www.alljapaneseallthetime.com

Not OP, but I took a look at the site. He sure has an excellent command of Japanese and awesome trolling skill. What I find most interesting is that his learning method is almost identical to the way I learned English. Apparently he's exaggerating a bit and, in my opinion, focusing too much on informal language, but it seems to be one of very efficient methods of learning foreign languages.

OP, unless you got a lot of free time to study, AJATT probably isn't the best solution for just being able to live and communicate on a basic level in Japan. I would really suggest finding some Japs to help you and perhaps finding some textbooks for basic day to day living in Japan. Like knowing the kanji for subways, basic building signs, stuff like that. Perhaps learn some phrases. You really won't be able to communicate effectively at all by speaking in just 6 months.