Ain't no way that fits everybody. The Japanese ministry of culture counts 2000 hours as average time to learn Japanese sufficiently. And that seems pretty fair, as far as I see it, being into it for about 700 hours now. My way: Learned hiragana and katakana first - avoiding romaji as much as possible. Started Heisig's RTK immediately and am through since april *phew* Tried Genki and Minna no nihongo and was disappointed about their stupid structure. Found Tae Kim, cancelled my old teacher and found a new one, who was willing to teach the way of Tae Kim. I think a personal teacher is essential for your pronunciation. And he can help you with your personal misunderstandings. I would recommend Anki, Tae Kim and Core2000 and if you are into reading Heisig and Kanji Koohi. On Kanji Koohi is a guide for beginners by a dude called nukemarine. Take a look and decide for yourself. No matter which way you're going, watch yourself and do not hesitate to change it! Have fun and 頑張って firmian

Hello! I have been self studying for almost 6 months. Personally I use Tae Kim's guide (along with lots of of other resources), and I if I don't learn something new I at least review everyday. I believe you would get more out of it if you studied more than 1 hour each day, but that's hard to do. Do your research! I immersed myself as much as possible in the language, music, tv shows ect... Even now I find that I prefer Japanese music over anything else. Also I recommend using the teachers on here, I wish I would have earlier. It's not easy on your own, but don't give up and good luck!