On learning Japanese, and also, how many of you know/master it?

See here.
Good luck.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Sword Familiar

Being able to take Japanese in high school is, like, cheating.

Eh, 'tis why I took French.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

-- note: changing a cynical comment to something more helpful to the OP --

I realize I'm one of the few native speakers around here, so I'll share my experiences.

1) Out of the 8 white men I know that speak Japanese, only 1 or 2 of them are those that I know who have learned the language for the purpose of making a career out of it (and not due to the fascination of anime / video games). If this is the case for your desire to learn Japanese, props to you.
2) Best you can do is find someone to practice with. Email buddies or chat rooms are a good place to start (or was, last I checked about 8 years ago).
3) I'm sorry, but just dating a Japanese girl or watching shittons of anime just isn't going to help--best those would do for you is get your ears used to the syntax of the language spoken.

Japanese is my native tongue, although I'm born and raised 99.7% of my life here in Los Angeles. I speak, write, and read fairly better in Japanese than I do in English. However, I see (and have always seen) this as my handicap. I grew up in a neighborhood yet still swarming with Japanese temporary re-assigned businessmen and their familes (was popular back in the 80's and 90's for whole plane loads of families to be working in the Los Angeles branches of several big-name Japanese companies prior to the big economical collapse of '92~'93). Most of my friends through childhood were those kids, who'd be here in America temporarily (6 years at best/longest; they'd go back to Japan by the time they reached high school). My parents didn't allow English in the house. My neighbors were Japanese and they were even MORE clueless when it came to English. It's a very odd world, but it's kind of like East L.A. -- I'm sure immigrants from Mexico would find themselves right at home and not needing to adjust (language/culture wise) in East L.A. Well, back in the 80's and early 90's, that was the way for Japanese people too.

So considering my background, I really don't know how to help a grown adult go through the ropes that I learned from preschool through grade 10, in a matter of days/weeks/months. I went through all the stuff you're trying to learn in a span of 18 years. Best advise I can give you is that you practice. ONLY reading manga or watching/listening to anime/j-movies/videogames isn't going to help at all. Read, write, and speak -- PRACTICE this.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Sword Familiar

Although I can agree on the anime part not getting you very far, dating a japanese girl will actually get you more than just "used to the syntax". You'll get instant feedback on all your questions AND you'll learn new words in the progress. It's actually, and practically, one of the most effective ways to learn Japanese(or any other new language for that matter) in my opinion.

True, that is if she's helpful to your studies and you're showing effort / you're willing to learn. I'm just saying, if. There are plenty of people I know married/dating Japanese women and their wives/girlfriends (my co-workers, mostly) admit that although they are willing to teach, there's a certain glass ceiling point of the learning curve. For most men who haven't spent significant time in Japan, I find that just dating or being married to a Japanese woman isn't helping them much; it takes considerable amount of effort on the guys' part.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?