Trying to learn Japanese

[FFIX Choco Boy]

WotD: Itadakimasu (ee-tah-dah-kee-mahs)
Japanese people say this before they start to eat.

[Sephiroth]

Hisashiburi da na!

[FFIX Choco Boy]

Word of the day: ai (ah-ee)
Love

[aquatius]

I have an amazing tutor which helps greatly, but it's not available to everyone.

I would recommend aiming for a Japanese Level Proficiency Test, as they have clearly set requirements for vocabulary and grammar, and give you something to aim for.

Also, if you can, make flash cards to learn kanji. Admittedly, my tutor makes these for me, but they are very useful and can be taken around and used anywhere.

Try All Japanese All The Time. I didn't use it perse, but listen regularly to Japanese music, watch anime and read manga, which I find all helps.

Don't go it alone. Unilang is a great website and forum for language learning resources, discussion and practice and really helps you keep motivated.

Tae Kim's Guide to Japanese Grammar is a useful resource.

The dictionary I use is Tagaini Jisho. It's a program you download. Rikaichan is an awesome add-on for Firefox which works as a dictionary and, when activated, will pop up whenever you hover over a Japanese word - however it's easy to get into a habit of overusing it and not getting much better at reading as a result.