It's the BEST way to learn japanese. Or it's a part of the best to learn japanese.
For me, the ideal way to learn is to study some common words, a little bit of grammar and some kanji at a VERY slow pace.
And on the other hand put some "decent" effort into some topic that you like.
Why? Because general studies (JLPT for ex) are not rewarding. You won't feel enough result for a long time. And even after learning 10 000 words, you may struggle with "basic" conversation. Because past the initial conversation ("はじめまして! Shamuです!"), you will always go straight for more "complex" topic. Like:
- "Why are studying Japanese?"
- "Oh, I like Anime and I want to watch Anime in Japanese".
- "What kind of anime do you like? What is your favorite anime?"
- "I like this kind of anime and that anime is my favorite"
- "Oh nice. Why?"
Now, go to try explain how the plot was fascinating or how that specific character had some specific quirks that made him stand out, etc. If it's a fantasy or science-fiction, good luck with the technical words too. It's nothing but basic or simple.
On the other hand, if you manage to find a good balance between general study and specific topic, you may still struggle with those conversation but you will be able to go futher at least. And once you're on the rail, it will snowball. Because starting to immerse yourself is not about knowing enough common words, having a perfect understanding of grammar or knowing enough kanji. It's just about knowing enought about that specific topic. Once you're past a certain threshold, you can deduce the rest from the context or ask for confirmation, what that word mean, etc.
Now, the traps. You can easily burn out by overstudying it. You can also burn out because maintaining a good balance is quite hard. Creating your own list is one of the best way to make the fastest progress imo. It's also a good way to burn out and it can be quite hard to do alone. And you will also need to put a little more effort too to make it worth it. But at the same time it's fine since, just because you like it, it doesn't feel like a lot.
Anyway, there are lot of other advantages but mainly, just because you like it, you will have an easier time remembering words, kanji, grammar, etc. It's like hearing a good joke or meme that just cracked you up. Even after years you can sometimes remember it perfectly. Despite not actively trying to remember it even once. Words, kanji, grammar, expressions can work in a similar way to various degrees. Instead of spending 6 month or 1 year studying a single word and sometimes still struggling with that word, you will sometimes encounter a word in only one situation and you will have to study it again. It feel like a cheat honestly. Of course, that don't happen everyday but still. And even when it's not to that degree, I still feel like I'm spending "less" effort in general. So yeah, go for it =p
On that note, for the "How" part, there are a lot of different approach and traps. The story, typically, is not a good idea in general (unless you're incredibly stubborn). Big lists of random words that you encounter are the easiest way to do it but also, the most ineficient. A small list about a few weapon with a few sentences? Hey, you may not be able to talk about Fire Emblem soon but it's still a first step. And just studying a few sentences will make those words useful instead of words that you did study at some point but never saw or use for years after that.
If you want to try that approach, there is a new feature in testing that could be useful: the study group. Basically, the idea is to have group on renshuu where gather to study a specific thing (grammar, kanji, specific topic, etc.). Amongst those, there is one for videogames that could interest you and another one to create lists around specific topics that I created. For now, the activity is still low but the goal is basically to gather member with the same interest and create lists that we could use to study a specific topic. For now, we're a bit far (like really far ; ;) from that goal but if you're interested, we can help you a bit with that to get you started =p
Anyway, I will stop for now x).
But to sum up, yeah, go for it, best and fastest way to learn japanese (even if it may take a little more efforts and still take some time)
頑張ってね～
