This is how I study.
Materials that you need in addition to Jpod101.
1. Jim Breen Japanese-English dictionary.
2. Tae Kim Japanese Grammar website.
3. Heisig Kanji
4. Go and find 1 or 2 Japanese anime and keep watching it everyday.
5. You can use Mango Languages.com as a supplement.
6. You must have IME Japanese input, it is a great learning tool.
Here is my humble suggestion of how you could best use Jpod101.
1. Subscribe to Jpod101.
2. Come and say Hi to everyone in this forum.
Then, let's get serious....
3. Go and find a table of hiragana and katakana and memorize it. If you can't memorize go and write it 100 times.
4. First listen to all 3 introductory lessons.
5. Then listen to all Newbie lessons, you may get dishearten somewhere in the middle of those newbie lessons, you will encounter words like 昏睡状態、記憶喪失、公安調査庁。。。don't feel dishearten, these are definitely no way Newbie-words. Just try your best to memorize it. Meanwhile you may wish to try some beginner lessons, I didn't really try beginner lessons until I finished all the newbies.
6. Now you finished newbie lessons, and you should go straight to beginner lessons (or you may have already done it.) You will realize that the first 30 beginner lessons are about the same level as newbie or even easier. This is the time where you can speed through it if you have know everything in your newbie lessons.
7. Meanwhile, you may want to listen to some survival phrases and cultural lessons, they are very good, it may help you to reinforce what you have learned, and if you are speeding like me, this will be a piece of cake and you can use this time to relax.
8. During the mean time, you must try your best to make use of Heisig Kanji list. Try to recognize every character. Start with those simple one first. Make full use of your IME Japanese input and Jim Breen's dictionary. Try your very best to type out those kanji in the PDF files. You will learn a lot by making an attempt to type it out. You will be surprise how much kanji you will recognize just by doing this.
9. By now, you will be around beginner lesson #50++, this is where you will start to get dishearten, the conversation get longer, there are more grammar to know and certainly more vocabulary. Don't worry, listen to it 10 times, this is what I do. I listen to lesson #51, The Dating Game more than 10 times!!!
10. Again, you will start to feel difficult again around lessons 60++, don't worry, listen to it multiple times until you know it, then you can proceed. Do not proceed if you don't understand it.
11. By this time, your kanji knowledge should have expanded dramatically. Try to memorize and recognize more kanji, don't worry about how to use it. Know how to recognize it first!
12. Do not wait till you finish all 170 lessons before you start beginner S2. You should attempt beginner S2 after you finished 60+ lessons. You may be able to speed through the first few beginner S2 lessons, when you reach around lesson 30++, S2 may start to get difficult. Don't worry, go back to S1 again and come back anytime when you feel comfortable, your goal to is finish up to the latest lesson before you even finish S1 lesson #170.
13. Remember, do not forget the new newbie lessons every week. Listen to them and keep yourself up to date.
14. Continue your beginner lessons, your goal is to finish all 170 lessons. (At the time of writing, I have not finished it yet, I am in lesson #147.) When you reach around lesson 90++, you will feel that lessons are getting easier, mean while remember to keep studying survival phrases, it can be a good revision.
15. When you reach around lesson #120. You will start to feel that newbie lesson is a breeze, you may even start to feel the same way for S2 too.
16. Continue your effort, it should not take you too long before you reach lesson #140++, by this time, everything start to make sense to you, your kanji reading will be better, your grammar will be so good that you can figure out simple Japanese news article.
17. I am still studying.....so I can't tell you what will happen latter on... someone more experience may want to share their methods.
18. Good luck and enjoy Jpod101.
