I should apologize in advance. The truth is, I am very hesitant to propose what I'm going to propose in Phase #2, because I'm worried that many readers will falter when faced with such a huge challenge.

Back when I studied Japanese at a language institute in Tokyo, it was pretty embarrassing to compare the average Western student (mostly Americans) with the majority of our student body (mostly Koreans and Chinese), because the Westerners were comparably inept at learning Japanese. I saw Westerner after Westerner fall behind in their courses, unable to keep up with their Asian counterparts—Chinese students who didn't need to study the kanji; Korean students that already spoke a language similar to Japanese.

It was a bit embarrassing, really.

Phase #2 is all about closing the advantage-gap that separates Asian students from Westerners. Specifically, Phase #2 is about learning to decipher the Japanese Writing System. This phase has three Ninja Brain Preps, which altogether should take you about 104 days to complete. For many it will take longer. Sometimes I get emails from students that finish Phase #2 in under two months. I think they're geniuses, or something.

Phase #2 Goals:

1. Learn to pronounce Japanese (Day #1)
2. Learn Hiragana and Katakana (Week #1)
3. Learn the meaning and writing of all 2,136 Joyo Kanji (Weeks #2-14)

You're probably looking at #3 and thinking that I'm crazy, but it really is possible if you follow this guide diligently. It's actually pretty simple to do so. Don't, however, confuse simple with easy—it's simple to exercise every day, but that doesn't mean it's easy.

Anyways, here we go…