Just a few questions about kana.

[Lestatravnos5940]

はじめまして。わたしは　リチャード　です。イギリスじん　です。　よろしく　おねがいします。
Hajimemashite. Watashi wa Richaado desu. Igirisujin desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
Nice to meet you. I am Richard. I'm English. Please be kind.

Hi, I hope my introduction is right.. I'd like to ask a few questions about the kana used in the above.

Such as why Ha(は) and the wa(は) the particle folliwing watashi are the same?

And the Correct way to write my name? - Richard Barrett - Richaado Baretto (リチャード　バレッチ) as I am using cha- to write the ch aa part. Else I get all sorts of characters, and through the translators I've used the above is supposedly correct. Maybe as (ちゃあ) chaa?

I've been trying to learn Japanese on and off for a while now. Sadly I'm impatient and want to learn it over night. Impossible I know. It's also hard to learn it at home on my own as I get easily distracted. I've looked through the site plenty and can't wait to get stuck in. It's just trying to find the concentration to listen to the lesson, read the notes practice, repeat; All in one day, and then do it again another day.

I need a visual representative of what I'm learning so obviously learning the kana with the lessons is great for me. But is it better to learn the charts, and then try to encompass what I've learnt there and use that to write what I hear, or just follow straight with the lessons, copying the given text?

Sorry for the wall of text, and thank's.

Richard.

ありがとお　じゃあね。

[Javizy]

は is read as wa when it's being used as the topic-marking particle. The reason behind this has something to do with the way classical Japanese evolved into modern Japanese. As long as you know how to read it, that's all that matters, but it's been discussed somewhere on the forum, and you can probably find more details on Wikipedia or something if you're interested.

As for how to learn, that's more of a toughie. Some people get inspired by that AJATT douche for presenting a bunch of other people's ideas. JPod's a great resource up to intermediate level, but if you're not progressing, you should consider other options like textbooks and what not. The good news is that when you get the beginner level stuff out of the way, you can start exploring manga and chatting to natives, and getting a feel for what knowledge of Japanese can offer you. The sooner you can start getting some fun out of it, the sooner you'll start progressing.

A good place for advice/inspiration/ideas is this forum http://forum.koohii.com/index.php You might want to start looking into Remembering the Kanji if you're interested in learning kanji, and SRS flashcard programs for memorising vocab.

Your name looks like it would be リチャード・バレット to me.

[Lestatravnos5940]

Thank's I'll check out that forum. Yeah I have a few bit's and bob's. I have a 'Japanese for dummies' book somewhere so I'll dig that out, I got some iPhone apps that have flash cards etc. Just need to put my head down and stick to it.

Thank's for the name correction, and all the other info as well. - Time to get in and learn to at least beginner level and maybe some intermediate.. It's cheaper to buy manga before it's translated

Thank's again.