Have been teaching Japanese for over 3 years. The way that Japanese expressing themselves is so different to others. Besides learning Pronunciation and Grammar. Understanding the culture also help speaking more natural Japanese. for Beginner: Starting from Japanese alphabet. for those have already learned a bit Japanese. I will check what level you are by using some simple conversations. Speak as much as possible in class. No matter what language you are try to learn. The first step is memorising the alphabet. Espeacially there are 2 kinds of alphabet+kanji(chinese charater) in Japanese. I know it takes more time to remember everything. I am sure you will find it more interesting once you find out yourself is able to read everything in Japanese.