maybe quite similar to others sisters / brothers' answers
1) I strongly suggest you to go to school. Bacis is very important. Don't make yourself's Japanese pronounciation / grammar funny.
2) Surely not.
2010-05-08 16:34:28 補充:
3) Mostly you can find them in a Japanese Dictionary. I mean Japanese Dictionary not Chinese or English. You will find quite amazingly almost all spoken / written Japanese can be found in the dictionary (although some slangs could not be found).
2010-05-08 16:34:51 補充:
4) ummmmm, 50音 first (both hiragana and katagana), then grammar and pronounciation. As one here says, sweet and rain are the same in hiragana, but intonation is totally different, so you have to learn how to identify them with a dictionaary.
2010-05-08 16:34:59 補充:
A good dictionary should have the phonetic transcription stated on each word. In my opinion, conversation the last.