The hardest part is the initial "How do I even look at a Japanese sentence and figure out what it means". This is basically learning how to use particles to figure out what chunks of the sentence mean (N5 level), and how to identify sub clauses (N4 level). Part of why this can be so difficult is that, at the N5 and N4 level, one's vocabulary is so limited that a significant chunk of the words are stuff that you won't recognize. Over time this gets better.
The giving, receiving grammars (N4 level) is also kind of a nightmare. If you struggle with it, I feel your pain.
After you get through N5 and N4 , it gets progressively easier, because you have a foundation to build upon.
Anyone who complains about conjugation in Japanese must not have ever studied Russian. At least almost all Japanese verbs are regular.
I think the hardest part about Japanese grammar is letting go of all your preconceptions of how grammar works. Japanese is very different from European languages, so even finding the right vocabulary to talk about it can be a challenge.
For me it is mostly understanding spoken Japanese as opposed to written. Especially when you're trying to learn with English subtitles and the sentence structure of the English translation has often the reverse order of the Japanese original, so it's hard to follow the words spoken and understanding the Japanese sentences structure, because in TV shows they usually speak very fast.
When i first started japanese it was originally remembering kanji, but now i realise that it actually helps with remembering word meaning ALOT. My current problem is sentence conjugations
For me it is mostly understanding spoken Japanese as opposed to written. Especially when you're trying to learn with English subtitles and the sentence structure of the English translation has often the reverse order of the Japanese original, so it's hard to follow the words spoken and understanding the Japanese sentences structure, because in TV shows they usually speak very fast.
I have the same problem. The language is spoken so quickly I can barely register what was said before the next sentence starts... I can read fairly well with the vocab I know, but listening to casual Japanese is a completely different challenge. I assume it gets better if/when you're fully immersed in the language.
I think, similar to learning any language, the hardest aspect is to speak and write from own thoughts. The actual application of the language.
Understanding something written and spoken are manageable through memorization (although learning its writing systems could also be really tricky and hard), but I find it really difficult to compose my own sentences, especially in a way that it will not sound awkward or robotic.
Luckily, there are actually a lot of chances here in renshuu to practice that! :>
The hardest parts of learning Japanese are kanji, kanji, and then also kanji. Not because kanji are particularly hard (as long as you use a sane method), but because there are too many and it's a giant rote memorization exercise. Probably more giant than anything else you've had to memorize in your life.
The hardest part of grammar -- well, there is nothing particularly hard about grammar that is "documented", so to speak. Any grammar book, tutorial, or list you will find is going to give you many grammar points which aren't that hard to understand if you do the exercises. However, when you start doing real reading you will surely run into utterly incomprehensible sentences -- sentences where you understand every single word because you can use the dictionary, but still can't make sense of. It's because of the native Japanese way of using the language that grammar references will not teach you. Japanese can be a very precise language if people chose to use it that way, but they don't. In particular, constant omission of sentence subjects can create a real headache. Throw in a bunch of idiomatic expressions into the mix that you will not initially realize are in fact set expressions, and you will be crying. I don't think there is an explicit way of learning such nuances, it's just something you get used to over time.
