If you want to learn Japanese, you can do it on your own. I've been learning Japanese for about three years now, self-taught. One of the keys to learning the language is to learn the kana at the same time. The written character is closely tied with the spoken word, and if you can memorize the written character, you will have a better relationship with the spoken word.
My kids want to learn Japanese, and so I let them watch kids anime that has no subtitles or overdubs. They watch probably 1-2 hours of Japanese-only anime a week. They are not by any means speaking Japanese yet, but they understand (as it is very easy and effortless for all young children) the flow and the meter and the rhythm of the language. My 5 year old can "fake" pidgin Japanese VERY convincingly. He's saying complete nonsense, of course, but to a person who knew nothing of the language, it would sound like he's firing off fluently. He knows a few phrases, and one time we went to a Japanese grocery store and he was talking with a couple of guys, in "Japanese" and they were just cracking up. I have no idea what he was saying, so maybe he knows more than I think he does
At any rate, if you want to learn Japanese, forget the TV and turn to the books. You need an audio program, and a hiragana book to start. Then learn the katakana, and then start "reading" children's books or middle school literature that is written in Furigana. Furigana is written in kanji but has tiny kana characters next to each kanji so that you can learn how to pronounce it. Since a native doesn't truly learn Kanji until age 20 or so, you're gonna have to get cracking
Maybe she'd pop out of a cake for your birthday or something.
