>I started studying Japanese [...] assumes that you can read hiragana/katakana
Can you explain how this works? This sounds like you were familiar with Japanese, not "started studying".
>When you study Japanese in Japanese
I've heard this before (with other languages, as well) but just can't wrap my head around it. The only example I can think of is full immersion (e.g. moving to Japan or wherever you're learning the language) and being surrounded by it 24/7, where context clues sort of boot-strap you into learning more. But how does this work without full immersion?
Can you explain how this works? This sounds like you were familiar with Japanese, not "started studying".
>When you study Japanese in Japanese
I've heard this before (with other languages, as well) but just can't wrap my head around it. The only example I can think of is full immersion (e.g. moving to Japan or wherever you're learning the language) and being surrounded by it 24/7, where context clues sort of boot-strap you into learning more. But how does this work without full immersion?