I was using a VERY boring and useless book, I picked random words out of a dictionary to learn, etc. I probably wasted about a year. I've concluded it's possible to become proficient at Japanese, even if you don't start when you're 3. A day shouldn't pass where you don't study Japanese for at least 5 minutes. Some days you need to spend a bit more time.
Modern computers are pretty easy to learn how to use nowadays.
If they could somehow convince themselves that computers are no big deal, they could learn them with no problem. Sure enough, the older folks you see on PCs have overcome that mental block. The interesting thing is, it's the same PC that my 8 year old brother is very comfortable with. It has nothing to do with age though - it has to do with frame of mind. Some of you may have heard of a famous teacher from Japan by the name of Suzuki.