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My friend told me I sound too polite when I say あなた, but my book only uses
that for second person pronoun. Are there multiple ways to say it and if so,
which one is best to use with friends?
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word-choice second-person-pronouns
Is there a less formal way to say あなた？
There are several you can use instead:

  * あんた → Basically a familiar version of あなた. 
  * [君]{きみ} → Sounds a little more endearing to me, but that may not always be the case
  * お[前]{まえ} → _Very_ informal. Can be considered rude and/or derogatory depending on the context in which you use it and how well you know the person.

Lastly, it's very common not to use the second person at all. Many people
(particularly, young people) will just address their friends by the name they
are most well known (first, last, nickname), possibly with a ～くん or ～ちゃん
tacked on (but that's usually how they're most well known anyway). For
example,

>   * [陽子]{よう・こ}ちゃんは行く？ → Are you going Yoko?
>   * サトシは昨日のクラスをサボって、父親に知られちゃった。だから、厳しく叱られたんだ。 → Satoshi skipped yesterday's
> class and his father found out. He really got in trouble for it!
>   * [小川]{お・がわ}さんはゴスペルを歌うことが好きみたいですね。とてもお上手です！ → Mrs. Ogawa, you seem to
> really like singing Gospel music. You're very talented at it!
>

Or for slightly- to intensely more polite situations, the usual `last name +
さん` also works. In all my experience living in Japan, it was very rare to hear
あなた.
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I would stay away from お前 and 君, unless you know very well what you are doing.
あんた is a bit less formal, but still not super-friendly.

Actually, the two most simple ways to address friends casually are:

  1. **No pronoun** : whether in a formal or casual context, you _only_ really use a pronoun when there might be an ambiguity otherwise.

  2. **The person's name** is also perfectly acceptable (in both casual and formal context). Politeness will be defined by which part of the name and suffix you use.
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2015-03-08T01:02:34.260
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One more addition on あなた. The word is also used by wives to call their
husbands (something like _dear_ in English), so just use the person's name,
with さん, くん or ちゃん.

Depending on the company, everybody may be using nicknames for each other as
well. I really do not hear or use the second person pronouns often, or even at
all.
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The solution is simple: use honorifics. 尊敬語{そんけいご} means I'm talking about
you, and only you. 謙譲語{けんじょうご} means I'm talking about me, and only me.
Consider honorifics to be more "pronoun avoidance" rather than expression of
"respect" or "humility".

[そちら as a second person
pronoun](http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2644469)
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2015-03-09T04:14:56.370
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I would go for omitting the pronoun or using the person's name (with whatever
honorific you'd usually use). It may be difficult for an English speaker to
get used to doing so, but it is perfectly acceptable in casual conversation.
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2015-03-09T18:43:53.957
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あなた (or あんた) is in my experience used almost exclusively by females, so you
should probably avoid it. You would use 君 mostly to adress people who are
inferior in status to you (generally because they are younger) and whom you do
not know very well. With close friends, おまえ is completely acceptable (usual,
even), but you can also use 君 to add a somewhat warmer touch (especially with
your female friends).

A good way to get exposure to casual, everyday speech is to read manga,
especially of the "slice of life" genre such as よつばと！. Your book will not tell
you everything there is to know (that's not its purpose!).
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