Hi! Welcome to JREF!
So to answer your question, I kinda have to go back to what go me into this in the first place. My reasons have changed, as have my methods, but overall, these are the things I did in different forms and some that I wish I would have known to do sooner.
So first off, just focus on learning words at this point. Kanji will come later, and it's less of a bear if you know the words it relates to. If you've got even a half-way decent grasp of kana, start working on basic sentence structure and learning words. And here's where we get more into what I did. I literally just looked up any words I needed to know and would use the accordingly.
I didn't even use them right way half the time. But, I learned the meanings, and that really came in handy down the road. Since I was trying to write songs when I first started out, I learned any words related to what I was trying to convey. So if I needed to say something like "rose" in a line, I'd look up what the Japanese equivalent was and write down バラ in its appropriate place. I also wish I would have started this sooner, but I made a picture dictionary for myself down the road. Anytime I came across a new word or collection of words I needed to know or had a hard time remembering, I'd draw a picture for them and write the word next to the image. Sometimes I wish I still had this thing to look back on, but I think it got thrown out when we got new floors. >~< Now, while you're learning basic words in Japanese, pick up some basic sentences structures at the same time. It helps you a
lot to be able to both understand and use the material you're learning. Writing short diary entries or blog posts really helps cement things you learn too. I still do that last one. I often practice different grammatical structures from my N2 books on Lang-8 or HiNative, both of which are fantastic sites, by the way.
I could go pretty much forever on different ways to get started, but I think this will get you pretty far for now. I'm also going to recommend reading the heck out of the Tofugu blog posts, because that site it probably the entire reason I made the level jump I did. I lingered at about N5 for a year, and then shot to N2 within the following one. There are a lot of good tips are resources on that site that are just invaluable to you as a learner.
With that being said, best wishes and 頑張って~!
Dictionary--
Jisho.org: Japanese Dictionary
FREE online grammar guide--
Japanese Grammar Guide | Learn Japanese
Language Learner Blog Site--
Multi-lingual language learning and language exchange | Lang-8: For learning foreign languages
Lang-8's sister site/app--
HiNative | 全ての外国語学習者のためのQ&Aサービス。
Best Blog I've Found to Date--
Tofugu - A Japanese Language & Culture Blog
