Where should I go from here?

Ok, so I've been teaching myself for the past six months or so, and mainly focusing on writing. I've learned Hiragana, Katakana, and all the Kanji they teach to 1st graders, along with a couple hundred characters I learned in combination with the 1st grade Kanji (which is to say I half know them). I do frequently watch (and actively listen to) tv, movies, etc. in Japanese, and that's been helpful, along with writing exercises for grammar, verb, structure practice..
But now I'm not sure where to go from here after exhausting some of the beginner's material. I thought that I might focus on reading first, as I have a highly photographic memory (and a poor memory for sound), and that reading could be a way for me learn how to speak better. Also, I don't have anyone to speak it with (besides my dog) and I don't think I understand enough Kanji to get a pen-pal yet.
Can anyone recommend a direction to go in next? I enjoy learning the Kanji, and I think I need more sentence structure and grammar practice, but I also don't want to be bored out of my skull.. Not that learning Japanese has been all fun-and-games, but I usually find that if I'm not having a little fun with it, I won't study. Free websites would be helpful, as I don't have the money to afford a textbook.
Thanks so much for your advice!

P.S. I didn't get many answers last time I asked, but if other beginners out there want to share a way of studying that's fun for them I'd love to hear it!

The thing about a language is that it is not simply one element. When you say you are studying kanji, what do you mean? Are you learning how to write them? Learning what they mean in English? If that is the case, you are pretty much learning nothing. Its like if someone said, "I learned the English alphabet but I don't know any words". Well then all you can write is letters with no meaning.

Think about it from the perspective of a native speaker. When they are a child, they hear words spoken to them. They begin to speak words. Their parents correct them and help them to use the correct grammar. They go to school and begin to learn how to write the words they know with Hiragana and later with Kanji. Then, they start to write sentences and compositions, through which their grammar gets refined. If you, as a non-native speaker, are learning how to write without knowing any words, you don't know anything. You have to take the language as a whole. My recommendation to you is to get a textbook that has a CD, like Genki or Minna no Nihongo. Go through that so that you can get a good idea of how sentences and conversations are formed. If you focus only on writing or reading, you will not be able to produce anything comprehensible.

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Ok, well I'm just starting and as I said and I really can't afford to spend money on an expensive textbook. Fortunately, there seems to be a lot of resources online for writing and for speaking. I'm learning words as I learn the kanji--I learned four or five words words on average (and their kanji) for each character. I've also picked up a lot of words from listening and writing exercises. I'm certainly lacking in experience with forming sentences and conversations, but being familiar with all the words of a sentence help a lot when it comes to understanding the grammatical structure and the functions of particles. I also watch Japanese movies and TV quite frequently, so I have spent a good deal of time listening to native speakers.
I'm not expecting to be fluent in five or ten years, seeing as it took me about ten years to speak English well--and then ten more to speak it very well. Maybe I'm not going about it in the most methodical or traditional way, but I'm not just memorizing lists of kanji. I understand that learning a language isn't just learning lists of words and grammatical rules.
I'm really surprised that so many people viewed this thread and had nothing to say--I don't really need someone to tell me how pointless my studying has been--I guess I was hoping for some general reflections from people about their learning experiences and resources they used and liked.

Tsukemono San said:

Ok, so I've been teaching myself for the past six months or so, and mainly focusing on writing. I've learned Hiragana, Katakana, and all the Kanji they teach to 1st graders, along with a couple hundred characters I learned in combination with the 1st grade Kanji (which is to say I half know them). I do frequently watch (and actively listen to) tv, movies, etc. in Japanese, and that's been helpful, along with writing exercises for grammar, verb, structure practice..
But now I'm not sure where to go from here after exhausting some of the beginner's material. I thought that I might focus on reading first, as I have a highly photographic memory (and a poor memory for sound), and that reading could be a way for me learn how to speak better. Also, I don't have anyone to speak it with (besides my dog) and I don't think I understand enough Kanji to get a pen-pal yet.
Can anyone recommend a direction to go in next? I enjoy learning the Kanji, and I think I need more sentence structure and grammar practice, but I also don't want to be bored out of my skull.. Not that learning Japanese has been all fun-and-games, but I usually find that if I'm not having a little fun with it, I won't study. Free websites would be helpful, as I don't have the money to afford a textbook.
Thanks so much for your advice!

P.S. I didn't get many answers last time I asked, but if other beginners out there want to share a way of studying that's fun for them I'd love to hear it!

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Honestly I am surprised to hear this from someone who has learned another language before. I mean I know no two languages are the same but i would think you would have retained some techniques from learning English. So you do not expect to be fluent in 5 to 10 years.. umm I think you have overestimated how long it will take you. For me I would have considered myself functional after two years, and fluent to the point of being very comfortable in all aspects of the language after 7. I know there is still so much room to grow though as it is with any language learning however. But if you put the right effort in, you should be communicating in a meaningful way in 2-5 years. As far as what you should do from now.. i just say think back to what you needed to learn English. For me I needed to develop my ears and learn lots and lots of vocabulary. I did this by making a list of words that eventually had more than 6000 entries (with Kanji) on it. And in time, with practice the speaking and listening developed around the knowledge of words I had memorized. Despite what commercials might say, there is no magic Rosetta Stone that works for everybody, and I think it is kind of strange that having already learned a language you have no idea where you need to take yourself from here to make progress. There is no magic formula that works for everybody, just continue to challenge yourself and give your best effort.

Sorry if I was too discouraging in my last post. You have to understand that there are a lot of people out there who just memorize the "meaning" of each kanji and think that they know everything.

So, now that I understand more of what you are doing, let me try to be more helpful:
1) You need interaction. I ended up deleting this from my original post but one of the most critical things when you are learning a language is to be able to talk to someone and listen to them. Input helps a lot (like listening to TV shows) but you won't achieve as much as you will from interacting with someone. So, you have three options from where you are: take a class, find a tutor in person, find a tutor online. Its important though that you try to get some face to face interaction (even over skype) because then you will be able to get feedback on your sentences immediately. You said you can't afford a textbook so I will assume a class is out of the question. How about a conversation partner? I have been using this site for a year or so now and made a lot of friends. You would probably be able to find someone to talk to, plus you could have your written Japanese corrected. Its actually a great learning experience: Lang-8 - Multi-lingual language learning and language exchange | Lang-8

2) Textbook-like materials: So, if a textbook is out of the question, you should look for some material that has a distinct study plan (lessons in order of difficulty, like a textbook does). If you pull a lot of info from different websites, you may get confused and not be able to use level appropriate grammar or else have really good grammar and no vocabulary. This site is a subscription site but it has a free trial and you can download a ton of material in that free week. Learn Japanese online. With our podcast, learning Japanese is easy. | JapanesePod101.com
NHK also has a ton of free lessons. Japanese Lessons, free text/audio downloads | NHK WORLD
Also, remember that you don't always have to buy the book. Depending on where you live, there might be some at the library.
Lastly, if you go for an older edition, sometimes you can get a book for cheaper. Genki 1st edition, used, is $9 on amazon. Amazon product ASIN 4789009637This is also a good resource that has compiled lessons in order that are free to access. Online Japanese Study

So, I hope that helps. When I started studying Japanese, I was in a class. It wasn't till I had that foundation that I was able to study on my own. If you can get someone to help you and draft some kind of study pattern, I think it will help you a lot.