Absolute Beginner

[tomcat269574]

Hey everyone!

So, i'm completely new to Japanese, but so far i've learned all the Hiragana characters, and one or two phrases. I intend to next learn Katana, but what should i do after that?
I'm really lost on what I should be aiming to do, I need to build up a vocabulary and my grammar skills obviously, but i really don't know how I'm going to do that.
I'm only on the free Jpod101.
I was thinking of trying to watch a few more animes (Even if I can't understand them), and getting Heisig's (However you spell it) Remembering the kanji, but after memorizing all this stuff, I have no clue of how to put it together, make sentences etc.

Can anyone help me out? =]

[anbergst3424]

One thing that I think works well and is very rewarding fast is to find a song that you like (maybe not high tempo song).
Find the lyrics on internet written in romanji and also the english translation.
Then with a dictionary, write down all the words that you can extract from the japanese lyrics and its meaning.
Ignore grammar stuff and word endings just write down the words in basic form.
Learn words by heart.
Listen to song, keeping in mind the English translation of the song and spot the words that you've learned as they appear.

Listen to the song again... over and over and over again. until you are totally sick of it.

By now, you should be able to say "hey, I kind of understand" when you listen... "score"!!
The words usually sink in very deep this way, and it will be more easy to recognize them when you hear them in other situations.

Have a nice day.

[team.relationships]

anbergst3424-san,
Thank you very much for a great idea!

tomcat269574 -san,
I think it's quite much "what your goal is" and "what your purpose of study is", but using the material that you're interested in would be the best idea!
So, the advice from anbergst3424-san might work for you too

Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com