How I’m I supposed to remember kana and kanji and all the words? I've been studying for 2 months and I only know 20 words and 40 hiragana I only know 1 kanji
The beginning is always really slow and frustrating. There is no shorcut for that. BUT later, it snowball. Because your brain is more "used" to japanese kinda.
For beginner, kanji are just a bunch of random abstract stroke that don't means anything but later, those strokes groups into pattern that are easier to remember and even meaningful.
So really, don't worry if nothing makes senses for now and you struggle on everythings, it's really the same for everyone.
The beginning is like learning math. It's just a bunch of abstract symbol and your brain is like "Why are you learning those useless things, I don't see any use for those, there are not even funny, I won't let them enter". There are a bunch of tricks that can help a little but there are no game changing solution.
A little trick for hiragana/katana is to write some words everyday instead of learning the kana alone. If you find them interesting or funny, it will be a bit more meaningful for your brain. And you may remember them more easily.
But the only real solution is just to overwhelm your brain with kana, words and kanji until your brain goes like "Okay, okay, I don't see the point but I will them in". And after that you will have some small and simple categories like kana, words and kanji. And later, you will more complex categories like "kanji with the 氵 part" (like 泳 or 池). That will make them easier to remember.
So yeah, don't think about it for now. Your only goal should be to lay those basic foundations. And after that, it will become easier. At the beginning, I also struggle to remember a few words but now, especially with simple kanji, I can learn tons of words per day. While at the beginning, I struggle with a few words per weeks :v
Hello, I am a newbie level learner and would like to to know what steps should I take to learn Japanese? My goad is to hopefully in 1 year be able to hold basic level conversation.
Right now I am learning Hiragana and Katakana. Is this what I should be doing and if so what should my next steps be?
Mikeha, after you learn Hiragana and Katakana, learn some simple words along with basic sentence structure. Renshuu has many resources, especially for beginners like yourself. Don’t hesitate to ask any questions!
It certainly gets better. I'm only 5 months in so far, but it took me nearly three months to even remember all the kana and I still mess up. Now, I’ve gotten better and I know about 350 words and counting. But practice makes perfect. Just remember your end goal and why learning Japanese is important to you. My number one thing is to NOT turn this into “work”. The minute it starts feeling like work, it gets overwhelming. Try to have fun with it. Congratulate yourself for the small wins and remember, you know more than you did yesterday.
My tip for studying: take your time, its not a rush, the language will always be there. Study in categories (fruits, outdoors, kana, verbs, verb endings, kanji, etc.). Connect words to your everyday life. Every morning, say good morning to yourself or count things when your doing repetitive tasks. If you drink coffee, say the ingredients you add in Japanese. Write your shopping list in Japanese. Place sticky notes everywhere. We all learn at our own pace. Give yourself grace and enjoy the challenge. The end goal is very much worth it.
Hello, I am a newbie level learner and would like to to know what steps should I take to learn Japanese? My goad is to hopefully in 1 year be able to hold basic level conversation.
Right now I am learning Hiragana and Katakana. Is this what I should be doing and if so what should my next steps be?
Start to read/write words/sentences. And eventually learn them too. Otherwise, you will forget the less common ones once you stopped to study the kana. You need to use them =p
Once that habit is in place, since your goal is to hold basic level conversation, there are a some big exchange communities (like English-Japanese Language Exchange on discord). Just go there and try to talk with some japanese. I also recommend their VRChat world (they also have some event on the week-end for beginner). You will find japanese with really good english that may teach some basic things or beginner like you that will force you to use all your brain power.
Besides that, well, you can study the way you want. If you like grammar, you can work on grammar, if you like word you can work word, etc. Working on everythings as the same time is really hard but as long as you pay attention to your current weakness, it will okay. Having phase is okay too. For example, I usually study kanji + one word per reading for a few month and then focuses on learning words from those kanji for another few months. For grammar, I don't like to study grammar (especially western grammar) unless I need to. So, I focus more on sentences/conversation/immersion and when I don't understand, I try to search for some explaination. But otherwise, I just imitate native rather than trying to understand the language conceptually (Still did study some basic grammar before tho).
Anyway, that part is on you. Find the way you want to learn and good luck =p
DO NOT spend most of your time procrastinating and/or only reviewing things. it holds you back. i only know like 300 or so words even after almost a year since i've been procrastinating so much
what ya could do (if u want) is to learn a teeny tiny amount of words per day (eg; 5). 5 (or whatever number you chose) is manageable enough to do like, everyday instead of procrastinating XD i just tried it today and it may help me in the long run!
spend most of your time procrastinating and/or only reviewing things. it holds you back. i only know like 300 or so words even after almost a year since i've been procrastinating so much 
(eg; 5). 5 (or whatever number you chose) is manageable enough to do like, everyday instead of procrastinating XD i just tried it today and it may help me in the long run! 