Quote Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime View Post
Avoid Romaji. Learn all Furigana (Hiragana and Katakana) before doing anything else if you haven't already. The problem with Romaji is that students often become too dependent on it and it's ultimately NOT a very good way to learn Japanese. It's handy for people who may only want to know a few phrases for travelling, but if you actually want to learn the language, then forget it. Learning Japanese without Furigana is like trying to learn English without learning the alphabet.

I strongly advise using flashcards for learning Furigana (and Kanji). Some people like learning languages by putting labels all over their homes with words in their target language.
I am ignoring romanji because I want to actually learn the language properly, like you said.

I have a couple of digital flashcard programs already but I need to do more learning before they become useful.

Oh boy, my house is going to become covered labels now, that's such a good idea. The people I live with are going to hate it