Oooh! We could try together!

I am still pretty much at the 'look up each kanji individually' stage at the moment... >.>

There is nothing wrong with that!! I think that comes more easily from living surrounded by Kanji, because otherwise it might have taken me longer to recognize kanji. (Here's the thing: I'm still not great at writing them. I'm quite bad, in fact. But I CAN recognize Kanji, usually. Still two different things, though.)

I think the way you're going about studying is perfect! You're learning how to use the grammar, which is the key to communication! Some Japanese cannot even read Kanji, so even if you are still using hiragana or katakana, EVERYONE, at least, can read that! :D

Some Japanese cannot even read Kanji

To name one - Arashi's Aiba. XD XD XD

Seriously: I suppose it's possible to write Japanese with no kanji and just use hiragana instead. But I imagine it would look ridiculous to native speakers and you'd be considered illiterate?

Oh wow! I didn't know this!! (And I like Aiba the most out of all of them! ^^)

It's definitely possible, though. And if you know the hiragana, you also know how to say it. Speaking is far more necessary to survival than writing, I think! ^^ It might be considered semi-illiterate, but living in Japan and amongst Japanese people could slowly heal that, I think! ^^

Don't feel bad one bit. In the short time you have been studying, you have near expert grammar. That is a pretty unmatchable feat!!

Aiba gets his kanji wrong quite a bit. XD What was that game show they were on where they were guessing someone's hobby and instead of 'gun shooting' he read it as 'murder'..? lololol.

I've come to the conclusion that if your family name is Aiba and you're in the entertainment business, you are by default very amusing.

And thankyou for the compliments! #^ ^#

OHHHH!!! HAHAHAHAHA! Well, at least he had the gist right! xD Poor thing...I understand that feeling.....

And that's true. There are some clever Aibas out there in the entertainment business! I do wonder if there is some distant relation?

And as for compliments...what compliments!? xD I was only saying the truth! :P No really, kudos kudos!!! <333