Wow, I haven't been here in forever. Just stumbled across the site again today, and remembered about the forum. Just so you know, I'm still focused on learning Japanese. I just love this language so much! It's exciting when you learn something new, isn't it?
It's great too, because my family knows about my love of Japanese, I even got some gifts at Christmas that relate

I got a nice book to help me with my reading, and I got a dvd to help me with my listening/pronunciation skills! I still have so much more to learn, but I love the challenge! Bring it on

And Vivian, hello! Thank you for the good luck wishes! Sorry I couldn't welcome you sooner, but if you stop by again, maybe we can talk some more. And yes, that is a great way to help remember the katakana and hiragana. I've got most of the hiragana memorized now. And maybe like half of the katakana.
I've got a cheatsheet that I use when I read my Japanese books, and I find that I need it less and less now. But, since the katakana shows up less in the text than the hiragana, I makes sense that I'd learn the hiragana faster.