you can use NHK EASY JAPANESE NEWS app. There is furigana on top of it. And using kanji study app to learn kanji. Last but not least, go to http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar
Try a furigana extension... A text with only kana is basically non-existent (children's books, I guess?) IMO, it's actually harder to read Japanese w/o kanji....
I bought a book called Japanese Short Stories for Beginners. It's only Hiragana and Kanji tho, but it's really helping me figure out sentence structures and recognize some Kanji. (Seriously, why do they not use spaces in their writing?)
It may be easy for people who are already literate, but for someone like me who is new, it's hard. わたしは にほんごがすこししか はなせません is a lot easier to read than わたしはにほんごがすこししかはなせません IfeellikeI'mreadingasentencewithoutpausingatall!
私は日本語が少ししか話せません Much easier with kanji. Yeah, for hiragana only texts, spaces are somewhat helpful. (but not necessary) Yet another reason why hiragana only texts are rare. Also, shouldn't the spacing be: わたし は にほんご が すこし しか はなせません For those English readers: Watashi wa nihongo ga sukoshi shika hanasemasen/I only can speak a little Japanese
But when you say it, you're supposed to pronounce it like "sukoshshika" instead of "sukoshishika" (at least according to my notes). Sooo yeaa
Do you say "Yoshi" or "Yosh"? Plus, dropping the vowel sound mostly is just how the speaker speaks...
Hmm, I memorized at most 24 hiragana characters since yesterday afternoon (also only started really learning today) and still have some problems with them. But I'm so far that I can recognize them when I see them. I still have a loonngg way to go, the most imprtant thing is, that I won't get impatient. I will see how far I can come without lessons. Hopefully I will be able to read some light novels and mangas (and playing otome games) in the future.
Yosh!! DuoLingo is a free program and teaches Japanese. Japanese from Zero is another book I'm learning from. See if your local library offers Rosetta Stone.
Honestly... You learn the characters better by learning how to write them... Look up stroke orders and practice helps to reinforce it. This comes pretty handy with kanji and how there is structure in the character and how it is written. Practice in writing them and you can pretty much learn it all within a week or week and a half if your focused on just that.