Question to those who know how to read japanese (while not being japanese) : how did you d...

Hii. For me I learnt to master the hiragana first then the katakana. The katakana is lot more confusing so it took me a while. And practice often too! It’s helps you to get more familiar with each words/ alphabets to avoid confusion. Also as for katakana, you need to watch the strokes because so many of them look similar but totally different

hiragana and katakana are easy to remember. the real difficulties begin with wanting to learn kanji. i recommend starting with the most basic 200 ones, but not only with the stroke order and the meaning for a single kanji, but also different words that use this kanji. it makes remembering kanji (and its readings) so much easier and you actually learn some vocabulary at the same time. i also recommend reading some easy texts for beginners with furigana (the hiragana that’s beside or above the kanji that indicate the reading).

Yeah I find the katakana more difficult to remember too. But I don't know if it's because I started to learn it after the hiragana haha

Yeah, I know that kanji are another level... which is why I've never had the courage to start to learn japanese until now ToT
I still don't master hiragana and katakana yet. Until they aren't easy for me, I won't start to learn kanji. I hope I get the hang of it soon... and at the same time I'm not too rushed to cry in despair lol

of course, master hiragana and katakana first, they’re the most important for a beginner to learn. only when you feel confident enough with these two syllabaries should you start learning kanji. and honestly, as long as you don’t try to learn some difficult kanji first, and actually start with the easy ones, you should be totally fine. there’s nothing to be scared of. but the results will only show when you’re being consistent with learning and actually put some effort. hope you’ll have lots of fun learning.

Thank you for those wise words and your encouragement! <3