Just starting. . . . . . .

Welcome to the site! :) I think that the hiragana aren't too bad if you just drill through them for a week or two. Once you have them roughly down, then it's just a matter of using that newly acquired skill by reading things on the forum etc.

One of the things I really had to focus on was to make sure I didn't avoid reading a block of Japanese text in a post because it looked intimidating. Even if you can't understand what it says yet, it helps to dive in and start reading it... you surprise yourself with how much of it you actually can read, or at least sound out. :)

There are still some kana that I might have to think about for a second, like さ and ち ;) or ろ and る, but in general you get faster and faster and they come easier just like reading in your native language. It just takes time and practice.

がんばってね！ (^_^)