[RickOShay]

I did not ever memorize random kanji once I started learning on my own. I only memorized new vocabulary words (with their kanjis). I also got myself an electronic dictionary, and I started playing familiar RPGs in Japanese, and I kept a notebook with every new word I came across, and would look over the words in the notebook when I had some spare moments (I think it had over 3000 words in it..) a lot of work, but it did the trick.