I started with kanji first. I then moved on to learning japanese more at
Learn Japanese - Japanese Language
Nihongo o Narau - Learn Japanese
is a realy good site. I learned basic grammar here and they have a good vocabulary list.
My friend is also learning Japanese and we both talk to eachother in Japanese as much as we can. It has really helped. Through my day for everything I say in English I try to say it in Japanese as well.
Hoped that helped a little. There a thread with a list of sites you can go to, to learn. One of the links also leads to language exchanges. One site I know is called kanji something I am not sure atm.