At what point should i start learning kanji?

Konnichiwa, im hoping to take part in the N5 jlpt exam next july, but im unsure about how exactly to go about learning the kanji. Going through things like conversations are straightfoward and simple enough to follow, but i feel that i should only be learning a particular kanji when i see that particular word in a conversation. any help at all towards taking part in the JLPT exam would be greatly appreciated Arigato gozai masu

Hello Aaron-san. I too am sitting the JLPT N3 this december and I'm having a bit of trouble with kanji at the reading part. The method I use to learn kanji is by continuously rewriting them and always thinking of meanings and combinations they can make. When I learn a new word I instantly look up the kanji for it and note it down in my memo. After remembering the word correctly and when it easy to use, start practicing with its kanji. For example, I have special sheets of paper with a grid that Japanese first graders use to learn how to write. Another method that I use andthat I find easy to apply is James Heisig's: "Kanji story" method (make up a short funny story about the character's compunds, making it easier to remember this way). This is how I learn. Hope this helps :). Here's one of my memo pages: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/20491527/memo.jpg

I say start memorizing hiragana and katakana as soon as possible, then start with kanji once you have hiragana and katakana down.

I've just found a wonderful program that helps people quicky typing hiragana, katakana and kanji for Android. Just accessing by entering Google plus and typing play.google.com (Google Japanese Input - Android Application). It helps you finding the words you need very quickly but if you would like to be able to write kanji, hiragana, and katakana, you have to practice writing by yourself. Thanks for my new friend who is far away and I have never known her before but I've found her in Facebook.

Unfortunately, Google Play is not available outside US :(

I think you may try to find some Japanese texts that has lessons for practice writing hiragana, katakana and kanji. I guess you can find some books from where you live.

For JLPT Levels N5, N4, and N3 you need to learn 103, 181 and 361 Kanji characters respectively. One way of learning Kanji is to memorise 5 to 10 Kanji characters a day until they are imprinted in your brain. As you can guess, the number of Kanji that you need to learn will get more and more when you become more proficient in the language. For your information, you need learn an additional of 415 and 1170 Kanji characters for N2 and N1 respectively.

There is a brilliant book called "Essential Kanji" by P.G. O'Neil. You can purchase from online stores. There are over 2000 Kanji to learn and it has descriptions of origin, brush stroke, meaning and sounds. That book will really speed up your Kanji ability.