Nihongo ga sukoshi wakarimasu

I am attempting to learn Japanese (Nihongo) from Pimsleur's Comprehensive Japanese lessons, amongst other things.  I really strongly want to learn and retain this language, and I've learned the most important parts of learning a language are immersion and repetition.  If anyone out there has any comprehension of Japanese and would like to help me learn by communicating with me in Japanese and such, I would greatly appreciate it.  I obviously don't know much at this point, having only taken two half-hours lessons — apart from some general long-term exposure through entertainment and occasionally learning bits and pieces — but I'd appreciate being able to get as much practice as I can to help retain it and truly begin comprehending it as my own language, not just as something I'm constantly trying to interpret.

I had two problems with learning French.  The first was the lack of use, in that I had no one with whom I could use it.  The other, I've more recently realized, is that it wasn't a language I took as my own; I kept trying to interpret the words into their English counterparts, and I think it would be more helpful if I can convince my brain to accept the words, phrases, and notations as having their own meaning and context.

I do intend to learn the written language as well, but that is going to be a task with a much greater learning curve.  I think it will be easier by having some basic understanding of the language itself first, so long as I work on immersing myself into the text gradually.

Thanks in advance. (Arigatougozaimasu.)