Learning Japanese

I have a bad memory a lot of times sooooo keeping up is hard even though I’m in Japanese class not a lot speaking occurs or situations I can use it, and I don’t got a lot of friends to sit down and talk to me on a constant basis so it will stick. Learning is hard without proper use, and I wanna be able to talk to my japanese friend someday

Weeeeeell, I wouldn't recomment outright ignoring kanji, but don't let it slow you down. I, myself, suck at writing kanji. In fact, a lot of Japanese people suck at it, too! Learn to speak the language first and foremost, and then get accustomed to reading. Even if you don't immediately know or recognize the kanji that do appear, you will be far more intuitive on figuring it out from context clues around it. I've published in Japan. I've written business essays in the language and worked at a company there for a while. All the Japanese I learned, I learned because I wanted to, and now I'm indistinguishable from a native over the phone. I went from knowing some words, phrases, and characters at random to this near-native level in a little less than 5 years with no one to practice with. It takes time and true diligence, but the earlier you start, the better. I technically was just barely younger than you when I started becoming serious, and I'm only 26 now. I did those other things when I was 23. Keep it up!

I tried learning Japanese one time on Duolingo and it was very hard because of course there's no a lot of irl situations you can use the language, especially if you live in America like I do. I would like to try again though if I got the chance.

Once you get past the first 100 kanji or so, they get a lot easier, and reading is MUCH, much easier with kanji instead of only kana. The main thing with learning Japanese is to be consistent; it's better to review/study/interact with the language 3 times a day for only a few minutes a time instead of once a day for 30 min. Immersion is great, but for some people, the closest they can get it using something like Rosetta Stone since it teaches you without relying on English at all. If you want to have more ways to hear more everyday Japanese along with visual and subs (both English and Japanese), try a site called Erin's challenge. If you prefer having a more regular teaching style but can't take classes (most Japanese classes in the US are insufficient anyway), try Japanese Pod 101.