Do you speak Japanese along with writing it? I've been trying to teach myself how and it's kind of hard. I can only write some of the hiragana, pronounce the syllables correctly (I hope), and say common phrases like 'thank-you' and 'good-evening'. I have books and printouts as my 'teachers'.

Do you know of any good, free software/websites that might help?

Can you explain to me about the eras?