Something I tell everyone I meet who is starting out is to wait a year before they check their progress. This is counterintuitive and the reason why most people never make it past absolut beginner level in Asian languages.
Spanish, French, and Japanese are equally difficult languages. It's just that they have different learning curves for Westerners. It takes a ridiculously long time to become a beginner in Japanese since you have so many new elements to get used to before you can tackle beginner sentences (2 syllabates, kanji, words with no etyomological connection to your language, a completely different grammar system, etc.) this is obviously different to spanish, where you have a lot of common elements to lean on to as a beginner. However, around the intermediate level, the learning curve is reversed; japanese becomes increasingly easier once you have a solid foundation to build on, as Spanish becomes increasingly more difficult as you have to abandon false friends and intuition. This is why most Spanish speakers abandon study once they've reached a conversational level.
You're making amazing progress for someone 5 months in; i abandoned Japanese twice in the absolute beginner level, and it took me 3 years to make it to beginner (N4) level. From there, only 2 years to advanced (N1). Just don't let the lack of palpable results get you down; right now, you're not making your way to fluency and native materials, but towards a foundation to start from. If you just keep studying, you'll reach new plateaus.
Also, remember that mist college courses only aim for lower intermediate level at best; use the courses for more in-depth understanding and to keep you on track, but remember that you always want to be ahead of them (which you already are!). Learning languages is a matter of patience and perseverance more than anything.
Best of luck!
Spanish, French, and Japanese are equally difficult languages. It's just that they have different learning curves for Westerners. It takes a ridiculously long time to become a beginner in Japanese since you have so many new elements to get used to before you can tackle beginner sentences (2 syllabates, kanji, words with no etyomological connection to your language, a completely different grammar system, etc.) this is obviously different to spanish, where you have a lot of common elements to lean on to as a beginner. However, around the intermediate level, the learning curve is reversed; japanese becomes increasingly easier once you have a solid foundation to build on, as Spanish becomes increasingly more difficult as you have to abandon false friends and intuition. This is why most Spanish speakers abandon study once they've reached a conversational level.
You're making amazing progress for someone 5 months in; i abandoned Japanese twice in the absolute beginner level, and it took me 3 years to make it to beginner (N4) level. From there, only 2 years to advanced (N1). Just don't let the lack of palpable results get you down; right now, you're not making your way to fluency and native materials, but towards a foundation to start from. If you just keep studying, you'll reach new plateaus.
Also, remember that mist college courses only aim for lower intermediate level at best; use the courses for more in-depth understanding and to keep you on track, but remember that you always want to be ahead of them (which you already are!). Learning languages is a matter of patience and perseverance more than anything.
Best of luck!