Honestly, I don't think learning the verbal language is a tenth as bad as cramming all those funky squiggles into a single lobe. I kind of regret not taking Tom from XSEED's advice and learning to speak first, read later.
I figured since I transliterate so much Latin and Greek from old nerdy texts, I'd catch on quick enough. . . but if I go three days without reviewing kanji, I pretty much have to start over from scratch.