Background
Beginner Grammar
First, you need understand that Japanese grammar needs to be broken down into Beginner and NOT-Beginner level (I thought about this a lot on how to explain it well).
The beginner level focuses a lot on just understanding sentence order: subject particle object particle verb. It focuses on learning to different ways to conjugate verbs (masu form, short form, te-form, volitional form, etc.) and adjectives (i-adj and na-adj).
The beginning level takes a while to learn mainly because it’s so different compared to western languages. The nice thing is there’s no masculine/feminine particles, no plural nouns, the verb doesn’t have to agree with subject, etc.
Intermediate / Advanced Grammar
The NOT-beginner level (aka everything else) uses the basic conjugations you learned in the beginning level and applies it to new grammar points.
For example, short form + grammar point is a very common grammar pattern (行ったことがあります). Also, pre-masu verb + grammar ending is quite common. (食べやすい、覚えづらい).
IMPORTANT NOTE ON ROMAJI:
The main reason you can’t rely on romaji is because you won’t be able to get very far grammar-wise. Like things just won’t make nearly as much sense in the intermediate level with knowing the hiragana or kanji.
For example: the small っ indicating the long “t” sound
買う -> 買った vs katta (short form past tense)
Learning Tips
*Watch YouTube Videos Explaining Grammar
There are a ton of channels out there that have Japanese grammar lessons for free. My favorite is Nihongo to Tabi. It breaks down the grammar points by JLPT level. The teacher is great at explaining things without using English. Also rather than having to read tiny handwriting, the texts and graphics are all digital, which I prefer.
There is also Nihongo no Mori and Japanese Amano with Misa which are great channels too. These are all great for self-study when you don’t have a teacher or tutor on hand.
*Rewrite the grammar points into your notebook using your own note-taking method (color-coding/highlighting/etc.)
For languages esp. it’s really hard to just stare at the grammar from a textbook or screen and have it actually sink in. I think it’s much better to rewrite it into your own words without all the extra words or mess that textbooks or apps have.
*Buy the workbook that goes with the textbook
If you are studying with Genki, you can use the Genki 1 & 2 workbooks. Tobira also has a workbook. Despite the time as it takes, the practice problems helped me so much with memorizing the grammar structures especially for the complicated conjugations like passive-causative and son-keigo.
*Use the HelloTalk app to practice making sentences
Use HelloTalk to write about your day or converse with natives. This will give you a chance to try out writing the grammar and natives can correct your errors. You can also ask questions too and they can answer.
*Try to find examples of the grammar points used in media/articles/stories
If you watch tv or read a book and notice a grammar point you just learned about in it, highlight/screenshot/make note of it. You are more likely to remember if you saw that point outside your textbook or app.
*Don’t try to learn more than a few per day
It’s easy to get carried away when you feel like you got the hang of it, but just stop after 3-4 points. You probably can’t retain more than that anyways per day.
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