What Katakana Is For
Where each script shows up in real Japanese.
Where Each Script Shows Up
You can read both now, so here is what each one does.
Katakana marks a word as foreign or as a sound effect, like for coffee. It also works the way italics do, making a word stand out.
Hiragana does everything else that is not kanji: the small grammar words, the verb endings, and plenty of everyday vocabulary.
Your Name in Katakana
Foreign names are written in katakana, one sound at a time!
Maria becomes マリア. Tom becomes トム. Katakana even has extra kana for sounds Japanese does not normally have, like ファ and ティ, and when nothing matches, the closest kana stands in.
Say your own name slowly and pick the kana that matches each sound.
Add two ticks to ウ and you get ヴ. A few borrowed words use it to show a v sound, like ラヴ for love. Most people still say it like a b, and that word is usually written ラブ instead.
You Can Read Kana!
You just learned both kana scripts. From here, every Japanese sentence has something in it you can read out loud.
Kanji Basics is next, and it is the quickest of the three courses.