Best way to learn hiragana and katakana?

Just be careful with Pimsleur. The audio Pimsleur course uses pre-defined conversations and focuses on teaching repetition of phrases rather than learning grammar and dialogue. In effect you only learn how to say some basic sentences but don't really gain an understanding of any of the science behind them and it is very good at making you think your Japanese is a lot better than it actually is.

For that reason I would also recommend something like Genki or Japanese for Busy People over Pimsleur or supplementing study of those with Pimsleur. Hiragana and Katakana can be learned using free mobile apps these days.

 

I found this website to be really helpful when I was trying to learn Hiragana. I learn it in less than 2 weeks with this online course.
The course includes about 12 videos. Each video you learn 5 characters that allows you to interact and stay engaged. I loved it.

It was called: Japanese With Nana. Link: http://japanesewithnana.teachable.com/?preview=logged_out