I'm getting alot of the basics down, but alot of the more complicated ways to use particles and conjugate is getting really tough. I also am STILL finding a hard time understanding the difference between "desu(da)" and "imasu(iru)." As you can see, as a native speaker my English isn't even that good, so I just get flustered and less hopeful... To the point where I'm even questioning when to use "wo" or the entire "wa,ga,wo" structure. If anyone can give me any tips or advice I would really appreciate it.
It sounds like you've just learned a bit too much at once. Particles and sentence structure take a lot of effort to really understand how they work at the beginning, which is why it's overwhelming.
My suggestion is to concentrate on one particle or sentence type at a time until you feel more confident about how it's used, then work on the next one. Don't worry about how to use います while you're working on making sentences with です, just focus on practicing "A は B です" until you feel like you understand what it can and can't express. Then when you get to "X が います", you'll be able to see right away that it's expressing something that です doesn't, and you'll be less likely to confuse them.
Also it might help to study syntax and sentence structure more generally first (in your native language). It could be harder understanding what the particles in Japanese are supposed to be doing if you aren't already very familiar with the concepts of subjects and objects and verb transitivity, etc.
Just relax. It’s okay to be confused, and if you intend to study Japanese seriously you may as well get used to it. Focus on repetition and dialogue and don’t try to learn everything at once. That might mean that you not worry so much about what everything “means.” Once you’ve come to be familiar with Japanese on its own terms, then you can start asking—and answering—questions about how the language works and how to translate back and forth with English.
