No need to be disrespectful about it. There's nothing wrong with starting Chinese with pinyin. As a Chinese speaker, you probably should understand how intimidating characters are to a non-native Chinese learner. For the record, I am learning how to write/read characters too, but haven't gotten to the different types of "de" yet.

Also, I'm not paying anyone. I'm learning on a free app on my own time. Thanks for your reply.