Those three thousand characters and their pronunciations are going to take a long time with a good study method. Without one, it will never happen.

Skritter's solution is a Chinese language spaced-repetition learning system (SRS). By keeping track of your progress on your words and scheduling optimal times to review each of them, SRSs have been shown to dramatically increase long-term retention and learning speed. Hard items are practiced more, easy items are practiced less, and you don't waste time overpracticing things (or underpracticing and then having to relearn them).

Skritter isn't the only thing you'll need to learn Chinese (see our Learning Resources). Nothing can replace conversational practice, and it's very helpful to have a teacher or a textbook, too. But practicing characters is done alone, and Skritter is the most efficient way to do it.