Kore wa Nandesuka?

[VengeanceGOD]

Speaking from my personal experience of Japanese Language, when I took Japanese 2 (the intermediate class) we were only JUST starting to learn Kanji at the end of the year.

When I took 3 we had a whole year of learning Kanji, but my school's weekly quiz style of teaching sucked, and I don't remember a single symbol.

 

[Kyusaku]

When I took Japanese in college, there were 6 classes in total. Elementary Japanese 101 and 102, Intermediate Japanese 201 and 202, and Advanced 301 and 302. In Elementary Japanese 101, by the 5th week in the class we were already starting kanji(out of usual 15 week semester). I think by the end of 101, you were suppose to know around 60 or 70 kanji along with hiragana and katakana.

 

[VengeanceGOD]

Yeah, they let us have a semester before they started into the Kanji. I think your way was probably better - once you've really settled into hiragana and katagana, it's HARD to start memorizing symbols.

But then, I've always thought my school's style of teaching sucked. I still remember some things and can pick out certain phrases, but I didn't really LEARN the language in that year and a half. I might have enough of a basis to pick it up if I spent some time in Japan, but that's probably not going to happen for a long time.