[enyafriend]

Well, for all I know, one could be doing 3 months and am at basic level, or 3 years and STILL am at basic level. It's hard to say, you know. It all depends on yourself - how much effort you are putting into, whether you are doing it on a daily basis or once a week in class, 15 minutes a day or 2 hours a day, whether you are learning a new word a day or 10 new words a day, etc.

It helps if you have some japanese friends, or at least, someone who is good enough in japanese, to allow you to practice with. Assuming you are serious enough in your learning effort, I would say after a year of learning, you could probably be good enough to hold a decent conversation in japanese.