Quote:
Originally Posted by chryuop
I feel bad now...can you really learn that much in a semester? I guess I am a very slow learner then, coz to learn to write a decent paragraph took me more than a semester  |
I think it depends on the teacher. You can probably write a paragraph after a semester in most language classes, but they're not necessarily fluid and engaging. Your sentence structure is far from varied, you have a limited vocabulary and a limited set of topics you can competently discuss. I think what most people can say after a semester are things like 'Hello, my name is (name). I am (age) and I live in (place). I can speak (language).'
I do agree that you need カタカナespecially with the 和製英語（わせいえいご） Which are Japanese words in katakana that have been borrowed from other languages (I'm actually not sure if the definition is just english words, though the word itself does mean 'Japanese-made English language' or something along those lines.) You'll run across words that are pretty common in beginning a language like テレビ (television) and スーパー (supermarket). Also, the names of foreign cities and countries are in katakana.
Finally, with regards to Kanji, I think you need to look at what the other students in class have learned. Beginning language classes for Japanese never seem to teach enough kanji so you may not be too far behind.