Hi! A comment from Japanese.
Your concern about learning Japanese would be the same with learning English for Japanese people.
7 months? Don’t worry!
It rather seems to me that your progress is going well.

Let me give you an example about learning English for Japanese people.
We learn English at school for 1 hour a day on average which is the same with your case. What Japanese people learn about English in their first year is;
-I am xxx. you, he, she, it, they…
-I V(ed) xxx.
-Do(Did) you V…?
-5W1H etc.
Very simple! It must be still hard to talk.

Simple calculation; 1 hour a day, 5 days a week, 1 year (40 weeks excluding summer breaks etc)
-> This gives 200 hours a year.

Replacing Genki-1, 2, 3 for instance with English textbooks for Japanese people, we finish them in 6 years (1200 hours). However, it’s still hard even for educated Japanese people to speak English although they can read and write.
The comment from Aficianado is also consistent with this; 5 hours a day, 5 days a week, 1 year -> This makes more than 1000 hours. He also says “to follow very simple conversations”.

Take a look at the following site.
http://www.languagetesting.com/how-long-does-it-take
It introduces how long it approximately takes to be a fluent foreign-language speaker.

What introduced in the site may not be totally correct but you could grasp the rough and objective idea. According to the site, the above 1200 hours may not be enough. You also need to improve your speaking skills.

I’m learning English and I often forget what I learned as similar to you. When I was young, I often felt discouraged about this. But now, I know that this is normal.

Good luck!

I will post another comment here soon.

Hi Rachel!

I've been at this mostly on my own for just over 2 years. I started by watching YouTube videos to learn how to write and read hiragana, and I borrowed some old conversational Japanese CDs from my local library. You can also find free Japanese lessons online at https://www.erin.ne.jp/en/

For more information about where to study Japanese online and for free: https://youtu.be/EnZ8DnYBMLY

Fluent in 6 months? https://youtu.be/_IOZbJ7PCPk  

Whether you believe it's possible or not, the video is at least entertaining. :)

I do daily vocab and kanji recognition drills at renshuu.org (you can set up your own schedules). I also got a free app through my local library called Mango, which has a pretty comprehensive course of study in conversational Japanese (and a lot of other languages as well). If your library offers it, you should definitely take advantage of it.

I still don't feel like I'm very fluent, but I do feel like I can communicate, and that's a pretty good feeling. I hope some of these suggestions are useful for you. Good luck with your studies!

I think It is possible to become able to follow very simple conversations in one year. First, if you are good at chinese (which is not only a kanji matter, but also a vocabulary matter). If not, you can do it by attending a school for 5 hours a day, 5 days a week, and then, of course, studying at home.

In six mounths, or a little more, you can complete minna no nihongo shokyuu 1 and 2. But maybe your head will be about to explode. Even so, you still won't be able to conversate as to call yourself 'fluent'. It requires time to get more vocabulary and practice what you learned.

Maybe, when you go Japan, your level won't allow you to start from a more advanced class, but don't worry, all you can learn now will be useful.

About talking with Japanese people, you are right, you may not get too much contact with them if you are shy. Most of them will be too. My advice is that you try to get a part-time job (arubaito) or try to enter a sport club, cookin classes, etc. That will force you to talk directly to Japanese, and them with you. Maybe is my perception, but I think aged women and young boys are much more talkative, while young girls and aged men are very reserved.

Good luck.

I first started trying to learn Japanese about a year and a half ago. Hiragana, katakana--you know, the usual way that people start. I sat at that level, content with the progress I had made, until maybe October of last year. In other words, I stopped studying. In October, I decided that if I learned kanji, I'd start studying the language again. I started using an SRS to memorize vocabulary, and stuck with that for another several months (and burnt out again).

"If you don't know vocabulary, you won't be able to read anything or speak to anybody," I told myself. Sound familiar?

I spent probably a full year worrying about making mistakes. As such, I never actually learned anything except vocabulary. So I found a teacher that I liked, and now we have regular sessions. I get to practice my reading, I get to practice my speaking, I get my mistakes corrected, and I feel more comfortable making mistakes.

I can honestly say that I've learned more in the past four or five months than I did in the year previous because I actually get the chance to use Japanese now. As the saying goes: "If you don't use it, you lose it." That goes for languages, too. What are you doing to learn Japanese, outside of class? What do you study? How do you study? Do you use it?

And I know you feel discouraged. I'm not trying to make you feel worse. Trust me, I understand. I stopped feeling so bad once I stopped comparing myself to other people--probably the best advice I've ever received. Don't compare your progress to others. It's only going to make you feel worse.

And at the end of the day, the only person that can keep you from learning Japanese is you. If you want it--if you really, truly want it--you'll do it. And I only know this because I've been in the exact same situation as you.

I made progress; so can you. I believe in you!

Comment on Saburo:

Rachel- I hope this is useful for you, too. You can replace the following situations with yours.

I don’t understand the reason for remembering 2000 Kanji until starting to practice speaking.

You can easily find the following facts, searching for them anywhere.

First, the number of common Kanji (常用漢字<じょうようかんじ>) is about 2000 (technically information says 2136). This is what Japanese people learn until around 15 years old (before graduating junior high) and necessary to read Japanese newspapers without any trouble.

In English,

it is generally said that native English speakers know more than 20000 words which are enough to read English newspapers. English words, that Japanese people learn until they graduate high school, are said to be 6000 words –Of course, they can’t read English newspapers.

Your logic means that even Japanese (English) people should not try to practice speaking English (Japanese) until they become able to read English (Japanese) newspapers. Also it means that even Japanese university students should not practice speaking English but should focus on remembering English words.

NOPE

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