There are also people that are level 20-30 that will fly through basic manga. Reading manga has way more to do with grammar knowledge, understanding casual dialogue, and general manga stuff than knowing Kanji.
Yes because of how you are approaching it.
Only if you actually have conversations in Japanese to begin with.
If this is your goal then start practicing understanding Japanese music now. Memorizing Kanji wont make your listening better. You have to listen to things to improve your listening.
Japanese song lyrics are pretty easy to look up by searching for “<song name> 歌詞” (かし).
As long as you keep in mind that they are often more poetic and/or archaic than normal Japanese, you can start learning vocab and grammar from songs right away!
Like others have said studying WK does not teach Japanese as a whole only Kanji and some vocabulary. You still need other resources outside of WK to become fluent in Japanese.
I think one of the most important things to know is that studying Japanese takes a lot of time and dedication to become fluent. If you set realistic expectations and goals from the beginning then it helps you from becoming too discouraged. Of course there’s getting over the initial shock of what it will take. Most people will take years to learn Japanese. I would say it averages 3-5 years for people that continuously study (with other things going on in their life) and who also have a grasp on the language along your journey. If you’re struggling to understand new language concepts or if you’re inconsistent with studying then you might need more time. If you’re extremely focused, you have more time to dedicate to the language and you are able to quickly learn new language concepts then you could learn quicker. Many that try to go the quick route will burn themselves out though. Many that take the time will struggle with how long it feels like it’s taking. You just have to focus on the end goal.
