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You're 21 right? If you start now you'll be able to read a Japanese newspaper by the time you're 33.

I don't know with todays resources on how to learn how to chinese characters that are used in japanese you can learn how to read in about 3 years if you get serious about it, 10 if you wanna go the slow route about it. It's all mind over matter.

How long did it take you to learn Japanese?

As far as speaking/listening : took 3 months thanks to the japanese folks I had to talk to.

Reading : Katakana and Hiragana took me about a week to learn how to read and write. The chinese characters that I know are up to the 2nd level (1st level is the hardest). I've only spent like 6 months learning chinese characters cause I don't have time like I did when I started learning japanese.

katakana is easy, so hirigana but not bothered yet! but there are 1000's of characters, some Japanese people actaully carry dictionaries/character sets around with them!