Thank you everyone for your thoughtful replies. It looks like it will take me much longer than most people here to complete the course. It seems that many people here are students who are completing it on extended breaks. Alas, I have a full time (not Japanese language related!) job, as well as other requirements on my non-work time (including taking a Japanese course which emphasizes grammer, vocabulary, homework, speaking, etc).
Although from the impression I have now, it really doesn't matter if it takes me 9 or even 12 months to finish. The value of simply befriending all the joyo kanji seems like such a valuable skill for a Japanese language student, that it needn't be rushed to be of value.
Although from the impression I have now, it really doesn't matter if it takes me 9 or even 12 months to finish. The value of simply befriending all the joyo kanji seems like such a valuable skill for a Japanese language student, that it needn't be rushed to be of value.