Would that be the goal and end of our studies? Could someone at this point pick up any random book and just read it normally?

You can start much earlier with reading. Also have a look at the search function, there have been threads about this topic for example this is pretty close to your question.

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Personally, I'd pick up a little more grammar than the Core decks contain. A quick read of Tae Kim, imabi, or anything that covers N4-N3 stuff should be more than enough. You could add flashcards for the points (about 800 in total for Tae Kim, I reckon you could skip the cards for 'Basic' grammar though) that you haven't seen in Core. Or you can simply look up points as you go along, but that can be more painful than looking up a simple word.

I am not saying you need to study grammar to a high level, but Core contains very, very little beyond the absolute basics of grammar. You'll find with only core sentences that you understand 90% of the vocabulary, but almost every sentence will contain someo basic/essential grammar you simply have no understanding of.

murtada Wrote:Would that be the goal and end of our studies? Could someone at this point pick up any random book and just read it normally?

No, the Japanese language is made up of at least an order of magnitude more words, idioms, patterns, etc. than what's in Core10K.

Core is not meant to be used in isolation. You're supposed to read, watch TV, listen to radio and music, etc., while doing Core, or SRS-ing other materials. If you don't, trying to go through Core is torture (learning and remembering thousands of words and simple sentences in isolation, without a rich, engaging context is very difficult), and even if you struggle through it, it's not as effective as you'd expect.

This is just speculation, but I doubt you'd be able to read at all, even simple stuff, let alone books, normally, just by doing Core10k.

P.S. I don't know if this is where you're coming from, but the AJATT blog states that SRS-ing 10,000 sentences is how the author learned Japanese. But it also states that he spent two years fully immersed in Japanese, whenever he wasn't SRS-ing (hence the name).

So think more along those lines. Obviously, most of us won't just spend all our time on Japanese for two years. But that means we shouldn't expect to be fluent in two years. It's gonna take more like four or five. I also don't plan on SRS-ing 10,000 sentences. I know, from experience, that I can learn a foreign language I'm immersed in on a daily basis without that...as long as I give it enough time.