I came across this interesting description of the Japanese degree program at the University of London as it supposedly was in the '60's, from an issue of "The East-West Review (1966)." It certainly sounds ambitious. It says that in most cases students had no prior knowledge of the language. It claims that in the second year of study students were expected to read a complete novel in Japanese(!). I wonder how many people successfully completed this program. The article notes that "the number of students working for the BA degree is very small, twelve in all at the present time."
The article notes that the student "also has to speak and understand speech well enough for ordinary purposes, but it is felt to be uneconomical to develop a high degree of fluency in class room time, and the aim is rather to provide him with a basic ability which he is encouraged to develop with social contact with Japanese outside the School and, where possible, a visit to Japan during his course."
https://books.google.ca/books?id=wB9pAwA...se&f=false
The article notes that the student "also has to speak and understand speech well enough for ordinary purposes, but it is felt to be uneconomical to develop a high degree of fluency in class room time, and the aim is rather to provide him with a basic ability which he is encouraged to develop with social contact with Japanese outside the School and, where possible, a visit to Japan during his course."
https://books.google.ca/books?id=wB9pAwA...se&f=false
