To significantly improve in a foreign language the student needs to learn how to read the target language. This isn't as difficult of a task for Latin based languages, which use a similar alphabet. However, when it comes to learning one of the Ryukyuan, Semitic, or Sinitic languages, such as Arabic or Japanese, then the student must challenge the new writing system full heartedly. This pursuit will require a great deal of memorizing foreign looking characters, the order of pen strokes, and rules for sentence structuring.
The reward of learning a foreign writing system is the asset of literacy itself! Being able to sit down and read a book in another language will expand the mind of the student, allowing the student to pick up new meaning from the target language through the act of reading the written word. Remember that illiteracy is a serious inhibitor to the progress of anyone, in any society. Mastering the new language will allow a student to move forward in the culture or society of the target language.
The degree to which a student of a foreign language masters a writing system measures his or her worth in a society. For example, in Japan, children use Hiragana (a basic writing system of simple characters) to write in school. During the elementary school years, children gradually learn Kanji (a very complex writing system of characters), which they will use for the rest of their adult lives. In Japan, being literate requires an adult to have mastered not only the two basic writing systems (Hiragana and Katakana), but a few thousand Kanji characters as well. Although Kanji originated in China, what makes the Japanese Kanji different is the combination of Kanji characters and Hiragana to change pronunciation and meaning.
With that having been said, the degree to which a student of Japanese needs to learn about the writing system depends on the student’s ambitions, as well as a desire to be recognized by Japanese peers, coworkers, friends, and superiors as a literate member of society. Reading and writing are similar to physical exercise—The more you do, the more you can. It is entirely up to the individual to determine how much he/ she is willing to learn about any subject. Tackle all opportunities to expose your mind to the language of study. Write down foreign words for things like “telephone” or “fridge” on little pieces of paper, and then tape the papers to household items. Tape a chart of characters/ letters to the inside of the bathroom door. Wherever you look, you should see something about the language you intend to master.