So - who is here among you or can tell about former Klingonists who may
confirm they learned the language in a similarly short period of time?
I first obtained a copy of The Klingon Dictionary in December 1994. I didn't start treating the language as something to learn until I discovered the tlhIngan-Hol mailing list in January. That's what I count as the beginning of my study of Klingon.
After a month, I felt confident enough to translate poetry. I was wrong, very wrong.
Two months after I started, I thought I understood Klingon grammar well enough to explain it to others. I was close.
At the end of the third month, I had almost enough vocabulary to be able to pass as fluent...for a couple of sentences.
After four months, I was able to follow simple conversations with occasional trips to the dictionary.
Six months into my study, I knew enough words to participate in simple conversations without resort to the dictionary. I still made plenty of silly grammatical errors though.
Then I started using a computerized lookup tool. My progress stalled until I stopped.
-- ghunchu'wI'