[adilmoujahid]

You can learn basic conversation without reading, but it only gets you so far. Japanese has tons of similar-sounding words, and without kanji, it's hard to build a deep vocabulary or follow meaningful conversations. Reading reinforces understanding—and kanji actually makes it easier to remember words once you get used to it.

[mc3301]

I definitely think you can get pretty far building speaking and listening skills in Japanese without kanji.

However, learning hiragana is, I think, absolutely necessary. Why? They are the building blocks of how Japanese actually sounds.

I have met hundreds of non-Japanese people who have spent time living in Japan and trying to learn the language.

Many can barely read kanji, but are fine with everyday listening/speaking.

But those who refused to learn hiragana? Their pronunciation is terribly difficult to understand, and their listening skills suffer, too.

My takeaway: learn Hiragana first.

[soco]

Stupid question: why is important to read in order to be able to speak? Are there no illiterate people who can speak? Is Japanese something special, like dunno you modulate your lips in the way the character is traced or something? Or you just meant reading language books which are all written in hiragana... I'm just confused, sorry.