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These are the ones I find acceptable to express the sentence but none of which actually translates to having "taken" the class. Not 'been' or 'studied' at, but 'taken'. I don't think 取る works as a direct translation right?

So which of these are correct and which translate the best to having taken a class. If possible, please give me examples that have nuances between having taken a class, but did not finish the full class/course/schedule versus having taken let's say a full year's worth of the class. Would there be any difference in your sentence (without explicitly making a second sentence to mention that fact)?

日本語授業を取ることがあった。
日本語授業に行くことがあった。
日本語授業で勉強することがあった。
日本語授業コースを完成しました。

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    I deleted my answer because it had a number of issues, as pointed out in the comments on it. I would check out this other question though japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/18629/…
    – BraveFoot
    Commented Mar 23, 2018 at 19:13
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    This isn't what you're asking, but I figured you'd like to know that to say "I've done X", it's, e.g., 取ったことがある, not 取ることがあった.
    – mamster
    Commented Mar 24, 2018 at 0:26
  • Thank you Bravefoot, that was a useful reference! Thank you mamster that was minor point-out but it's very helpful to take note of these subtleties.
    – shoryuu
    Commented Mar 24, 2018 at 18:21

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I've asked a native speaker before and been told 受ける is a good verb to use (as opposed to 取る). So for an example:

僕はその授業を受けたことがあります。

Also, there is the verb 受講 which means to attend or participate in a class or lecture.

僕はその授業を受講したことがあります。

I think that if you say sentences like this, it sounds like you have finished the course.

I know you asked without using a second sentence, but I would use wording like this if you want to express you didn't finish a course.

その授業を一時期受けていたのですが、途中でやめました。

If you want to express just dropping in for a single day, you could say something like:

その授業を一日だけ受けたことがあります。

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  • 取る is actually commonly used synonymously to 受ける though they have different semantic focuses in literal meaning (see @BraveFoot's comment above).
    – broccoli forest
    Commented Mar 24, 2018 at 4:08
  • Thank you! Very detailed and I can see the differences if I wish to express them differently. 受講 is also a new word to add to my vocab. Also never knew both 取る and 受ける were usable but had subtle differences. Learnt a lot!
    – shoryuu
    Commented Mar 24, 2018 at 18:24

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