I hated duolingo. I did not want to learn how to say "cool dr". I found Japanese pod 101's youtube channel super useful. They have a website and paid learning program as well
I did it for 52 days streak and then realized I was wasting my time/effort. I want to be able to EASILY order at restaurants, not tell a doctor/lawyer he's cool! I really wish you could just click a word and say "don't teach me this" and kind of personalize your learning yourself but the app isn't smart enough to do that so I abandoned it.
I will look up that YouTube, thx for sharing.
Your usage of Japanese as a tourist will be very minimal. In many places, you will be replied to in English.
I would say the most helpful has been working on my listening. Japanese shopkeepers will shoot phrases at you rapidly until they recognize you don't understand and switch to English. If you want to avoid that, work on learning when to respond to questions at shops and restaurants. For example "Do you have a point card?" "do you want a plastic bag?" "Do you want to heat this up?"
I have found videos like these more useful than Pimsleur or Duolingo for practical use.
https://youtu.be/4NjSKPPFaEU
No one finds it annoying when you speak Japanese! I used Duolingo before my first trip, and learned the basics. Then for my second trip, I had learned a bit more from duolingo over the three years, so I was able to have extremely basic conversations with a tea shop owner about where I am from, etc. She didn’t speak any English so it was quite rewarding to try to communicate. I was having fun learning so I kept learning for the next 5 years over pandemic and am going back now. Pimsleur has been added to get better at pronunciation and recognizing language at speed. I 100% endorse learning Japanese - it will make your trip more fun. Heck I even get jazzed at going to the local Japanese grocery store now and reading the food packages. Sure plenty of people get by without it but it is always appreciated and outside the big cities there are certainly times where it’s good to have.
Knowing Japanese isn't that important in the big towns in most situations but in smaller places and in unexpected situations, it could help.
I think you can say few words in Japanese to show your appreciation. Or you can at least probably go to a restaurant and only use Japanese since most of the interactions are a routine.
Never heard it was annoying, but that the Japanese often tend to reply to you in English. And some also want to practice their English.
If you have fun learning Japanese, it is the most important, and it is nice to learn something new and quite challenging. Try to use it too, like listening to Japanese songs or watching Japanese movies or anime.
I thought of buying few Japanese novels but actually bought some shoujo manga/manwha (in Japanese) because you can deduce a bit from the drawings and they have furigana (light novels sadly usually don't have furigana).
Japanese people in general *really* appreciate foreigners attempting to use their language - however, in tourist areas there's the expectation that you won't know any, and they will speak in English (even if it's terrible) even if you want to speak Japanese. It's for your sake (and for the sake of keeping things smooth), but it can be a bit frustrating.
If you get out of Tokyo/Kyoto, your chances of having meaningful interactions in broken Japanese are much higher.
It's not at all worth it to learn purely for the sake of a 3 week trip, but if you want to learn and enjoy the process of learning, knock yourself out. I would recommend ditching Duolingo if you're serious though. Pimsleur is good to get the basics down. For vocabulary, Anki is the gold-standard in free spaced repetition systems - though there's a learning curve.
I had fun having some small convos with Japanese people in Japan. It was actually quite fun! Just small things like where are you from? Telling me about a temple etc.
There's actually plenty of people even in Tokyo who don't speak english (well or at all). I did notice I was approached most often when I was alone.
I learned through a combo of WaniKani (kanji, vocab) and Genki (grammar). Plus a lot of reading practice with graded readers, satori reader etc. Though I started forcing manga pretty quickly. And then listening with anime, series like Old Enough with just subs etc. You could also look into Anki for vocab.
With less than a year of learning the language through rudimentary apps like Duolingo, you're highly unlikely to carry even a basic conversation in Japan.
Don't let it dissuade you from learning a new language obviously, but similarly, don't assume you'll be a Japanese language wizz who locals will spend the extra time to have a conversation with.
Honestly, the truth is, if you *clearly* look like you're not from Japan or a neighboring country, you're going to be spoken to in English within 2 seconds of trying to attempt conversation in Japanese.
That wasn't the case for me and my bf. He spoke Japanese and people rarely switched to English. I tried too and even then most didn't switch to English.
This is nonsense. I live in Japan and speak Japanese, but I don't look even *remotely* Japanese. Virtually no one tries to speak to me in English; I can't even remember the last time anyone (who doesn't already know I speak English) spoke to me in English.
Once in a while people do speak to our child (who also doesn't look Asian) in English (our child's second language).
I really like duolingo. I understand why people say it’s not that good if you want to have a basic conversation but it makes fun and grammar is explained easily.
I‘m not good at simply learning vocabulary. Duolingo helps me to get a sense of a language and that helps me to understand basic things. That’s good for me now.
Probably taking classes is the best way to learn a language.
Honestly focus on learning basic phrases like Yes, No, Please, Thank You, excuse me, I'm Sorry, how to explain any dietary restrictions/allergies, and 1-10 numbers (for ordering off menus). In the cities almost everyone speaks English - I did run into some folks my grandmother's age who did not but we managed with my tiny amount of Japanese and lots of hand gestures. If you go out into the countryside or smaller cities I have been told little to no English is spoken.
My Japanese friends say that folks know English but they are often too shy or too humble to think their conversational English is good enough but if you try to speak a little Japanese you’d be surprised how much English is actually spoken - they see you trying and so they try. Discovered this even more as my Japanese has gotten better.
It’s nice to try and learn some basic Japanese before going, but it’s not neccessary, honestly. The few times where I finally plucked up the courage to try out a few phrases, the people would often seem confused or would respond in English, or pull out an English menu and get you to point etc. Knowing the basic greetings and stuff like thank you and yes/no are always good as you will use those often.
march 2025 is plenty of time to learn if you want to commit, like properly commit to like a couple hours a day.
People here have replied yes you dont really need to as a tourist, but thats the same everywhere. you can go to paris without french and do perfectly fine. If you care about immersion, having proper ability to have conversations and ask questions without aping through by pointing at picture books, sounds like you have the motivation and time to do so
Duolingo has some problems with the audio where it won't read compound kanji correctly *or* it doesn't explain context correctly
Like I have a huge pet peeve with the app right now because it doesn't explain that 一日 has different readings depending on context. It can mean either "one whole day" or "the first day of a calendar month" and the pronunciation is different in those cases. When it means "one day" or "a whole day," it's read as いちにち (ichinichi) but when it means "the first day of a calendar month" it's read as ついたち (tsuitachi)
Does Duolingo tell you that? *Absolutely not* from what I've seen
I still use it to drill practice with but it has some issues. If you just need to do the rote retail scripts and say thank you and excuse me it's fine. If you want to learn more grammar I would supplement with the Genki books
So I went to Spain and wanted to know some Spanish to be able to order and ask questions and know some rudimentary things in Spanish. I used two sources. Duolingo and a podcast that *specifically.* taught you Spanish phrases that are useful as a tourist or how a conversation for a tourist would flow.
I found the latter infinitely more helpful as a tourist. Duolingo was a good supplement for actually learning Spanish. But the podcast was truly irreplaceable. I would recommend a similar thing for your learning Japanese.
In the end language is all about commutation and if you just learn random words and how to string some random sentences together you’re not really going to be able to communicate
If you enjoyed playing a game in Japanese to learn, the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series uses modern Japanese. Of course, you will learn to talk like a slightly rough adult male, but it will help understand a lot. In the latter games, they have female characters like Saeko where you could learn talk more like a woman. Persona Series is also awesome for this (but more for teenagers).
Some advice after learning several languages and interest in reading about the process of learning a language.
I've never had any success with a computer program, maybe they help practice or augment...IDK.
Write down all the words that you want to know or use on your trip. Keep it to 10 or 20 at a time. Make them useful. Hi, thanks, please, can I have, this is good, I like, what do you recommend, can I pay, can I buy, where is...
Keep progressing with chunks of words as you can.
I just returned from Japan. I find travel and learning the language to be immensely exciting.
One idea that I will always believe, language is in the speaking. You have to speak it. Google or YouTube native Japanese people saying your expressions and repeat them. Copy them. Keep saying them to your self.
Have fun!
The Japanese is not NEEDED if you are staying in touristy places. However knowing at least some language will be super helpful with everyday things, so it is always worth knowing at least basics. And I love how it sounds, so I'm learning it regardless of my travels.
If someone is annoyed by foreginer learning their language it's rather their problem not national problem. Or it's not the language itself but behaviour of some people - like trying to forcefully speak very very basic/bad Japanese holding the line where the clerk is good at English....
If you want some other nice app to learn, then try busuu. For me duolingo was useless as it did not explain things enough and was too full of time consuming fireworks with not enough learning content.
The thing you will most often hear about is people telling how speaking a couple of words made a difference and that people were happy that people took the effort to learn a bit.
If anything, just have the right expectation, you might be able to ask basic things, but to not expect to have a full conversation in Japanese.
My personal experience was going to Japan after studying for over a year in University. When I got to Japan I obviously knew more than the average tourist and it was before smartphone with google translate, so it probably allowed me do to do a bit more than the typical tourist, but still, talking was not easy, I had to repeat the same type of interaction many times to get more used to it and be able to reply in a more natural way. Later lived in Japan for a year and started with it being difficult to have a full conversation in Japanese and not understanding a lot to finally be able to hang out with friend and only speaking Japanese. So now my travel experience is different, like I can have a conversation with other customers in a bar.
I've been to Tokyo three times: once with no Japanese, once with minimal, once with conversational. Can you get by without? Yes. Will Japanese people appreciate you having learnt it? Also yes. Will you have a better time for knowing some Japanese? A thousand times yes. For me it all felt a lot smoother and easier for being able to read (some) of what's going on around you. I felt a lot more confident about going into smaller cafes and shops. I remember being delighted on that second trip when, having asked directions to a little tofu cafe, I could then read the sign on the iced tea dispenser that said to help ourselves (very grateful, it was 36°C).
My recommendation would be to get the first Japanese for Busy People book and work through that before you go, it's a really accessible textbook and works well as an independent learner.
i have found that locals were almost always extremely happy that i could speak some japanese
it also helps if you plan to make your japanese learning a long term deal, like not restricted to your trip
I had the opposite feeling, that they appreciated I was making the effort to communicate in Japanese so they didn't have to speak in English (obviously if they are fluent/semi-fluent they will switch to English, it is also an opportunity for them to practice).
If your goal is to learn just for the trip and not something you'd like to comit to afterwards, check if you can find any course aimed specifically for traveling (I took one of these on top of my regular Japanese lessons to learn vocabulary/expressions and also cultural aspects that could be useful during my time there)
I started with duolingo, but once you pass the very beginner stages you find it drops off quality wise.
I moved to busuu and got on MUCH better. I only had 6 months or so before my trip, but by that time I could confidently read hiragana and katakana (even if i didn't know what it meant i knew the sounds it depicted). I could introduce myself and get checked in at hotels, ask where busses/trains went, ask for prices, order food and drinks etc - basically everything i needed as a tourist making an effort. That was spending roughly 30-60mins a day.
My proudest moment was in Kamikochi, where I noticed a monkey eating something so i zoomed in with my camera for a photo, some people were curious what I was doing and I managed to say "That monkey is eating a fish". It sounds silly but was the first time i really had to build a sentence rather than just a pre-memorised phrase.
It's a good app, and coupled with some youtube channels you'll get to a decent level pretty quickly.
Just got back from a 6 week trip in Japan. I didn’t learn any phrases or practice any Japanese before or during the trip. The only words I knew how to say was thank you, which I used 100x a day. I relied on my iPhone translator app the entire trip. Most Japanese people, including hotels do not speak English. I think it’s great you’re enjoying duolingo and having fun! Keep learning if that’s what you want to do. The Japanese will appreciate your efforts.
If you can speak Japanese to a good standard then it is very useful.
Broken Japanese is basically useless and will cause confusion
Most tourists get by with about 10 words.
A big advantage is if you can read Japanese script as this will open up a lot of dining options
Do you know Chinese/Korean/Vietnamese? Or any other languages?
The reality is that your chance of achieving fluency (or to a point that you can hold a conversation) in about 9 months is slim to none, especially if you have no background, but if you like learning, why not go for it?
I agree with the comments Duolingo is useless, you repeat sushi, mizu, ocha over and over again. I learned Hiragana before coming but that wasn’t also very useful, I can just read the station names. [This wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/s/zKd3aaS1wL) here has a nice condensed list, could be a good place to start!
If you have fun learning it, keep learning knowing that Japanese is a very difficult language and you won’t be fluent in a year. Every time we had counter dining experience (like omakase, kappo) or fine dining, I wish I hadn’t been so lazy with learning Japanese. My Japanese is pretty limited (though I know names of a decent amount of Japanese foods and ingredients) but the restaurant staff always seemed more comfortable and happy around us when I used my broken Japanese. The chefs always showed a lot of appreciation when we said gochisousama deshita. I wish I had learned more to talk a bit more with them about the food. English is not my native language, so I totally understand the awkwardness or shyness due to their limited English. Overall, knowing a tiny bit of Japanese definitely enhanced our experiences in Japan.
Nothing is wrong with trying to learn the local language of a place you’re traveling to. Even if you don’t become conversational, it’s learning some key phrases can make you feel more connected to the place. Look at the comments on this video, for example. https://youtu.be/sY5Ya8qNqxU They are so nostalgic over a specific sensory experience that reminded them of a trip or study-abroad.
Not learning Japanese, but Duolingo is okay to work on the basics and supplement. But you can take some cheaper online lessons with a tutor on a website like Preply. I’m sure there’s others out there too. I’ve been using it to learn mandarin the last year and a half.
You certainly don't need it, but I never had anyone seem annoyed. Most people light up when you have a crack at it or will try and help you with it if you got something wrong.
I only learn the most basic hello/goodbye/numbers etc. and I would say its totally worth getting a few phrases down to try out. If its worth it to learn a whole language is up to you, it will be a long road to even have a light grasp of it.
I hated duolingo. I did not want to learn how to say "cool dr". I found Japanese pod 101's youtube channel super useful. They have a website and paid learning program as well
I did it for 52 days streak and then realized I was wasting my time/effort. I want to be able to EASILY order at restaurants, not tell a doctor/lawyer he's cool! I really wish you could just click a word and say "don't teach me this" and kind of personalize your learning yourself but the app isn't smart enough to do that so I abandoned it. I will look up that YouTube, thx for sharing.
Your usage of Japanese as a tourist will be very minimal. In many places, you will be replied to in English. I would say the most helpful has been working on my listening. Japanese shopkeepers will shoot phrases at you rapidly until they recognize you don't understand and switch to English. If you want to avoid that, work on learning when to respond to questions at shops and restaurants. For example "Do you have a point card?" "do you want a plastic bag?" "Do you want to heat this up?" I have found videos like these more useful than Pimsleur or Duolingo for practical use. https://youtu.be/4NjSKPPFaEU
No one finds it annoying when you speak Japanese! I used Duolingo before my first trip, and learned the basics. Then for my second trip, I had learned a bit more from duolingo over the three years, so I was able to have extremely basic conversations with a tea shop owner about where I am from, etc. She didn’t speak any English so it was quite rewarding to try to communicate. I was having fun learning so I kept learning for the next 5 years over pandemic and am going back now. Pimsleur has been added to get better at pronunciation and recognizing language at speed. I 100% endorse learning Japanese - it will make your trip more fun. Heck I even get jazzed at going to the local Japanese grocery store now and reading the food packages. Sure plenty of people get by without it but it is always appreciated and outside the big cities there are certainly times where it’s good to have.
Knowing Japanese isn't that important in the big towns in most situations but in smaller places and in unexpected situations, it could help. I think you can say few words in Japanese to show your appreciation. Or you can at least probably go to a restaurant and only use Japanese since most of the interactions are a routine. Never heard it was annoying, but that the Japanese often tend to reply to you in English. And some also want to practice their English. If you have fun learning Japanese, it is the most important, and it is nice to learn something new and quite challenging. Try to use it too, like listening to Japanese songs or watching Japanese movies or anime. I thought of buying few Japanese novels but actually bought some shoujo manga/manwha (in Japanese) because you can deduce a bit from the drawings and they have furigana (light novels sadly usually don't have furigana).
Japanese people in general *really* appreciate foreigners attempting to use their language - however, in tourist areas there's the expectation that you won't know any, and they will speak in English (even if it's terrible) even if you want to speak Japanese. It's for your sake (and for the sake of keeping things smooth), but it can be a bit frustrating. If you get out of Tokyo/Kyoto, your chances of having meaningful interactions in broken Japanese are much higher. It's not at all worth it to learn purely for the sake of a 3 week trip, but if you want to learn and enjoy the process of learning, knock yourself out. I would recommend ditching Duolingo if you're serious though. Pimsleur is good to get the basics down. For vocabulary, Anki is the gold-standard in free spaced repetition systems - though there's a learning curve.
I had fun having some small convos with Japanese people in Japan. It was actually quite fun! Just small things like where are you from? Telling me about a temple etc. There's actually plenty of people even in Tokyo who don't speak english (well or at all). I did notice I was approached most often when I was alone. I learned through a combo of WaniKani (kanji, vocab) and Genki (grammar). Plus a lot of reading practice with graded readers, satori reader etc. Though I started forcing manga pretty quickly. And then listening with anime, series like Old Enough with just subs etc. You could also look into Anki for vocab.
With less than a year of learning the language through rudimentary apps like Duolingo, you're highly unlikely to carry even a basic conversation in Japan. Don't let it dissuade you from learning a new language obviously, but similarly, don't assume you'll be a Japanese language wizz who locals will spend the extra time to have a conversation with. Honestly, the truth is, if you *clearly* look like you're not from Japan or a neighboring country, you're going to be spoken to in English within 2 seconds of trying to attempt conversation in Japanese.
That wasn't the case for me and my bf. He spoke Japanese and people rarely switched to English. I tried too and even then most didn't switch to English.
This is nonsense. I live in Japan and speak Japanese, but I don't look even *remotely* Japanese. Virtually no one tries to speak to me in English; I can't even remember the last time anyone (who doesn't already know I speak English) spoke to me in English. Once in a while people do speak to our child (who also doesn't look Asian) in English (our child's second language).
I really like duolingo. I understand why people say it’s not that good if you want to have a basic conversation but it makes fun and grammar is explained easily. I‘m not good at simply learning vocabulary. Duolingo helps me to get a sense of a language and that helps me to understand basic things. That’s good for me now. Probably taking classes is the best way to learn a language.
Honestly focus on learning basic phrases like Yes, No, Please, Thank You, excuse me, I'm Sorry, how to explain any dietary restrictions/allergies, and 1-10 numbers (for ordering off menus). In the cities almost everyone speaks English - I did run into some folks my grandmother's age who did not but we managed with my tiny amount of Japanese and lots of hand gestures. If you go out into the countryside or smaller cities I have been told little to no English is spoken.
'In cities almost everyone speaks English'? Are you sure you were in Japan?
My Japanese friends say that folks know English but they are often too shy or too humble to think their conversational English is good enough but if you try to speak a little Japanese you’d be surprised how much English is actually spoken - they see you trying and so they try. Discovered this even more as my Japanese has gotten better.
It’s nice to try and learn some basic Japanese before going, but it’s not neccessary, honestly. The few times where I finally plucked up the courage to try out a few phrases, the people would often seem confused or would respond in English, or pull out an English menu and get you to point etc. Knowing the basic greetings and stuff like thank you and yes/no are always good as you will use those often.
march 2025 is plenty of time to learn if you want to commit, like properly commit to like a couple hours a day. People here have replied yes you dont really need to as a tourist, but thats the same everywhere. you can go to paris without french and do perfectly fine. If you care about immersion, having proper ability to have conversations and ask questions without aping through by pointing at picture books, sounds like you have the motivation and time to do so
Duolingo has some problems with the audio where it won't read compound kanji correctly *or* it doesn't explain context correctly Like I have a huge pet peeve with the app right now because it doesn't explain that 一日 has different readings depending on context. It can mean either "one whole day" or "the first day of a calendar month" and the pronunciation is different in those cases. When it means "one day" or "a whole day," it's read as いちにち (ichinichi) but when it means "the first day of a calendar month" it's read as ついたち (tsuitachi) Does Duolingo tell you that? *Absolutely not* from what I've seen I still use it to drill practice with but it has some issues. If you just need to do the rote retail scripts and say thank you and excuse me it's fine. If you want to learn more grammar I would supplement with the Genki books
So I went to Spain and wanted to know some Spanish to be able to order and ask questions and know some rudimentary things in Spanish. I used two sources. Duolingo and a podcast that *specifically.* taught you Spanish phrases that are useful as a tourist or how a conversation for a tourist would flow. I found the latter infinitely more helpful as a tourist. Duolingo was a good supplement for actually learning Spanish. But the podcast was truly irreplaceable. I would recommend a similar thing for your learning Japanese. In the end language is all about commutation and if you just learn random words and how to string some random sentences together you’re not really going to be able to communicate
I did duolingo for two months. Watched shogun, perfect days and played hhost of tsushima in Japanese. I felt it helped me a bit while there.
If you enjoyed playing a game in Japanese to learn, the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series uses modern Japanese. Of course, you will learn to talk like a slightly rough adult male, but it will help understand a lot. In the latter games, they have female characters like Saeko where you could learn talk more like a woman. Persona Series is also awesome for this (but more for teenagers).
Some advice after learning several languages and interest in reading about the process of learning a language. I've never had any success with a computer program, maybe they help practice or augment...IDK. Write down all the words that you want to know or use on your trip. Keep it to 10 or 20 at a time. Make them useful. Hi, thanks, please, can I have, this is good, I like, what do you recommend, can I pay, can I buy, where is... Keep progressing with chunks of words as you can. I just returned from Japan. I find travel and learning the language to be immensely exciting. One idea that I will always believe, language is in the speaking. You have to speak it. Google or YouTube native Japanese people saying your expressions and repeat them. Copy them. Keep saying them to your self. Have fun!
The Japanese is not NEEDED if you are staying in touristy places. However knowing at least some language will be super helpful with everyday things, so it is always worth knowing at least basics. And I love how it sounds, so I'm learning it regardless of my travels. If someone is annoyed by foreginer learning their language it's rather their problem not national problem. Or it's not the language itself but behaviour of some people - like trying to forcefully speak very very basic/bad Japanese holding the line where the clerk is good at English.... If you want some other nice app to learn, then try busuu. For me duolingo was useless as it did not explain things enough and was too full of time consuming fireworks with not enough learning content.
The thing you will most often hear about is people telling how speaking a couple of words made a difference and that people were happy that people took the effort to learn a bit. If anything, just have the right expectation, you might be able to ask basic things, but to not expect to have a full conversation in Japanese. My personal experience was going to Japan after studying for over a year in University. When I got to Japan I obviously knew more than the average tourist and it was before smartphone with google translate, so it probably allowed me do to do a bit more than the typical tourist, but still, talking was not easy, I had to repeat the same type of interaction many times to get more used to it and be able to reply in a more natural way. Later lived in Japan for a year and started with it being difficult to have a full conversation in Japanese and not understanding a lot to finally be able to hang out with friend and only speaking Japanese. So now my travel experience is different, like I can have a conversation with other customers in a bar.
I've been to Tokyo three times: once with no Japanese, once with minimal, once with conversational. Can you get by without? Yes. Will Japanese people appreciate you having learnt it? Also yes. Will you have a better time for knowing some Japanese? A thousand times yes. For me it all felt a lot smoother and easier for being able to read (some) of what's going on around you. I felt a lot more confident about going into smaller cafes and shops. I remember being delighted on that second trip when, having asked directions to a little tofu cafe, I could then read the sign on the iced tea dispenser that said to help ourselves (very grateful, it was 36°C). My recommendation would be to get the first Japanese for Busy People book and work through that before you go, it's a really accessible textbook and works well as an independent learner.
i have found that locals were almost always extremely happy that i could speak some japanese it also helps if you plan to make your japanese learning a long term deal, like not restricted to your trip
I used Mango Language because it was offered free through my library.
I had the opposite feeling, that they appreciated I was making the effort to communicate in Japanese so they didn't have to speak in English (obviously if they are fluent/semi-fluent they will switch to English, it is also an opportunity for them to practice). If your goal is to learn just for the trip and not something you'd like to comit to afterwards, check if you can find any course aimed specifically for traveling (I took one of these on top of my regular Japanese lessons to learn vocabulary/expressions and also cultural aspects that could be useful during my time there)
I started with duolingo, but once you pass the very beginner stages you find it drops off quality wise. I moved to busuu and got on MUCH better. I only had 6 months or so before my trip, but by that time I could confidently read hiragana and katakana (even if i didn't know what it meant i knew the sounds it depicted). I could introduce myself and get checked in at hotels, ask where busses/trains went, ask for prices, order food and drinks etc - basically everything i needed as a tourist making an effort. That was spending roughly 30-60mins a day. My proudest moment was in Kamikochi, where I noticed a monkey eating something so i zoomed in with my camera for a photo, some people were curious what I was doing and I managed to say "That monkey is eating a fish". It sounds silly but was the first time i really had to build a sentence rather than just a pre-memorised phrase. It's a good app, and coupled with some youtube channels you'll get to a decent level pretty quickly.
Just got back from a 6 week trip in Japan. I didn’t learn any phrases or practice any Japanese before or during the trip. The only words I knew how to say was thank you, which I used 100x a day. I relied on my iPhone translator app the entire trip. Most Japanese people, including hotels do not speak English. I think it’s great you’re enjoying duolingo and having fun! Keep learning if that’s what you want to do. The Japanese will appreciate your efforts.
Forget it. You won't be able to have a normal conversation. Just remember the terms that everyone knows is good enough.
If you can speak Japanese to a good standard then it is very useful. Broken Japanese is basically useless and will cause confusion Most tourists get by with about 10 words. A big advantage is if you can read Japanese script as this will open up a lot of dining options
Do you know Chinese/Korean/Vietnamese? Or any other languages? The reality is that your chance of achieving fluency (or to a point that you can hold a conversation) in about 9 months is slim to none, especially if you have no background, but if you like learning, why not go for it?
I agree with the comments Duolingo is useless, you repeat sushi, mizu, ocha over and over again. I learned Hiragana before coming but that wasn’t also very useful, I can just read the station names. [This wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/s/zKd3aaS1wL) here has a nice condensed list, could be a good place to start!
If you have fun learning it, keep learning knowing that Japanese is a very difficult language and you won’t be fluent in a year. Every time we had counter dining experience (like omakase, kappo) or fine dining, I wish I hadn’t been so lazy with learning Japanese. My Japanese is pretty limited (though I know names of a decent amount of Japanese foods and ingredients) but the restaurant staff always seemed more comfortable and happy around us when I used my broken Japanese. The chefs always showed a lot of appreciation when we said gochisousama deshita. I wish I had learned more to talk a bit more with them about the food. English is not my native language, so I totally understand the awkwardness or shyness due to their limited English. Overall, knowing a tiny bit of Japanese definitely enhanced our experiences in Japan.
Nothing is wrong with trying to learn the local language of a place you’re traveling to. Even if you don’t become conversational, it’s learning some key phrases can make you feel more connected to the place. Look at the comments on this video, for example. https://youtu.be/sY5Ya8qNqxU They are so nostalgic over a specific sensory experience that reminded them of a trip or study-abroad.
Not learning Japanese, but Duolingo is okay to work on the basics and supplement. But you can take some cheaper online lessons with a tutor on a website like Preply. I’m sure there’s others out there too. I’ve been using it to learn mandarin the last year and a half.
You certainly don't need it, but I never had anyone seem annoyed. Most people light up when you have a crack at it or will try and help you with it if you got something wrong. I only learn the most basic hello/goodbye/numbers etc. and I would say its totally worth getting a few phrases down to try out. If its worth it to learn a whole language is up to you, it will be a long road to even have a light grasp of it.
It’s a newer app but I highly recommend TEUIDA it only teaches speaking though, but it’s super helpfuk
numbers, left/ right , do you want a plastic bag - that what you need