I have 216 days before I plan on doing a bikepacking trip across Japan. I would like to be conversationaly fluent beforehand.
I have been to Japan twice and can hold the most simple kind of conversation. How are you? Nice to meet you. My name is. Please. Excuse me. Thank you. Good morning, good evening… you get the picture. I also know Hiragana and Katakana pretty well. I’ve been half-assing Kanji Anki cards for a few weeks (10 new cards a day) but my Genki books just arrived and I feel ready to get rolling. Here is my training plan.
1 hour of Genki/day
1-2 hours of Anki cards a day (depending on whatever the daily assignment is)
0.5-1 hour of reading immersion a day (i’ve just started Crystal Hunters and I have a couple childrens books)
0.5-1 hour of listening immersion a day (various podcasts I enjoy like “Let’s learn japanese from small talk” or “Nihongo con teppei”) and this is usually while going to bed.
0.5 hours of Duolingo (because I enjoy it)
So, this is like 3.5-5.5 hours of Japanese learning a day. However, this is a little misleading because the podcasts I listen while laying in bed when I usually just listen to podcasts anyways. The duolingo I do when I’m using the bathroom or something. So, excluding those two, it’s really only 2.5-4 hours of active learning a day. I guess that’s still quite a bit. But, assuming I can manage this for 216 days do you think I can get to the level where I can hold natural, not forced, but basic conversation? Should I, in theory, be able to ask for directions, interpret road signs, and get help when needed?
For further info, I only speak English. I know no other languages. Any advice to get my level of Japanese Language to the highest it can be before my trip would be greatly appreciated.
1 comment
I think you’re on the right track, if you keep doing what you’re doing you’ll make a lot of progress. The only thing I recommend is to maybe drop the Duolingo and replace it with more reading/listening/general input, but don’t feel pressured to if you enjoy it. I personally found that using Duolingo made me feel like I was learning, but in the end I didn’t actually gain a whole lot of applicable skills.
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Also, look into practicing conversation on a website like Italki. The best way to improve your conversation skills is to converse with a native speaker who can give you immediate feedback.