Planning a trip internationally was my new year's resolution of last year - one that started as a mere pipe dream of "I have a passport and loads of time on my hands. I could do this if I put my mind to it." Over the year, I worked relentlessly to save for a holiday with an ever-changing destination - from Japan, to Europe, even some parts of America were considered briefly.
I settled on Japan for a multitude of reasons - economics, safety, and it would serve as a more gentle introduction to international travel. However it meant I would have to put in some effort to learn Japanese, which is far harder than the Germanic languages most European countries use, at least in parts.
I picked up Duolingo again around last June, and made a proper habit out of it. It's the first thing I do in the morning, even if I have no motivation and only can manage a three minute mistake correction session, I'm working on it every day. And I plan to keep this up even after I return home, if I can.
I feel like although Duolingo does a really good job at teaching you the concepts of a language (that "aha!" moment you feel when the nuances of sentence structure click is still amazing) you are still FAR better off with supplements if you truly want to get the most out of this, or build confidence. I know Duolingo is teaching me, but I feel like I've had to use other tools to feel confident applying those skills to more real scenarios.
I am, however, incredibly lucky to be learning this in a time when I have more supports available to me than ever - I had three main supports that have helped me improve my confidence a lot:
Noun Town - an innovative VR experience that teaches vocab, speaking and conversational skills in an easy to approach game. I absolutely see the appeal and love the explorative factor, but I haven't made it click to the point of using it on a routine.
ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode may be new on the block, but it is fantastic for building confidence in conversational skills. It speaks near fluently, can help correct pronunciation, teach sentences and act as a tutor for basically any topic. It is expensive, but having access to this on top of everything else ChatGPT Plus offers actually makes it a pretty worthwhile package for me at present.
Lastly, Make connections. Talk to people who know the language or culture. I am incredibly lucky to have a partner who has been to Japan and knows the language, as well as a brilliant friend of mine who taught in the mountains for 5+ years. Having a frame of reference from real people and not just the judgement of an app helps immensely. Join discussion groups, make some language learning buddies, it helps.
Over the last 200-odd days, I have gone from almost no skills in Japanese to being able to talk about food, ask for directions, specify dietary requirements, and mannerisms like greetings and manners, and enough Hiragana and sentence structure that I can now enjoy Japanese content and occasionally pick out things I know - Which may not sound a lot but I see it as an extremely strong first step forward if I decide to take learning this further.
All in all, I am very proud of myself for accomplishing what I have so far, and hope to further improve as time goes on prior to and after my trip!