In 2025, I am scheduled to take the trip of my life to Japan. Even though I plan on only taking this one trip to Japan in my entire life, I felt that this was the time to try and actually learn a reasonable amount of the Japanese language. I would like to be proficient enough to have a polite (if simple) conversation, read basic signs when in Japan, and understand the original Japanese voice actors when playing Ghost of Tsushima (or its sequel).
To help accomplish this, I bought a family subscription to Duolingo. I have to admit that I was instantly hooked. I also quickly realized that I had forgotten even more than I thought. That said, I have also been able to pick up some of the basics again fairly quickly. I don't feel like the app will get me all of the way to my earlier goals, but it feels like a good start. As my trip is over fifteen months away, I hope that I will be able to make it through the Duolingo course and perhaps branch out into another program that can help fill in the gaps.
We will see how this goes.