Tip: NEVER use google translate for Japanese! (Even for travel) It's so bad!

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[–] 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

If you're interested in learning the language, but don't have 3 years to prepare:

Jisho.org is an online English-Japanese dictionary that helps you find words by selecting radicals from a chart. You can learn to break down 99% of common kanji into their radicals within a week and then it's a matter of selecting 2 or 3 radicals in the chart and matching the picture. Finding all the kanji in a sentence (or more likely, the three kanji on a menu item) should give you a decent idea of the full meaning. Now you point at the menu, say the standard question from your phrase book, give a polite nod, hold out your money at the appropriate time, and you're nihongo jouzu.

Edit: I would only recommend this method if we're not using Google Lens. Lens is way faster and you can still decipher the menu with your dictionary after your food arrived.

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