/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>18132284
Guess what third head is for

Hey guys, I find myself in a situation and needing help. Basically, an exchange program of sorts selected me to go live in Japan for a year, up to 7 years if my performance on the job is good enough. I'll be helping prepare English lessons for impressionable young nips as a teacher's assistant(?).
The problem arises in that I can't speak a lick of Japanese. I'm not a mega japanese fan, but I am very interested in the culture. The actual exchange doesn't happen til the lower end of this year, so in the meanwhile is there anything I can do to become at least halfway conversational in Japanese?
Also, as I'm gonna be living there for a while, anybody got any great sights to go see on vacation days or something?