I was in a different situation. I was dating a Japanese girl, and was going to Japan to meet her family and pop the question. In order to make a good impression, I tried to learn as much spoken Japanese as possible in a short amount of time (a few weeks). I found this CD series to be useful:
http://www.deepdiscount.com/viewprod...&extid=df00029
I only went through the first two CD's, but I was generally able to ask directions, get across simple ideas, etc. I think her family and friends enjoyed my efforts

. Long story short, she did decide to marry me, Lord knows why. My kids will speak better Japanese than I ever will.
Jam it back in, in the dark.