I did read up before going. When I arrived, my brother and future sister-in-law, who is Japanese, met me at the airport, and filled me in on the rest. I never got good at reading Hiragana or Kanji (beyond recognizing subway signs), but got used to using Katagana while I was there. I also got used to using all of the phrases introduced in the video, plus “ikura desu ka (how much is it)?” and “wakaranai,” meaning “¡no comprendo!”