Yeah. I bought an external disk reader in 2022 for like 3,000円 at Ks denki.
It connects by USB and you can just drag and drop the files into a “Japanese listening” folder.
then use a USB cable (choese file tranfser not power) to connect your phone to computer.
I think apple prefer you use iTunes, but android phones drag and drop onto the phone.
Same problem… I try to always at least READ ALOUD any sentences I put into Google Translate….I know…small steps.
NHK has a free program Choose a Lesson | Easy Japanese | NHK WORLD-JAPAN
with simple Japanese that is useful for travel.
Just pick a couple that you might use ( even if you create the situation) How much is…/ Where is the… etc and get your mouth / brain used to them .
eg every time you brush yr teeth ( or some routine thing) ask that person in the mirror: where is the X?
When you switch on a light ask…How much is this? / Do you speak English? / …something useful for you.
I used to look down a bit on “rote” learning, but it’s useful to have a collection that’s both automatic and that you can sub words into to fit the situation.
The other thing I do I make a collection by topic of all the times of needed to say something but…couldn’t …eg in the taxi, at the pharmacy, at the sushi bar, at the bookshop
Think about what YOU need. Create simple Questions ( and answers) and then get your italki teacher to check, simplify and role play with you.
Been there, done that…sincerely…good luck and enjoy the journey.
Literally a couple of seconds after I had replied to your post, this article on self talk popped into my feed…
I’m interested and I thought you might be.
Offered in the spirit of “every bit helps” : https://howtogetfluent.com/
By the way, thank you for the question…it has caused a collection of great relies.
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Things that helped me to get better at speaking:
Pimsleur Japanese audio course
edited to add: I see you’ve already got level 1 from the library, great stuff!
I can highly recommend this as supporting material for other study, having recently completed the 5th and final level of the course.
I think it ticks two of your boxes:
- it gets you speaking right away, starting with very simple words and phrases, and then gently building in complexity over time;
- it exercises real-time recall. It does this by prompting you with a phrase in English, and then giving you a space to repeat in Japanese. If you remember it, then great. But even if you don’t, it will then say the phrase in Japanese, followed by another space for you to repeat it.
For me, for a long while, this was my main source of speaking practice.
It uses spaced repetition (like BunPro does) to magically store words and phrases in your long term memory.
If you want to try it out before investing too much up front, I recommended the app version. There’s a trial, and then it.’s about £20 per month. Theoretically with daily practice you could finish the whole course in 5 months (5 levels with 30 units each) but in practice you’ll probably skip some days and repeat some days.
I also found it useful to take a break from the course now and then. If I was to start from the beginning, I would probably buy only one month at a time (i.e. cancel my subscription immediately after starting it) to give myself a break between months, and not feel too bad if I fell off the wagon now and then, because I wouldn’t be wasting money on something unused.
Online tutors who specialise in comprehensible input style learning
I’m guessing you already know what comprehensible input is. There are online teachers and conversation partners who will conduct their lessons with the same basic idea: the whole thing will be done in Japanese, and will be at a level that is at your current ability, or just beyond it. Switching into English only when necessary.
Quite often you well hear a word you don’t understand, so you’ll say “(nani nani) ha, douiu imi desu ka?” and the teacher will explain it, hopefully in words you do understand. Some teachers will even draw pictures on a whiteboard to help you understand.
Reading simple picture books together (and commenting on the story) can be another technique. The point is not to have a deep meaningful conversation (yet), but to get used to speaking.
Perhaps your current iTalki teacher uses this style already, but if not, I can personally recommend:
Yuta-san: Yuta Takahashi | Nihongo-Learning
Chieko-san: Learn Japanese with Chie Nowa - Your Japanese tutor from italki
If you book with them, say hi from Patrick 
Shadowing/Echoing
These have been mentioned above. I just wanted to add that there is an app called Miraa that has an echoing feature built in, so you can Echo along to your favourite podcasts.
The app will transcribe the whole podcast for you, and then using the Echo feature, will play you a sentence at a time, giving you a moment to repeat.
You can search for podcasts within the app. My recommendation would be to start with Episode 1 of “Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners” and go from there!
Finally…
I have just completed my second year of study, and in October I went to Japan alone for 7 weeks and had an absolute blast, chatting to anyone I could. I often got at least a smile and a little chat from people I interacted with, and sometimes even a whole conversation, even in a big city like Tokyo.
I’m sure that speaking a little Japanese in Japan, and being replied to in Japanese, will in itself be a great confidence booster, so go for it, and enjoy it
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Back up your Pimsleur comment. …. my commute GoTo. So many phrases just “stick” and I’m still surprised when they seem to pop effortlessly into an appropriate place in conversation……perhaps causing the listener to give me more credit than Im due…but I figure I’ll take the win…. On the basis of Every little success leads to a little more.
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Yes, I’ve found the Pimsleur course to be extremely useful. I’m about halfway through the Japanese 1, and it’s helped not just with my having some phrases really well down. It’s also helped with some of my pronunciation. I didn’t realize how “accented” my しand りpronunciations were.
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Try googling “Japan Foundation”. They have お喋り会 (char events) that you may be interested in.
Another benefit of Pimsleur is that it subconsciously teaches you pitch accent.
I’ve studied some pitch accent and know some of the patterns. But mimicking native speakers has really helped me to acquire it, without thinking too much about it.