Do you know the difference between these four phrases:

1. 行きたい
2. 行きたいな～
3. 行ってみたい
4. 行ってみたいな～

...?

Here are those phrases once more, with romaji:

1. 行きたい (ikitai)
2. 行きたいな～ (ikitai naa)
3. 行ってみたい (itte mitai)
4. 行ってみたいな～ (itte mitai naa)

Let's break down the meanings of these chumps!

This is an extremely generalized overview of the difference between these four phrases:
1. 行きたい (want to go [and am somewhat likely to go])
2. 行きたいな～ (want to go [and am not very likely to go])
3. 行ってみたい (want to go [and am not very likely to go])
4. 行ってみたいな～ (want to go [and am not likely to go])

Basically, we have four levels of meaning, which roughly get split up like this:

Level #1 - ～たい

So 行きたい means "want to go." You could say:

フランス行きたい。
furansu ikitai
I want to go to France.
(Literally: "France + want to go.")

居酒屋行きたい。
izakaya ikitai
I want to go to an izakaya.
(Literally: "izakaya + want to go.")

We conjugate these verbs by attaching ～たい to the masu-stem of verbs.

Go here if you don't know how to conjugate masu-stems (scroll down to where it says "ます Stems").

★☆ Formality Note! ☆★
We are only using casual phrases in this lesson (as in most lessons). If you want to speak stiff, formal Japanese, you will need to end these phrases with ～たいです. Some more particles would start showing up too, in some cases.

But let's ignore boring stuff like that for today!
★☆ End Note ☆★

We can do this for other verbs, too. For example...

ラーメン食べたい！
raamen tabetai
I want to eat ramen!
(Literally: "ramen + want to eat.")

日本語話したい。
nihongo hanashitai
I want to speak Japanese.
(Literally: "Japanese + want to speak.")
(Note: This sounds like (1) you are able to speak Japanese, and (2) you want to use Japanese [not learn it].)

If you want to say that you want to learn how to speak Japanese, then things get a bit more complicated:

日本語話せるようになりたい。
nihongo hanaseru you ni naritai.
I want to learn to speak Japanese.
(Literally: "Japanese + can speak + ように + want to become.")
(Note: That's "potential VERB + ように + VERB～たい.")

Harness your brain power, dude, we're leveling up:

Level #2 - ～たいな～

This can also be written ～たいなー or ～たいなぁ, depending on subtle differences in intonation that I'm somewhat incapable of conveying in a lesson like this. (T_T)

The mega-simple explanation of adding な～ to our たい is that:
A) It sounds like we're talking to ourselves a bit, because we're using な ( = "inward ね").
B) There is a slight nuance that we are unable to do the thing that we want and/or it is out of our control.

フランス行きたいな～。
furansu ikitai naa
I want to go to France.
(Literally: "France + want to go + な～.")
(Note: The nuance is that I probably can't go to France [anytime soon].)

居酒屋行きたいな～。
izakaya ikitai naa
I want to go to an izakaya.
(Literally: "izakaya + want to go + な～.")
(Note: The nuance is that I probably can't go to an izakaya [anytime soon].)

ラーメン食べたいな～！
raamen tabetai naa
I want to eat ramen!
(Literally: "ramen + want to eat + な～.")
(Note: The nuance is that I probably can't eat ramen [anytime soon].)

日本語話したいな～。
nihongo hanashitai naa
I want to speak Japanese.
(Literally: "Japanese + want to speak + な～.")
(Note: The nuance is that I probably don't have anyone to speak Japanese with at the moment.)

日本語話せるようになりたいな～。
nihongo hanaseru you ni naritai naa.
I want to learn to speak Japanese.
(Literally: "Japanese + can speak + ように + want to become + な～.")
(Note: The nuance is that I am still a long way from being able to speak Japanese.)

Now for a yet another level-up:

Level #3 - ～てみたい

In simple terms, ～てみたい means to "try to [do] (something)."

However! It only means "try to do" in the sense of "try out." In other word, it means "to attempt," but NOT "to make a concentrated effort to accomplish." (We'll look at this difference tomorrow!)

🎂＼(^_^)／🎂

So, I guess we could say:

---------------------
"te-form VERB + みたい"
=
"want to try VERB-ing"
---------------------

Or something like that.

フランス行ってみたい。
furansu itte mitai
I'd like to go to France.
(Literally: "France + go [and] + want to see.")
(Note: The nuance is something like, "I want to go to France... if I ever get the chance," but I'm not necessarily going out of my way to make the chance.)

居酒屋行ってみたい。
izakaya itte mitai
I'd like to go to an izakaya (for the first time).
(Literally: "izakaya + go [and] + want to see.")
(Note: The nuance is that I've never been to an izakaya... which makes it rare for a Japanese person to say.)

ラーメン食べてみたい！
raamen tabete mitai
I want to try ramen!
(Literally: "ramen + eat [and] + want to see.")
(Note: The nuance is that I've never eaten ramen before... maybe because I'm a tourist?)

日本語話してみたい。
nihongo hanashite mitai
I want to try speaking Japanese.
(Literally: "Japanese + speak [and] + want to see.")
(Note: This sounds like either [A] I want to try speaking Japanese for the first time or [B] I want to try speaking Japanese [with someone], but I don't know if I'm good enough to do so.)

日本語話せるようになってみたい。
nihongo hanaseru you ni natte mitai.
I want to try to learn to speak Japanese.
(Literally: "Japanese + can speak + ように + become [and] + want to see.")
(Note: This sounds like I don't really believe myself capable of learning to speak Japanese... but I want to try learning to speak it, at least.")

One more time.

Gonna celebrate...

Level #4 - ～てみたいな～

Same as Level Up #2, adding な～ decreases our "confidence," so to speak. It sounds like we're unable to do the thing we're talking about...

フランス行ってみたいな～。
furansu itte mitai naa
I'd like to go to France.
(Literally: "France + go [and] + want to see + な～.")
(Note: The nuance is that I can't... maybe because plane tickets are expensive and I'm poor?)

居酒屋行ってみたいな～。
izakaya itte mitai naa
I'd like to go to an izakaya (for the first time).
(Literally: "izakaya + go [and] + want to see + な～.")
(Note: The nuance is that I can't... maybe because I'm not in Japan?)

ラーメン食べてみたいな～！
raamen tabete mitai naa
I want to try ramen!
(Literally: "ramen + eat [and] + want to see + な～.")
(Note: The nuance is that I can't... maybe because I'm not in Japan?)

日本語話してみたいな～。
nihongo hanashite mitai naa
I want to try speaking Japanese.
(Literally: "Japanese + speak [and] + want to see + な～.")
(Note: The nuance is that I've never had a chance to speak it before... and I don't know when I'll get one, either.)

日本語話せるようになってみたいな～。
nihongo hanaseru you ni natte mitai naa.
I want to try to learn to speak Japanese.
(Literally: "Japanese + can speak + ように + become [and] + want to see + な～.")
(Note: The nuance is that I have super low confidence in my ability to do so.)

Hope this helps you express your many wants, yo. ^^