it definitely helps to have at least 1-2 years of studying the basics before going. If you don't even understand the basics, you won't be able to communicate with many native speakers, and others will use English to speak with you instead (giving you fewer opportunities to practice your Japanese). and because not many natives will communicate with you (in Japanese), then you'll resort to hanging out with fellow students/other foreigners, which means you'll be speaking English most of the time.

Chill

Calgary26003 Posts

March 23 2010 00:25 GMT

#42

On March 23 2010 08:32 Manifesto7 wrote:

Show nested quote +

... you are so right. I feel like have just been endlessly studying at a desk so I can have the priviledge of working at a desk. To be honest, I wish I would have been a carpenter.

I think a carpenter is a sick career. You can build so much cool shit and fix your house up how you want. I'm super jealous of anyone with a trade skill.

tomatriedes

New Zealand5356 Posts

March 23 2010 01:10 GMT

#43

Realistically, in the future, Chinese is going to be a much more valuable language to know than Japanese.

KissBlade

United States5718 Posts

March 23 2010 01:14 GMT

#44

On March 23 2010 10:10 tomatriedes wrote:
Realistically, RIGHT NOW, Chinese is going to be a much more valuable language to know than Japanese.

I corrected it for you.

Honestly, if you're really looking to go to Japan for future financial/career decisions, it is probably not a smart decision. If you want to go there just to lay some Asian girls, I don't think you need to spend two years there nor learn the language.

Tenryu

United States565 Posts

March 23 2010 02:32 GMT

#45

I wouldnt really recommend Tokyo either. Isnt that city fucking ridicolously expensive?

hifriend

China7935 Posts

March 23 2010 02:36 GMT

#46

On March 23 2010 11:32 Tenryu wrote:
I wouldnt really recommend Tokyo either. Isnt that city fucking ridicolously expensive?

Hm it wasn't that bad afaik but I haven't really decided where I'd want to go.

nataziel

Australia1455 Posts

March 23 2010 03:13 GMT

#47

Sure, learning japanese is fun, but in the end you come out with nothing other than being able to speak japanese. And there's a hell of a lot of japanese people that can already do that, so you need something to distinguish yourself. I'm doing a bachelor of arts now (second year) and I'm studying japanese and korean, and let me tell you, career prospects when I finish are pretty slim. It's basically translator/interpreter or teaching english in a foreign country. I'm considering getting a bachelor of business or something just because it's way more useful.

meteorskunk

Canada546 Posts

March 23 2010 03:46 GMT

#48

Ok, I lived in non-french Canada all my life until age 19, worked a full year after highschool and am funding a trip similar to the one you are planning in Japan via my post highschool work. If you're going to make a 2 year commitment you absolutely must be able to understand it as it is spoken. I came here over confident and its been like 4 months and its still totally confusing to actually just have a real conversation because they will speak so quickly and lose confidence in my abilities and it gets tougher.

Your english is really good considering it must be a second language, so I think its fair to assume you have some talent. if you manage to feel like you're not wasting your time trying to learn it than it could be great. And it's also really true that there are so many ways to grow as a person with experiences like this.

pubbanana

United States3063 Posts

March 23 2010 04:10 GMT

#49

Do whatever you want, you are going to die someday.

jonnyp

United States415 Posts

March 23 2010 04:19 GMT

#50

Look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself if you really really really want to do this. If the answer is a definite and defiant "fuck yeah" then sit down and figure out your plan for the next two years and beyond. How are you going to pay for it? How much are you going to study before going (1 year at least in my opinion)? And most importantly what are you going to do when you get back? How is this going to help your future? etc. etc. If it's worth it for you to do, then you owe it to yourself to do it right.

However, if your answer is anything less, then abandon this idea; It's just not worth it if you're only doing this for a vague "experience".

Spontaneity is good, just don't confuse it for stupidity.

{CC}StealthBlue

United States41117 Posts

March 23 2010 04:46 GMT

#51

Learn Arabic, and Chinese = $$$$

Manifesto7

Osaka27177 Posts

March 23 2010 04:54 GMT

#52

There are some big dollars to be made teaching English in the middle east, especially if you have a graduate degree. If I didn't have a family that is where I would be headed. Of course, you have to live in the middle east, but still.

Luddite

United States2315 Posts

March 23 2010 05:28 GMT

#53

If that's what you want to do then you might as well give it a try. If you don't like it, you can always return home and work/ go to college. If you wait until you have a stable career first then it'll be pretty much impossible to up and move to a foreign country, unless your company just randomly sends you there.

KissBlade

United States5718 Posts

March 23 2010 13:52 GMT

#54

On March 23 2010 13:54 Manifesto7 wrote:
There are some big dollars to be made teaching English in the middle east, especially if you have a graduate degree. If I didn't have a family that is where I would be headed. Of course, you have to live in the middle east, but still.

Off topic but why is this? I did see the occasional "teach English in the Middle East" job post.

TommyGG

United States142 Posts

March 23 2010 16:18 GMT

#55

On March 23 2010 22:52 KissBlade wrote:

Show nested quote +

Off topic but why is this? I did see the occasional "teach English in the Middle East" job post.

Because assuming everything becomes stable in the Middle East, they will be ready to join the global market in areas other than oil and stuff that they already have a firm grasp on. There will be a huge demand for English teachers because English is the generally accepted 'global language'. If you are from a foreign country and are looking for a language to learn, English has the most opportunities tied to it.

Never.Die

Japan189 Posts

March 24 2010 09:07 GMT

#56

On another note, getting a student visa, or even a residential visa in Japan is pretty damn hard to get. In order to even apply for residential visa there, you need to prove you've at least lived there for 1 year consistently, which you can't do unless you already had student visa before that. Japanese laws are pretty strict for foreigners and even staying 1 day over than you're not supposed to, will get you banned from the country for 10 years. Learning Japanese is also pretty hard, I have spent like at least an average of 1-3 hours a day studying, for the past 13 months, and there's still so little that I know

But basically the only thing that pulls me along is my obsession with Japan and it's language. Do you have this kind of motivation? Btw 1 year costs like 10-20k USD to study at a university there. And if you're still really learning Japanese, P.M. me here at TL. I have a bunch of resources you can really benefit from. I wish you luck in your journey, for it is also one I plan to take.

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