All the old posts from the old Your-Japan.com on the Your-Japan Blog Network

Hey Richard,

Thanks for the comment! I’m assuming since you’re posting all this, you’d like some advice on how to tackle this language barrier. If not, well, I’ve been meaning to write a article on this for awhile, so I’m going to dispense some advice anyway.

First of all, learning Japanese is a job. But then again, learning any language is a job. Attitude is key. Let’s look at the English-learning Japanese for example. When you were here in Japan, did you notice all the English conversation schools like Nova, Aeon, Geos, etc? And did you also notice that despite six years of mandatory English education, plus these schools, plus English lessons on NHK (Japan’s public broadcasting), plus access to shelves and shelves of material in major bookstores, that with all this available to them very few Japanese actually learn English to a usable level? I believe this primarily has to do with attitude. Many Japanese look at English as a weekend hobby and think if they study it for a few hours a week that eventually they’re going to get the hang of it. They consider English to be just another subject in school and unfortunately most people here treat learning it that way. I’m not sure where you’re from, Richard, but back in America we have maybe half a shelf dedicated to Japanese at major bookstores, with a collective total of maaaaybe 50 books. We don’t have bilingual t.v., and we don’t have Japanese conversation school. Granted that not many Americans learn Japanese (or any foreign language for that matter) but I think the ones that usually apply themselves to Japanese do so because they want to, not because they have to. A fundamental difference in attitude. (By they way, did you know that a person who can speak three languages is called trilingual and person who can speak two languages, bilingual? And those that speak only one language? American.)

Second language learning requires constant diligence. Especially for a tough lingual pair like English and Japanese, one has to focus everyday even if it’s just a little bit. Consistency is key (just like attitude). Just because you live in Japan doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll magically acquire Japanese by osmosis. I’ve actually met westerners that have live in Japan for 4+ years who’s Japanese is limited to ordering beer, just because they didn’t want to learn anything else. There is enough English here where you’re not going to be forced to ¡Èpick up¡É Japanese. You will,however, have access to many more learning materials than you did in the states and being here will give you more opportunities to practice, should you choose to take them.

Richard, I’m not sure what exactly it is you want to learn. You mentioned you want to acquire the ability to communicate, which might indicate you only want to learn conversation, but you also said you’re planning on moving here. If that’s the case, I would seriously suggest that you also learn how to read and write as well. Learning conversational Japanese is great and all, but unfortunately speaking and written literacy usually go hand-in-hand, especially with learning materials. I would suggest, unless you want to learn Japanese on only the most casual level (then you really shouldn’t be diving into an asian language) that you acquire both oral and written abilities.

Ok, now that we have that little intro and disclaimer out of the way, I’ll proceed with the advice dump.

The first thing you need to do is to keep your motivation up. If you have no motivation to learn, there’ll be no learning, right? A lot of people get fired up when they start learning Japanese and they dive right in, trying to get as many kanji or phrases under their belt in the shortest amount of time. Trust me, this usually leads to burn out real quick. Do things in small chunks. First learn hiragana, then focus this week on phrases you can use at the bus stop, do a few pages in your workbook today, etc. The point is to break it up and do something every day, even if it’s small. You’re not going to learn anything if you just spend a few hours studying on Saturdays.

Set clear goals for what you want to get done. You mentioned you have a stupidly busy life. You’re going to need to get the motivation to make time in your stupidly busy life. I know this doesn’t really relate to Japanese specifically (more like productivity/goal-setting) but it’s just as important. Remember how to study like a student. Realize that normal people’s concentration starts to flag after the first hour or two of studying. Take breaks. Anywho, enough of that. If you want to read more about productivity/goal-setting type stuff, just search ¡Èproductivity blogs¡É in google and you’ll be swimmin’ in stuff.

Another thing to help motivation is to get involved. I took classes at university to learn Japanese and that easily kept me on track. I had friends to study together with and teachers that were pretty fired up to teach us. For those not taking classes though, I would recommend becoming involved online. There are several websites dedicated to language learning that have active forum communities. By getting involved, you not only keep yourself on track, but you learn new study techniques, can participate in study challenges, etc. Remember, this is all for the sake of keeping your fire burning. If your fire goes out, no more learning. One of my favorite websites for this is here.

As long as we’re talking about resources on the internet, check out internet radio/podcasts in Japanese. If you have iTunes, you can download podcasts in Japanese. Just go down to the bottom of the iStore page and change the region to Japanese. They have a lot of learning English podcasts where they give you the Japanese phrase too, effectively making it a good tool to learn Japanese with. If you can get the hang of that, move up to things like news broadcasts, etc. You can also download t.v. shows on the internet if that’s your thing. Try watching them first with subtitles, then without. Repeat what they characters say and practice your pronunciation. If you download the episode and watch on your computer, you can pause it and go over segments as many times as you want.

Richard, you mentioned that your wife is Japanese. I don’t want to make any presumptions about your relationship, but I’m guessing that when you guys go out to eat in Japan, she’s the one ordering at restaurants and generally speaking for the both of you when conversing with Japanese people, right? These are actually good times for you to practice. Try ordering food, try asking for directions (even when you don’t need them), try complimenting someone on their taste in t-shirts, whatever. The point is to get the words out of your mouth and see if you can catch them when they come ’round back at you.

On the other side of the coin, trying talking to your wife in Japanese. This may or may not work, depending on your relationship. For some people, it feels awkward to switch to Japanese with someone they’ve always talked together in English. Usually it feels strange because English is easier for both of you. Language and communication usually take the path of least resistance. But if she’s cool with it, try to get her to sit down and have a short 10-15 minute conversation with you. If this is all too strange for you guys, see if she has any friends that would be willing to exchange language practice for a cup of coffee or a meal.

Alcohol. Alcohol is great, isn’t it? It’s actually a very useful tool for language learning. A lot of people hit a stage where they know the words and they know what they want to say, but they can’t quite get the words out of their mouth. They choke on the words, feel embarrassed, and then often unconsciously force themselves to remain quiet in order to avoid more embarrassment from choking even more. Alcohol keeps you from feeling embarrassed (uninhibited, right?) and allows you to keep talking. Heck, it doesn’t matter if it’s bad Japanese. It just matters that you’re getting the words out of your mouth and your mouth is getting used to speaking Japanese. So, when you do manage to finally snag a conversation partner, try buying ‘em a beer or a glass of wine instead of coffee.

A lot of people think that listening and speaking go hand-in-hand. This is true on a few levels, but just because people can listen and understand a certain language does not necessarily mean they can speak it too. Don’t forget to focus specifically on listening and specifically on speaking and avoid always lumping them together.

Read. Doesn’t matter if it’s a children’s book, a magazine, the newspaper, an article on the internet, just read in Japanese. This is the hands-down best way to improve your vocabulary. Pull out that book, keep that dictionary next to you, and sit down your butt down.

Buy an electronic dictionary as soon as you settle down in Japan. Best tool ever.

I don’t know your level, Richard, so I don’t know if I’d recommend this now, but check out the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT). It’s held once a year and basically is just the Japanese equivalent to the English TOEFL or TOIEC standardized tests. It tests your reading ability, grammar, listening ability and kanji. You can find study materials in the bigger Japanese book stores. I’ll be going for Level 1 again this winter.

That’s about it. This is the basic advice post that I’ve been meaning to write for awhile. I hope you enjoyed it and feel free to leave comments about your own thoughts and experiences.

This being my first time at one of these fairs, I didn’t really know what to expect. Looking at the statistics from previous years on their website didn’t really help either. I actually needed to be there to figure out what kind of beast this is and how to tame it. Let me give you the run down.

There were probably 50 or so companies that set up cubicle-like booths in a huge room that apparently doubles as a convention center. Cubicle decorations were quite lavish for the larger companies (Reuters, Dell, Armani, and a few of the recruiting companies) and quite sparse for most of the other small-medium sized businesses. The whole thing was from 2-8pm on a Friday, I’m assuming running so long as to give the mid-career change people a chance to catch action on the back-end after work. My ladyfriend and I attended together, she getting a head start with job hunting (Japanese students start this typically mid-3rd year of university), and I…well, I’m trying to do this all before my 90 day visitor visa runs out. Dressed to the nines in our business suits, we registered at the door and were given nice, bright yellow ¿·Â´ (new graduate) badges to hang around our necks. I thought it clashed with my steely-grey tie, but who am I to judge true fashion?

We were pretty much free to wander from booth to booth, hang out uncomfortably in front of those that interested us waiting for the representatives to free up, or be ninja-ed by representatives that would just materialize out of the shadows. Most of the representatives were really nice and helpful, and it was interesting to see the wide-array of companies that came. I was initially surprised at how many people like me there were. Just graduated, came to Japan to find a job, can speak Japanese on a conversational/business level, etc. I mean, I should have expected it being a bilingual fair, but foreigners always have that ¡Èsuperstar¡É syndrome when in Japan.

I mean, I’m still struggling to get over it myself. People who are white should especially know what I’m talking about it. You’re the only white guy around and everyone’s looking at you as if you’re some mythical animal who’s mistakingly wandered onto the train platform. You go up to the dude working behind the desk on the side of the ticket gate and speak some fluent Japanese asking directions, almost as if to confirm your own existence and legitimacy. You smile inwardly. You are special. An island of blonde in a sea of black. Ok, maybe I’m taking this example a bit too far (or maybe I just take it a bit too far), but you get what I mean. Then, you spot another foreigner from across the way and scrawl. This should be opposite to general reasoning, right? I mean, shouldn’t you be happy to see another fellow from the west? No, no indeed, he’s stolen your thunder. He’s just divided your specialness in half by being forced to share it with him, even more if he speaks better Japanese than you. (Please tell me other people feel like this sometimes and I’m not the only crazy one).

Anywho, like I said, I’m still getting over it. I saw a lot of different people at the bilingual fair. To be fair, it was actually probably half and half, half foreigners looking to get jobs that deal with Japanese and half Japanese looking to get jobs that deal with English. Or, at least I’m assuming. I stopped by one of the hotel booths and one the reps actually recognized me. I mentioned that in my last post I’ve been emailing hotels in order to get interviews. Apparently not too many people do this, as the rep immediately recognized my name and then promised to get back to me next week. I guess following up in person is better than following up by phone. Tends to put on the pressure.

There were seminars there too, but I didn’t go to any of them. They didn’t really apply to me anyways, with titles like ¡ÈHow to start your own business in Japan,¡É and ¡ÈHow to work the relations between Japan and South Korea.¡É I just mostly wandered from booth to booth until I had covered all the ones that weren’t too busy or looking specifically for engineers (another high demand, besides the bilingual thing), then I went back and hit the rest. They didn’t do interviews or anything like that at the fair, so nothing is decided yet, but there were some companies that seemed pretty cool. I even found a cool English-teaching company (if it comes down to that) where they have you do one-on-one lessons in a coffee shop, which is perfect considering my coffee addiction.

Tomorrow I’m going over to Lalaport in Toyosu to check out their Ukiyo-e exhibition with my ladyfriend. As luck would have it, it’s the last day they’re doing it so if any of the readers are in the area and interested, you should come check it out too.

I had an interview yesterday (Tuesday) with investment company number 3. I was actually kind of worried about this one, primarily because I was having an interview with the president of the Japan branch. A friend of mine advised me not to be worried, as presidents of companies are usually more laid back than their underlings. Well, he was right. I was led to the president’s office, offered a beverage, and he and I talked for awhile about my job hunting in Tokyo, what possible position I could fill in the company, etc. He was an extremely nice guy with that ¡Èkind old uncle¡É feel to him. We did the whole interview in Japanese, which would normally worry me a little but thankfully I had my game on that day.

The Japan branch of that company is a small one, only 30ish people. Most of the employees are in their 30’s or above, all started with experience, and all were hand-picked individually to work there. Ok, we’ve ruled out me. I am 23, I have no experience, and I am doing my damnest to spam as many companies as I can to give myself a fighting chance. The president guy did promise, however, to make a few calls and see what he could do. Something might come out of it, and might not. I’m not really that concerned about it.

I am trying to focus on the upcoming bilingual career fair. I picked up some business cards today that I had made. For the last three interviews I’ve felt a little inadequate by not having a business card to give in return for receiving theirs. The giving and taking of business cards is almost a ritualism in Japan, how you’re supposed to give the card, how you’re supposed to receive them, where to put them when you do receive them, etc. I mean, you could study this as a subject. Anywho, I now have 100 fresh, white bilingual business cards to exchange with unsuspecting victims.

Contacts have been dragging a little bit lately. I mean, four interviews in two weeks isn’t exactly the best pace so I’ve started just emailing companies that I think I’d have a chance of getting hired with. I’ve been going about it by industry, starting with the hotel industy. I was actually surprised by how well it’s worked. I sent out emails to about eight or so different hotels in Tokyo, and I think I’ve gotten responses (positive responses at that) from about three-fourths of them. Hopefully this will lead to interviews and possible employment. One hotel even asked for my photograph, maybe to see if I’m attractive enough to put on the main floor

I’ve sent emails off to a bunch of hotels, so I think I’ll try translation/interpretation companies next (seeing as how it’s my focus) and see if they don’t have some sort of entry-level or paid internship position available. Actually, that’d have to be one hell of a paid internship to be able to afford living in Tokyo, now that I think about it. Well, I’ll see if they have something. I’ve learned that if you’re not too pushy in the email, for example, say something at the end like ¡Èif there isn’t any position open in your company, would you know of another company that could utilize my skills?¡É or something like that.

The morning interview was outwardly a lot like the first one. The company was located in a very prestigious building (in this case the new Tokyo Midtown). I nervously checked in with a similar reception desk, with similar reception desk ladies. I was led to a similar conference room. Everything in these companies is pristine. However, from this point on the actual interview went quite differently.

I was interviewed by an Irish man who’s been working in Japan for more than ten years. I didn’t really expect to meet an Irish guy, but I guess Japan attracts all sorts. He was actually quite friendly, more so than the people from my first interview. Looking back, the people from interview 1 seemed just coolly amiable by contrast. The Irish guy, on the other hand, spoke to me with warmth. I knew why, too, when he revealed that he came from a background much like my own (learn Japanese in college, go to Japan with few certainties, etc). From my end it was cool to see someone become that successful with just a Japanese major in college. From his end, it was probably nice to see that young people are still trying to put themselves out there and stake their own claim. The investment company itself is comprised of five mostly-independant smaller companies, which he said he’ll need to double-check with to see if there are any roles I could play there.

Ok, so another probable failure (they could still call me back if they have an opening, but I’m not holding my breath). That’s cool, I’m not going to get negative about it. These finance companies are a far chance considering my lack of economic experience, but I’m thankful that I at least have an opportunity to interview and meet some people face-to-face. I AM staying in Japan, it’s just a matter of which company ends up doing my paperwork to let me stay here.

I met the headhunter in the afternoon. Apparently, there are a lot of recruiting/headhunting agencies within Japan that just place foreigners in jobs with businesses here. This company, ironically enough, focuses on placing foreigners within investment companies, so all of their candidates have to have experience in the financial world. I’m really starting to wish I double majored in economics or something. But even though he couldn’t directly place me through his recruiting agency, he did give me lots of specific and useful advice (which I will pass along now).

First of all, there is a International Job Fair coming up here in Tokyo on July 27th called the ¡ÈDaijob Go Global Career Fair¡É (sponsored by the job-hunting site daijob.com)(the ¡Èdai¡É is the same ¡Èdai¡É we like to see next to ¡Èbeer¡É on the menu). The website for the job fair can be found at www.daijob.com/cfair/ Registration is not required and the hours are from 1:30pm until 8:30pm. This looks quite promising, and I’m definitely going to be there.

Secondly, I was given the name of a few websites that specialize in jobs for bilinguals. They are:

http://www.daijob.com/
http://www.careercross.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/ (this is more networking-based and after checking up on google, it seems there are just as many people who hate it as like it)
http://www.ecentral.jp/ (through the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan or ACCJ)
http://www.jobdragon.com/

You’ll notice if you click on the links that most of these sites (except for LinkedIn) are in Japanese. Yes, I know there are English pages of these sites available using them but I would not advise using them. If you’re comfortable enough using the Japanese sites, you should because
a) You should stop being lazy and get your practice in.
b) Apparently they are not the same.

The headhunter that I met with told me that sometimes his company puts up offers, but only on the Japanese sites. I’m assuming there are other companies like this as well.

I have been looking online for jobs for awhile now, but I was focusing primarily on job-hunting sites for Japanese people. I”m going being trying these sites and see if anything comes my way.

One other idea that I thought was pretty interesting was to become a recruiter in the field you want to work in. This allows you to gain an inside perspective to the industry as well as make tons to good contacts. Then after you’ve worked as a recruiter for a little while, when that perfect job comes around you can take it for yourself.

The interview lasted an hour and a half. I showed up to the building about 30 minutes early, just in case. I had been there the day before to confirm where it was and make sure I wouldn’t get lost at the last minute. So yesterday I got to the building with plenty of time to spare and even stopped by the starbucks on the reception floor to calm my nerves with an iced coffee (seems opposite to reason, but when you’re this much of coffee junkie it actually just calms you down). Pretty soon some guys sat down next to me and were about to light up a cigarette when I decided that it was my cue to leave. I don’t mine cigarette smoke, but I don’t want to be smelling like that for my interview. I went up to the security reception desk, got a visitors badge, and used the badge to beep into the elevator area. The security seemed a little superfluous, but I guess companies don’t want just anyone from off the street coming up and visiting. On the other hand, when I walked up to the reception desk and asked the nice ladies for a badge (in English) they asked back (in accented English) ¡ÈDo you have meeting?¡É All it took was a simple yes and I got my elevator passport. No name checking or anything. Oh well.

So, I went up to the floor where the company was located with still 10 minutes to kill, 5 of which I used washing my hands nervously in the bathroom and checking my appearance. I went up and checked in at the desk, they led me to an empty conference room where I waited for the interviewer. While I was waiting, a young woman came in and quietly set out water for two. She left quickly and I waited for a few more minutes before the first interviewer arrived.

The first guy was the director for the Human Resources department. This guy was really nice, and actually seemed as nervous as I was. He gave me his card in Japanese-like fashion, which I received with similar Japanese-like fashion and set it carefully in front of me on the desk. We spoke the whole time in Japanese. The interview started with him asking me questions. A few of the questions were:

1. Give a short self-introduction.
2. Why did you decide to learn Japanese (instead of Chinese, European lang, etc)?
3. How would you describe yourself?
4. How would others describe you?
5. Why did you choose to apply for an investment company?
6. What is your ideal company?
7. What are your future goals?
8. What is one good and one bad thing about Japan?

These were simple enough to answer. It would have been better if I didn’t have to spontaneously think of answers on the spot, but on the bright side, I now have something to go off of in order to prepare for interviews with other companies. The guy then proceeded to talk about the company itself and what its strengths and weaknesses are, and what it specializes in. This all lasted about half an hour and then the second guy to interview me came in.

This next guy was the Vice President of the branch in Tokyo. He was much more casually dressed than the previous guy, lacking a tie and had the top few buttons of his shirt unbuttoned. He started off by saying that my Japanese was probably better than his English (not so) and then he proceeded to talk the whole time in English. We didn’t really talk about the company or the possibility of me getting a job there. Instead, he kind of meandered about Japan after the war and about how he really admired the Japanese people from that time (1945-1964ish) for building the country, and Tokyo, back up after America had firebombed the crap out of everything. This didn’t lead to a argument or anything, but rather it felt like two people sitting back and shooting the breeze. I tried to keep things neutral, not really disagreeing but not really agreeing either. I was actually a little stunned. Whatever I had expected the interview to consist of, that was not it. After a half hour or so of talking, he said that even though I would be someone that they would like to hire, they don’t have any positions available at this time, but they would like to keep my information on file so they could contact me in case something opened up.

Looking back on the experience, part of me thinks they were being honest and even though they thought I was a good choice for hiring, they just didn’t have any open positions. The other part of me thinks that they did this to oblige my contact and really had no interested or intention of hiring me. I wonder if I should send them an email thanking them for their time but also saying that I had a feeling like I messed up on the interview and would they please tell me what I could have done better. This might give them a way to tell me what I did wrong but still save face. Any thoughts?