advice for japanese ability/living in the US/jobs/etc?
jf
don't post here too often but I lurk occasionally. Sorry, I know the
subject is a little disjointed...anyway, I'd appreciate some advice....any.
I'd say I have an intermediate ability in Japanese. I'm just about to go on
the JET program and I plan to get that ability as fluent as possible (if at
all possible) and then come back to the US and utilize that ability in a
job.
How many of you here are "fluent" in Japanese or are close to it? Of those,
how many of you are living in the US, using that "fluent" ability for your
current job?
I originally wanted to do translation/interpretation, but I see that more
often than not, the qualification of speaking Japanese is not enough.
Companies and customers want translations/interpreters in specified fields
i.e. IT,OEMS, automotive engineering , etc. I'm just wondering if I come
back from Japan with a "fluent" ability, will it be impossible to get a job
or to preform translation work without specializing in a specific field? I
have B.A. in English which I know probably means nothing in the context of
this email.
Any advice? Thanks
jim
Kevin Gowen
> Hey guys,
>
> don't post here too often but I lurk occasionally. Sorry, I know the
> subject is a little disjointed...anyway, I'd appreciate some
> advice....any.
>
> I'd say I have an intermediate ability in Japanese. I'm just about
> to go on the JET program and I plan to get that ability as fluent as
> possible (if at all possible) and then come back to the US and
> utilize that ability in a job.
There are a number of ex-JETs on this newsgroup, so hopefully you can get a
good sample of different opinions. I am one of them. JET is what you make of
it as far as improving your Japanese goes. Almost every person I have ever
met who has been a JET has told me how much Japanese they thought they were
going to learn while they were living in Japan. IME, those JETs who actually
do learn much more Japanese than what is needed to order drinks are pretty
rare. Those who come over on JET with a few years of Japanese under their
belts tend to do a bit better as far as language learning goes, but they
also have a tendency to rest on their laurels. JET tends to encourage the
ALT to live inside an English bubble. Most of the JETs I knew of tended just
to hang around each other. If you want to improve your Japanese, you will
not only have to avoid living in the English bubble (do not misunderstand me
and proceed to avoid English environments, though) but you will also have to
actively study Japanese. Most of those JETs who told me how much Japanese
they thought they were going to learn never put in the effort; they acted as
if simply by living in Japan that they would learn Japanese by some sort of
magical osmosis.
> How many of you here are "fluent" in Japanese or are close to it? Of
> those, how many of you are living in the US, using that "fluent"
> ability for your current job?
I am confused as to why you put quotes around "fluent", but I digress. I am
not exactly sure what "fluent" means for the purposes of your question. If
you mean to ask if Japanese flows from our mouths without awkward pauses,
drawn out hesitations, and other marks of "broken" language, than I am
pretty sure most in here fit the bill. Most of the folks in this newsgroups
are native speakers of English who have lived in Japan for well over the
maxium period allowed by JET. Most are also married to Japanese nationals,
are parents to Japanese children, and basically live in a Japanese-only
environment 24/7. If such folks didn't have pretty damn good Japanese in
these circumstances, something would be seriously wrong.
Only a few regular posters here live outside Japan and even fewer live in
the US. I am one of the ones living in the US. I am a 3rd year law student
and am currently using my Japanese in my studies, my current part time jobs,
and my job search. I do comparative research in certain areas of Japanese
law for journal articles (no pay, of course). I do receive pay based on my
Japanese abilites on two fronts: I am a paid research assistant at my law
school and I also do J-E translations for a small consulting firm in Japan.
Obviously, neither of these are careers but simply jobs I do to brush up the
resume (research assistant) and get some extra money so I don't have to take
out so many loans (both jobs). Careerwise, I am planning to work in a
US-Japan related field that would take advantage of my Japanese proficiency
and law degree (specialized in international law).
> I originally wanted to do translation/interpretation, but I see that
> more often than not, the qualification of speaking Japanese is not
> enough. Companies and customers want translations/interpreters in
> specified fields i.e. IT,OEMS, automotive engineering , etc. I'm
> just wondering if I come back from Japan with a "fluent" ability,
> will it be impossible to get a job or to preform translation work
> without specializing in a specific field?
Translation would be much easier than being an interpreter. Interpreters are
extremely well-qualified individuals, and simply having native-speaker
proficiency in two languages is not enough to be a competent interpreter.
Therefore, it is unrealistic to think a few years on JET would qualify you.
Translation is another story. A number of the regular posters to this
newsgroup make their living at it, so I will defer to them; I'm just a
schmuck who does it for a few hundred bucks a month. However, they all live
in Japan AFAIK.
> I have B.A. in English
> which I know probably means nothing in the context of this email.
Well, it means you get to come to Japan to work.
> Any advice? Thanks
I don't know how helpful I've been, but I think it is safe to say that
having been a JET in itself does not particularly qualify you for any job in
the US or anywhere else. Most employers have ever heard of it. Same goes for
the Japanese proficiency tests that students are always cooing over.
--
Kevin Gowen
"The US economy accounts for about one-third of global GDP-greater than
the next four countries combined (Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom
and France)."
- "Advancing the National Interest: Australia's Foreign and Trade
Policy White Paper", Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Louise Bremner
I can't really answer your previous questions, because I'm not USAian
and I don't live there (it's also arguable that I'm not fluent in
Japanese neither, since I live in an English-language bubble).
> I originally wanted to do translation/interpretation....
Which? They require two completely different skill sets and it's a very
rare person who has both of them.
> .... but I see that more
> often than not, the qualification of speaking Japanese is not enough.
Uh.... Strictly speaking, it's not even necessary to be able to speak
Japanese, to translate from it.
> Companies and customers want translations/interpreters in specified fields
> i.e. IT,OEMS, automotive engineering , etc. I'm just wondering if I come
> back from Japan with a "fluent" ability, will it be impossible to get a job
> or to preform translation work without specializing in a specific field?
That'd be difficult, even in Japan.
You say you have a BA in English, which is a start toward that half of
the translation process (and presumably you'd use a spell-checker when
working), so what other experience do you have? It doesn't have to be
formal book-learning--if you're already knowledgable in a technical
subject (computers? cameras? automobiles? bikes? biochemistry? even
economics or finance?), it's relatively easy to read foreign-language
texts in that subject and from there it's just the final (albeit huge)
step of translating it into good, readable English.
________________________________________________________________________
Louise Bremner (log at gol dot com)
If you want a reply by e-mail, don't write to my Yahoo address!
Scott Reynolds
> I originally wanted to do translation/interpretation, but I see that more
> often than not, the qualification of speaking Japanese is not enough.
> Companies and customers want translations/interpreters in specified fields
> i.e. IT,OEMS, automotive engineering , etc. I'm just wondering if I come
> back from Japan with a "fluent" ability, will it be impossible to get a job
> or to preform translation work without specializing in a specific field? I
> have B.A. in English which I know probably means nothing in the context of
> this email.
This page is as good a place as any to start in your search for info:
http://dehoog.org/html/translation.htm
The short answer to your question is that you do not have to be a
specialist in a technical field to get started as a translator, though
having specialized knowledge certainly does not hurt.
--
_______________________________________________________________
Scott Reynolds s...@gol.com
Ryan Ginstrom
> jf wrote:
> > I'd say I have an intermediate ability in Japanese. I'm just about
> > to go on the JET program and I plan to get that ability as fluent as
> > possible (if at all possible) and then come back to the US and
> > utilize that ability in a job.
As to getting fluent in Japanese, I would say that it is a simple matter of
a tiny bit of ability and a big ole heap of perseverance. There is no magic
point where you just "get it," more a kind of slow and arduous approach to
an unattainable ideal (unless you give up along the way and say "to hell
with it, this is good enough"). As with counting to infinity, it's not speed
that will get you there, but persistence...
Good luck!
"Kevin Gowen" <kgowen...@myfastmail.com> wrote in message
news:becqk8$3hmr5$1...@ID-105084.news.dfncis.de...
> Translation would be much easier than being an interpreter. Interpreters
are
> extremely well-qualified individuals, and simply having native-speaker
> proficiency in two languages is not enough to be a competent interpreter.
I think maybe you are thinking of simultaneous interpreters here, who
certainly are highly trained and skilled. Consecutive interpreting is
another story, however. In this field, you've got your plums along with your
pines, just like in the translation field.
I have heard that the going rate for top-class simultaneous interpreters is
100,000 to 200,000 yen/day, plus expenses. Consecutive interpreters
generally make half that or less, and of course there are probably some poor
saps at the bottom of the barrel working for a man or two a day.
When I was living on the mainland, I did about two interpreting gigs a year.
I didn't find them all that difficult per se, but they were very tiring and
stressful. Twice a year was about all I would want to do work like that,
although doing it once in a while was interesting, and gave me some
opportunities to experience different things. On interpreting jobs I
traveled around Japan, ate at some awesome restaurants, and got to meet the
presidents/CEOs of DoCoMo, Ericsson Japan, Nokia Japan, and others (I still
have their business cards as souvenirs). Plus it was about the only time I
ever got to wear a suit.
Money-wise, I would make a bit less interpreting full time than what I make
now as a translator, and probably earn myself an ulcer in the bargain.
Now that I'm down here in Okinawa, however, I doubt I'll be getting many
more interpreting gigs, which is not altogether a bad thing.
--
Regards,
Ryan Ginstrom
mukade
Why not use the free time you are GOING to have on the JET programme
to do a post-graduate course in a technical subject?
Mukade
John W.
> jf <jfig...@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>
> > .... but I see that more
> > often than not, the qualification of speaking Japanese is not enough.
>
> Uh.... Strictly speaking, it's not even necessary to be able to speak
> Japanese, to translate from it.
>
stuff I read from smaller companies.
John W.
Curt Fischer
If you mean take a class or two, that sounds like a good idea. If you
mean to pursue a post-graduate degree at a Japanese university, I do not
recommend such an idea. JET have tons of free time but not that much
free time.
--
Curt Fischer
Declan Murphy
>
> mukade wrote:
>>Why not use the free time you are GOING to have on the JET programme
>>to do a post-graduate course in a technical subject?
>
> If you mean take a class or two, that sounds like a good idea. If you
> mean to pursue a post-graduate degree at a Japanese university, I do not
> recommend such an idea. JET have tons of free time but not that much
> free time.
Unless I'm mistaken, I don't think Lee was referring to enrolment in a
local university (how many JETs end up in large cities with universities
runnning night schools in technical fields?), but perhaps a distance
learning option instead.
--
"You call Donald Rumsfeld and tell him our sorry asses are ready to go
home." - Private First Class Matthew O'Dell
tee hee
mukade
> Curt Fischer wrote:
> >
> > mukade wrote:
>
> >>Why not use the free time you are GOING to have on the JET programme
> >>to do a post-graduate course in a technical subject?
> >
> > If you mean take a class or two, that sounds like a good idea. If you
> > mean to pursue a post-graduate degree at a Japanese university, I do not
> > recommend such an idea. JET have tons of free time but not that much
> > free time.
>
> Unless I'm mistaken, I don't think Lee was referring to enrolment in a
> local university (how many JETs end up in large cities with universities
> runnning night schools in technical fields?), but perhaps a distance
> learning option instead.
I meant doing a distance learning course from a non Japanese
university.
Most distance learning Master degrees take about three years to
complete. I'm not sure about other countries, but distance learning
courses at UK universities have excellent reputations.
The main problem is the cost. A British MA/MSc course will relieve you
of 5000 - 6000 pounds sterling.
Mukade