GAF Members In Japan?
- Thread starter kumanoki
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Wintermute
Member
I've been here since last September. Working and living in Osaka. I'll be here for another 4 years at least.
fennec fox
ferrets ferrets ferrets ferrets FERRETS!!!
Not to derail but WTF is up with the exchange rate? Everything Japanese is premium now.
TheGreenGiant
Banned
quick question then to all who've already posted - what do you guys do in Japan?
the most prominent thing I can think of is teach English. A girl I know is doing that in Tokyo right now. Saying up to buy a house back in Australia when she gets back. (obviously not gaming related cause she's not the sort to play games)
CVXfreak - what are you going for?
+
How many of you can speak Japanese? Fluently.
Watashi Bob San.. my japanese is SO rusty
the most prominent thing I can think of is teach English. A girl I know is doing that in Tokyo right now. Saying up to buy a house back in Australia when she gets back. (obviously not gaming related cause she's not the sort to play games)
CVXfreak - what are you going for?
+
How many of you can speak Japanese? Fluently.
Watashi Bob San.. my japanese is SO rusty
TheGreenGiant
Banned
CVXFREAK said:
:lol tell me that you didn't pick up the language because of video games. I learnt it when I was 13 so I could manage Dragon Quest III (i think). :lol
I'd like to move to Japan some day too...I have a few questions.
how much do you have to speak Japanese?
What kind of jobs are available for foreigners?what do you guys do?
what advice would you give to someone who want to move to Japan. Anything qould be great, immigration/housing/jobs/whatever...
Thanks guys.
how much do you have to speak Japanese?
What kind of jobs are available for foreigners?what do you guys do?
what advice would you give to someone who want to move to Japan. Anything qould be great, immigration/housing/jobs/whatever...
Thanks guys.
Wintermute
Member
I'm teaching English here. 9 times out of 10, most of the foreigners you encounter here are teaching their native language in a school of some description. When I came to Japan I didn't know any Japanese other than to say hello, thank you and goodbye. After about 6 months of being completely illiterate I made the decision to seriously study the language. It was either that or go back home, I was pretty down most of the time not being able to function as I was used to back in my home country (you take for granted the ability to read street signs and menus). For me, Japan in general started to become more accessible once I could start communicating. I'm no where near fluent but I understand a lot more than I did. I don't think it's a prerequisite to know Japanese before coming here but every little bit helps. A good place to start is Katakana - it's the harder of the two Kana's (IMO) but there are enough words close to english that you can at least understand what you are reading.
Advice for incoming GAFfers:
1. Study. Do not sit on your ass and play games 24/7. Studying will help you in every aspect of your life here. Just ask JackFrost2012.
2. If you can, find a Japanese girlfriend or boyfriend. Instant access into the particulars of the culture.
3. Be open to change. The worst thing anyone can do is come to Japan and expect it to change for them. The death knell is when I hear some schmuck say, "We don't do it this way in _______ ".
4. Make friends. You'll need them when you're all alone in a foreign country.
5. Study. Jesus Christ I can't say this enough.
6. Be ready for anything.
1. Study. Do not sit on your ass and play games 24/7. Studying will help you in every aspect of your life here. Just ask JackFrost2012.
2. If you can, find a Japanese girlfriend or boyfriend. Instant access into the particulars of the culture.
3. Be open to change. The worst thing anyone can do is come to Japan and expect it to change for them. The death knell is when I hear some schmuck say, "We don't do it this way in _______ ".
4. Make friends. You'll need them when you're all alone in a foreign country.
5. Study. Jesus Christ I can't say this enough.
6. Be ready for anything.
Prob the one reason I am thinking to move to Japan. She has been telling me to move to Japan for quite sometime now. But I worry if I could support her, what kind of job can I get?and the immigration process and all. She has been teaching me a little japanese, just greetings mostly.kumanoki said:
I am not an american. Came here about 5 years ago, and I know the immigration stuff is very tedious, wonder if it is same in Japan. And wonder if I could teach cos my English is not perfect.
Wintermute
Member
Lyte Edge said:^^^^^^^^^^
I hope to be living there next year if all goes well.
Osaka is good place - I went off at it in another thread but it was just the mood I was in that day. Osaka is like that. When the sun is out it is a bearable place - beautiful in an ugly sort of way. Not a good place to be down and out though. If you have the option try find a place in the surrounding prefectures/areas like Hyogo, Nara, Toyonaka etc. I'm living on the city limits and it's the pits. Osaka is a real city of industry. The better you can make your personal environment, the easier it is to live here.
One thing I want to add is that if anyone who wants to live in Japan can do this, go and stay there for several weeks or months beforehand and see if it suits you to live in a country with a LOT of cultural differences. I was there for a month this past summer studying and I LOVED it, so I can't wait to go back. I felt glad I was able to meet some GA forum members, because it definitely got lonely at times. I was pretty busy for the most part, so it never really sunk in except for one or two sundays when I couldn't meet up with anyone and it was empty at the place I was living at.
Biofan, knowing a little bit (enough to get around and to be able to look up words you hear quickly enough) definitely helps. My kanji reading skills SUCK and I've forgotten more Japanese than I should have, but I was generally able to get around, ask for directions, etc. and I've had about four years of Japanese. Just being able to read the hiragana subway maps saved me from getting lost a lot of the time.
I'm shooting for both of these.
What did Andrew get from studying? Is it the job he got after JET?
Biofan, knowing a little bit (enough to get around and to be able to look up words you hear quickly enough) definitely helps. My kanji reading skills SUCK and I've forgotten more Japanese than I should have, but I was generally able to get around, ask for directions, etc. and I've had about four years of Japanese. Just being able to read the hiragana subway maps saved me from getting lost a lot of the time.
kumanoki said:
I'm shooting for both of these.
What did Andrew get from studying? Is it the job he got after JET?Wintermute said:
Heh, people in Tokyo kept telling me how much better Osaka was than Tokyo for the exact opposite reasons you just said! ^_^;
I just want to be placed somewhere other than Tokyo; been there twice and I want to see how the rest of Japan is, and was taught/read/heard that the people in Osaka act differently than the people in Tokyo. I noticed that JET lists Osaka as a place that's hard to get into to anyway, so I doubt I'd get placed there.
That's getting way ahead of myself though. Right now I need to see if they ACCEPT my application. :lol
Yeah. He's pretty much fluent. He can speak, read, and write. If you could hear the tone in my writing, it would sound a whole lot like awe. We've been here the same amount of time. In fact, we came to Gunma on the same damn bus. Andrew has more effectively used his time in Japan.
DCharlie
And even i am moderately surprised
I've been here for over 4 years now, all in Tokyo (Ebisu -> Shirogane -> Toritsu Daigaku).
My Japanese is pretty ropey to say the least, but i can get by i guess. The main problem is that up until now, my job has not required me to use Japanese. From this week, it does - so i expect to get much better.
I'm working as a systems engineer in an investment bank at the moment. HELLO STRESS!!!
My Japanese is pretty ropey to say the least, but i can get by i guess. The main problem is that up until now, my job has not required me to use Japanese. From this week, it does - so i expect to get much better.
I'm working as a systems engineer in an investment bank at the moment. HELLO STRESS!!!
kumanoki said:
Regardless if I get into JET or not, I'm going to keep my Japanese studies going. I don't want to lose something I've invested so much time into, regardless of how much (or how little!) I've retained up to this point.
But I want to live in Japan one way or another.
Learn from this man. I have a friend who lives in Ebisu, as well. She's lived in Japan for the past fifteen years, and she can barely speak the language. In Tokyo, the opportunities to speak are severely limited, as silly as that may sound. Everyone speaks English.
I'm not saying my Japanese is great (it's not), but I have learned quite a bit more colloquial Japanese and feel much more comfortable speaking because I've lived in a place where it was a neccessity to learn.
Tokyo is not the place to live. It is the place to visit.
kumanoki said:
I think it really depends on what it is you are in Tokyo for. Many of the other people living in the dorm I stayed at had only been in Tokyo for a year when I got there, had little to no Japanese language education when they arrived, and were completely fluent. I was in AWE. But I suppose when you LIVE in a country where the language is different from your own and is spoken all the time, it's a lot easier to pick it up.
DCharlie
And even i am moderately surprised
"Learn from this man. I have a friend who lives in Ebisu, as well. She's lived in Japan for the past fifteen years, and she can barely speak the language. In Tokyo, the opportunities to speak are severely limited, as silly as that may sound. Everyone speaks English."
Well, the opportunities are there , but you have to take them. Take my work for example, Japanese lessons are optional. On my floor, i'm the only person taking the lessons. That's out of around 30+ honkeys. The problem is most people can't be bothered. I'm trying, i really am, but being English, i'm already genetically adverse to learning a second language... no matter how hard us Northerns try, it just doesn't go in!
Actually, flipancy aside, i can handle almost all day to day things. But as mentioned in the above post, if you live in Shibuya/Ebisu/one of the more "cosmopolitan" areas of Tokyo, you can get by without speaking a word of Japanese.
"I'm not saying my Japanese is great (it's not), but I have learned quite a bit more colloquial Japanese and feel much more comfortable speaking because I've lived in a place where it was a neccessity to learn."
Definitely the way to do it.
"Tokyo is not the place to live. It is the place to visit."
Indeed - if i was ever jobless, the temptation would be to move out into the country-side where you'd basically be forced into learning the language.
As my job now requires i use it (for the next X years, my users all have very limited English, so i'm expected to use Japanese) then that should hopefully help.
One tip : don't be afraid to make a mistake. I was hung up about getting things perfect, but the more you relax and allow yourself to f-up, and as long as you are comfortable with people correcting you, then it's great for practice.
Well, the opportunities are there , but you have to take them. Take my work for example, Japanese lessons are optional. On my floor, i'm the only person taking the lessons. That's out of around 30+ honkeys. The problem is most people can't be bothered. I'm trying, i really am, but being English, i'm already genetically adverse to learning a second language... no matter how hard us Northerns try, it just doesn't go in!
Actually, flipancy aside, i can handle almost all day to day things. But as mentioned in the above post, if you live in Shibuya/Ebisu/one of the more "cosmopolitan" areas of Tokyo, you can get by without speaking a word of Japanese.
"I'm not saying my Japanese is great (it's not), but I have learned quite a bit more colloquial Japanese and feel much more comfortable speaking because I've lived in a place where it was a neccessity to learn."
Definitely the way to do it.
"Tokyo is not the place to live. It is the place to visit."
Indeed - if i was ever jobless, the temptation would be to move out into the country-side where you'd basically be forced into learning the language.
As my job now requires i use it (for the next X years, my users all have very limited English, so i'm expected to use Japanese) then that should hopefully help.
One tip : don't be afraid to make a mistake. I was hung up about getting things perfect, but the more you relax and allow yourself to f-up, and as long as you are comfortable with people correcting you, then it's great for practice.
fennec fox
ferrets ferrets ferrets ferrets FERRETS!!!
OK, I studied at a Japanese university in Tokyo for a year back in 1998-99 and have been back a few times since then. I now know enough Japanese to make a living off it, and I don't even have a Japanese girlfriend, boyfriend, or dog.
I would echo previous comments about studying well while you are there. I avoided English speaking situations all the time -- sometimes on purpose (I didn't hang out with other exchange students all that much), and sometimes not (I missed my language classes a lot because I went out and got drunk a lot). As a result, the most English I spoke was during spring vacation, when I was touring across western Japan and staying at youth hostels filled with JET teachers complaining about how they don't know any Japanese.
Also, screw the haters; Tokyo is #1 as long as you have the sense to live outside the populated areas, preferably near a rapid or express train stop.
(Side note: I knew an American in Tokyo who had worked as an embalmer for many years and not only spoke the worst Japanese I ever heard, but also had a huge beer gut. I couldn't help but wonder how the hell he kept that gut going in Japan.)
I would echo previous comments about studying well while you are there. I avoided English speaking situations all the time -- sometimes on purpose (I didn't hang out with other exchange students all that much), and sometimes not (I missed my language classes a lot because I went out and got drunk a lot). As a result, the most English I spoke was during spring vacation, when I was touring across western Japan and staying at youth hostels filled with JET teachers complaining about how they don't know any Japanese.
Also, screw the haters; Tokyo is #1 as long as you have the sense to live outside the populated areas, preferably near a rapid or express train stop.
(Side note: I knew an American in Tokyo who had worked as an embalmer for many years and not only spoke the worst Japanese I ever heard, but also had a huge beer gut. I couldn't help but wonder how the hell he kept that gut going in Japan.)
Kuro Madoushi
Unconfirmed Member
I applied to JET last month and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be in Japan in August!
I asked my Japanese profs a lot of questions about it and it seems that you can get by without learning the language, but you won't get the whole experience if you take this route.
Heard that Osaka is the best place in Japan for food...
Tokyo is fun...if you have money...
I just hope they don't stick me in some farming commune because I've only studied Japanese for two years and with every passing day I'm forgetting more and more
I asked my Japanese profs a lot of questions about it and it seems that you can get by without learning the language, but you won't get the whole experience if you take this route.
Heard that Osaka is the best place in Japan for food...
Tokyo is fun...if you have money...
I just hope they don't stick me in some farming commune because I've only studied Japanese for two years and with every passing day I'm forgetting more and more
This thread makes me wish that I am in Japan now...hehe
been there a couple of times, Tokyo only tho, and I am loving it. I was never lost in the train, I found it's so easy to travel in Japan. I love their train system. and the food is heaven. Even if I didn't met my gf, I still would like to be in Japan one day, but not this soon.
I am here studying 3d animation, graduating next september, then I have three choices. Stay here and try to get a job, go back to my country and lastly to go to Japan and be with my girl. She told me to stay here and work, but I know she wants me to go to Japan soon. But I doubt I can work in an animation company in Japan with no Japanese, probably I have to teach English and learn Japanese at the same time for a while.
been there a couple of times, Tokyo only tho, and I am loving it. I was never lost in the train, I found it's so easy to travel in Japan. I love their train system. and the food is heaven. Even if I didn't met my gf, I still would like to be in Japan one day, but not this soon.
I am here studying 3d animation, graduating next september, then I have three choices. Stay here and try to get a job, go back to my country and lastly to go to Japan and be with my girl. She told me to stay here and work, but I know she wants me to go to Japan soon. But I doubt I can work in an animation company in Japan with no Japanese, probably I have to teach English and learn Japanese at the same time for a while.
Biofan- whare are you originally from?
One of the good things about living in Japan is the diversity. Just in my little backwoods area of Japan (Gunma- the Alabama of Japan) (hey, at least we're not in Tochigi- the Arkansas of Japan) there are Americans, Brits, Aussies, Kiwis, Indians, Brazilians, Peruvians, Pakistanis, Iranians, and people from Ghana. It's nutty.
One of the good things about living in Japan is the diversity. Just in my little backwoods area of Japan (Gunma- the Alabama of Japan) (hey, at least we're not in Tochigi- the Arkansas of Japan) there are Americans, Brits, Aussies, Kiwis, Indians, Brazilians, Peruvians, Pakistanis, Iranians, and people from Ghana. It's nutty.
I dunno if I'd agree that being in the country-side is better for learning Japanese.
I mean it just depends on how much 'you' want to use and practice Japanese. I live in a small town and since August when I came here I've spoke english on less than 10 occasions. Hell the only reason I'm not forgetting english is because I still use it daily through the internet. Anyhow, do I think my Japanese has improved after 5 months of daily speaking/hearing/reading it? Sure I think I've gotten a little smoother at speaking, and I can do a self-introduction for an hour in damn good Japanese, but I think I'd have seen this same improvement even if I was in Tokyo.
I lived near Nagoya a few years back for 6 months and similar to my inaka lifestyle here, I hardly ever spoke english. I'm not really an ultra-social party animal so I tend to stay away from foreigner gatherings which forces myself to use Japanese wherever I go.
As long as you choose to use Japanese while living in Japan you will learn a bunch. There are just as many foreigners up here in the middle of nowhere who speak almost no Japanese as there are in the cities.
Also while studying is important for fundamentals, finding something you're interested in (games/manga) and learning from that is equally important. There was a reason I was finding all my Japanese major classes in college jokingly easy while the rest of the class was struggling to pass. Reading manga, translating manga passages/chapters, playing games, translating dialogue sections in games, looking up words you don't know in games and manga. If you are passionate about these things you will be able to get on top of the Japanese language and suddenly everything will click. It's a great feeling when your Japanese 4 class introduces a grammatical structure from the day and you're like '!' and recall the day you googled that structure up while trying to translate a passage.
Also if reading manga for studying I recommend something that doesn't have furigana (Jump) and isn't full of obscure kanji that even the Japanese struggle with (Berserk). Stuff like the CLAMP manga that doesn't have furigana (XXXholic, Lawful Drug) is great since it reads fast and simple but still forces you to know useful kanji. Stuff with furigana sucks because you never remember the kanji since if you don't know it you just look at the furigana and throw it into a dictionary.
I mean it just depends on how much 'you' want to use and practice Japanese. I live in a small town and since August when I came here I've spoke english on less than 10 occasions. Hell the only reason I'm not forgetting english is because I still use it daily through the internet. Anyhow, do I think my Japanese has improved after 5 months of daily speaking/hearing/reading it? Sure I think I've gotten a little smoother at speaking, and I can do a self-introduction for an hour in damn good Japanese, but I think I'd have seen this same improvement even if I was in Tokyo.
I lived near Nagoya a few years back for 6 months and similar to my inaka lifestyle here, I hardly ever spoke english. I'm not really an ultra-social party animal so I tend to stay away from foreigner gatherings which forces myself to use Japanese wherever I go.
As long as you choose to use Japanese while living in Japan you will learn a bunch. There are just as many foreigners up here in the middle of nowhere who speak almost no Japanese as there are in the cities.
Also while studying is important for fundamentals, finding something you're interested in (games/manga) and learning from that is equally important. There was a reason I was finding all my Japanese major classes in college jokingly easy while the rest of the class was struggling to pass. Reading manga, translating manga passages/chapters, playing games, translating dialogue sections in games, looking up words you don't know in games and manga. If you are passionate about these things you will be able to get on top of the Japanese language and suddenly everything will click. It's a great feeling when your Japanese 4 class introduces a grammatical structure from the day and you're like '!' and recall the day you googled that structure up while trying to translate a passage.
Also if reading manga for studying I recommend something that doesn't have furigana (Jump) and isn't full of obscure kanji that even the Japanese struggle with (Berserk). Stuff like the CLAMP manga that doesn't have furigana (XXXholic, Lawful Drug) is great since it reads fast and simple but still forces you to know useful kanji. Stuff with furigana sucks because you never remember the kanji since if you don't know it you just look at the furigana and throw it into a dictionary.
Shouta said:
Well my main experience with furigana is Jump. I've been reading about 4-5 things in Jump weekly for like 3 years now and I doubt I've picked up more than a few hundreds words from it and barely any kanji.
I mean when I was studying for the JLPT 2kyuu test I came across the kanji for mugi(straw) which I didn't recognize at first and I've been reading One Piece for years (the main character is called Mugiwara no Luffy). I knew the word, but the kanji didn't click which I found really depressing and thought it said something about my Jump kanji retention skills.
OTOH everytime I've seen a kanji that was in Xenosaga/Berserk I recognize it right away because I spent the time to look it up in the past.
JackFrost2012
Banned
I gotta disagree with Bebpo on furigana too ... I find reading manga w/ furigana is a much better way for me to learn kanji, personally.
The trick is to NOT READ THE FURIGANA unless you need to look up the word/can't read the kanji. Otherwise, just focus on the kanji. Especially when starting out ... you're gonna be looking up almost every other kanji you find, so having furigana makes it much easier to locate in a dictionary.
As long as you use the furigana to help read the kanji, and not in place of reading the kanji, you should be okay.
The trick is to NOT READ THE FURIGANA unless you need to look up the word/can't read the kanji. Otherwise, just focus on the kanji. Especially when starting out ... you're gonna be looking up almost every other kanji you find, so having furigana makes it much easier to locate in a dictionary.
As long as you use the furigana to help read the kanji, and not in place of reading the kanji, you should be okay.
kumanoki said:
I am a chinese indonesian...but I know very little chinese, probably only listening, and I was growing up in Singapore, so my Indonesian is very rusty. So probably the only language I can teach is English...
There was this funny incident while I was in Japan. I was in Shinjuku, I met some chinese. They know no Japanese at all, so we speak in Chinese. I can't believe that I actually practice my chinese in Japan. And they were introducing me to these girls for sex. So I told my gf that I want to go to japan but I would never want to do that kind of job. So i have been very reluctant to go to Japan because I am not sure if I can support her or even myself.
I traveled to Japan about 5 years ago. Stayed there for 2 weeks in Ikebukuro and to this day I'm still shocked that I was able to go and see it with my own eyes.
Sure most of you post that you've been there 2, 3, 5 times in one year but I'm one of those poor, ghetto payed employees that can only afford a $1,000 plane ticket whenever its below 0 degrees in hell (hey it was a rather cool year back in Texas '99, heh heh). And for the record, I have an AA Degree in Architectural Drafting and another in Computer Graphic Design, yet I can never get it thru the employers head that $12 an hour is my freaking minimum.....no its always $7, $8, or $9...sheeesh, my first job at 16 payed more......ok I'm leaving the subject at hand, huh.
Anyways, I'd like to eventually move to Japan as my long term goal, but like any place you would move to, I need to visit a few more times to research the area, jobs, housing, etc. before I leave 26 years of the same culture behind (well considering this "melting pot" of a country, I sometimes ask "what culture?!"....yes I said that).
And on the language note. Before leaving for Japan everyone (mostly people that where awe struck when they saw they also had cars in my pictures I took......and to think I was working with engineers at that time.......) would tell me "Oh yea they all speak english.....I'll be damned if anyone spoke english in Tokyo. Hell I had this old man start a conversation with me while on the JR to Akihabara. He spoke perfect spanish, said he was studying, and asked ME where I had learned to speak spanish.......the funny thing is I'm half Puerto Rican, half Mexican (true Mexican FYI)....but considering I've lived here for 20 years, I'd have to agree the old man spoke better then me, haha.
Ok thats my rant/complaint/dream....
matta ne
NeoEdo
Sure most of you post that you've been there 2, 3, 5 times in one year but I'm one of those poor, ghetto payed employees that can only afford a $1,000 plane ticket whenever its below 0 degrees in hell (hey it was a rather cool year back in Texas '99, heh heh). And for the record, I have an AA Degree in Architectural Drafting and another in Computer Graphic Design, yet I can never get it thru the employers head that $12 an hour is my freaking minimum.....no its always $7, $8, or $9...sheeesh, my first job at 16 payed more......ok I'm leaving the subject at hand, huh.
Anyways, I'd like to eventually move to Japan as my long term goal, but like any place you would move to, I need to visit a few more times to research the area, jobs, housing, etc. before I leave 26 years of the same culture behind (well considering this "melting pot" of a country, I sometimes ask "what culture?!"....yes I said that).
And on the language note. Before leaving for Japan everyone (mostly people that where awe struck when they saw they also had cars in my pictures I took......and to think I was working with engineers at that time.......) would tell me "Oh yea they all speak english.....I'll be damned if anyone spoke english in Tokyo. Hell I had this old man start a conversation with me while on the JR to Akihabara. He spoke perfect spanish, said he was studying, and asked ME where I had learned to speak spanish.......the funny thing is I'm half Puerto Rican, half Mexican (true Mexican FYI)....but considering I've lived here for 20 years, I'd have to agree the old man spoke better then me, haha.
Ok thats my rant/complaint/dream....
matta ne
NeoEdo
TekunoRobby
Tag of Excellence
A somewhat of an OT anecdote: I remember that GAF forum regular who swore he was in Japan. Once a mod posted his IP address I remember him further saying that it was a city in Japan or something similar. In any case it was funny.
fennec fox
ferrets ferrets ferrets ferrets FERRETS!!!
I meant, like, live in Tama or Hachioji, you playa hatah.kumanoki said:
TekunoRobby said:
I don't think I'll ever forget about that guy. I forget his name...want to say that he used "Kitsune"...was that it? Japan GA folks kept asking to meet up with him but he'd never respond.
He used to post those super-long reviews of games and got a tag that said "worth reading," but it got to the point that you'd need a summary of the post to be able to take it all in.
I think one of the mods discovered his IP was in California, then he freaked and threatened to come after some nameless person who he said had been messing with him or something. Weird shit.
No one really gave a crap about any of this, either; people liked his posts anyway, but he was pretty much gone after that.
EDIT: Didn't he actually come back shortly after for a brief stint at the beginning of this year?