Job Discussion Forums

finy29 · Joined: 10 Dec 2008 Posts: 18

hi, im interested in learning the japanese written, spoken and reading language.

does anyone have any recommendations as to the best workbooks etc that can be gotten of amazon or any websites that you can gain valuble information

i have decided that id like to try and work in japan on a work holiday visa

instead of going through the obvious channel of teaching english id like to try and attack it from what i am good at instead of obtaining a celta and working in something im not skilled at, and like to try and gain employment as a personal trainer

for this id need to speak good japanese and id like top put in the effort to also read and write but id just like to know the best place to start so i can start on the right foot

at a bit of a long shot does anyone living there just now have any idea as to this line of work would be viable

thank you

ShioriEigoKyoushi · Joined: 21 Aug 2009 Posts: 364 Location: Japan

Text deleted

finy29 · Joined: 10 Dec 2008 Posts: 18

thank you shiori

i did come across the japanese for busy people series and might invest in the 3, cause (maybe wrong) if you see something with good recommendations twice in different places, it cant be to bad

i also saw a great book in KL which taught kangi and although i never bought, i wonder if you know anything which trys to make the written language easier

id like to learn this as a personal challenge aswell as a motivational factor in moving to japan

yes i am male and no, i dont have a overpowering powerhouse physique. i no have one that im sure some people could buy into that they would like to have and though im sure there are thousands of japanese pt's that are more than capable of doing the job, i was hoping just to get enough of the market that would like to achive this with the aid of a foreigner

i know from a very good friend that this might be the case in tawain although it would be much easier from a visa point of view to do this in japan. if the japanese woman market could prvide me with some clientelle i'd also be more than happy to do this.

just want to make sure its not impossiable, if only very difficult lol, as i feel id like to do this and i have the determination to see it through. and if i can only make enough to survive, then the enjoyment i get from training people and seeing improvement/receiving thanks would be enough

id also not be against the idea of gaining my celta to teach if need be although id prefer to do conversational classes with adults and leave teaching the future generation to the proffesionals

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Boatloads of info on the Internet and in bookstores. See what seems to work best for you. Everyone's learning curve and strategy is different.

This ought to get you started.
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/japanese.html

finy29 · Joined: 10 Dec 2008 Posts: 18

cool, i will check out also.

yeah i know it will be difficult from visa view etc, but i will prob be able to get a 1 year work holiday visa and i have friends to help me with advertising(translating) etc for posters, notices.

i hope than learning the basic gym lingo should be quick so i could communicate with clients. i think this is the major draw back

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

No, the major drawback is the visa. A private party (like that sort of client you envision) cannot sponsor you for a work visa. Go ahead and get the WHV if you can, but after that year is up, if you want to stay longer, you're going to need something more to keep you here.

If your main goal is, as you wrote, to learn Japanese, why not enroll in a school here?

finy29 · Joined: 10 Dec 2008 Posts: 18

yes i think i will go to school for 3 months, maybe i will go 3 months before my whv will start. ihave asked a friend to find out some info for me on courses so i hope this will help.

i dont know anything about he visa system in japan and how to gain sponsership though i did hear it was not hard to set up company. have no idea about money you need to make etc although i did hear that you can legally star up a company for 1 yen(?) i would obviously try and go down this route anyway as i would like to work for myself

ShioriEigoKyoushi · Joined: 21 Aug 2009 Posts: 364 Location: Japan

Text deleted

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

finy29 · Joined: 10 Dec 2008 Posts: 18

hi, no i dont have a degree and i already know what it is that your now thinking of telling me so there is no need.

If i was to teach id would only be a part time language centre at night and for the first year id be fine with my whv.

you make a good poing of needing to go back to my home country but i think studying for 3 months on a whv is a waste of 3 months work.

i gould maybe study, go home and work for 3 months or so then get whv

JPS · Joined: 05 Oct 2006 Posts: 17

I agree with what ShioriEigoKyoushi said - get an eikaiwa job, and do the training on the side. If the training really takes off, you can quit the eikaiwa, but it may take a while for you to be able to support yourself fully on just the training income.

Re: Learning Japanese - my two cents worth:

1. Get onto learning hiragana and katakana as soon as possible. I found my learning really took off after I ditched the romaji, and you will need to learn it at some stage anyway. The Bojinsha Basic Kanji series is a good place to start for reading basic kanji.

2. Expensive, but the Yookoso series are really good. Less dry than Busy People and Minna No Nihongo (although I favour the latter of the two), and more realistic Japanese. Have heard some good about the Genki series too.

ShioriEigoKyoushi · Joined: 21 Aug 2009 Posts: 364 Location: Japan

Text deleted

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

finy29 · Joined: 10 Dec 2008 Posts: 18

thank you, i will check out those study books.

btw, i take it by saying the latter books were dry just means there a bit bland and boring?

glenski, you were talking about study visas. If I love the country and would like to stay, do you know of any info on degrees there seen as I will need one sooner or later anyway. I think they might be expensive although maybe part time work could help. Although by what your saying, maybe it would take longer than a year learning the language to be at a uni study level?

Ryu Hayabusa · Joined: 08 Jan 2008 Posts: 182

Don't want to burst any bubbles here, but it will definitely take longer than a year to get to a level of Japanese where one can study at a university.

Quote from Wikipedia,

The Japan Foundation estimates that approximately 150 hours of study are necessary to pass the Level 4 exam and 900 hours of study are required to pass the Level 1 test, although the figures may be significantly higher for native English speakers.

Give this a read if you haven't already.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JLPT