+- kanji koohii FORUM (http://forum.koohii.com)
+-- Forum: Learning Japanese (http://forum.koohii.com/forum-4.html)
+--- Forum: General discussion (http://forum.koohii.com/forum-8.html)
+--- Thread: Activities to boost business japanese in Tokyo (/thread-8687.html)
Activities to boost business japanese in Tokyo - deign - 2011-12-14
Hey all,
I will soon start to work as mechanical engineer near Tokyo.
During my job I will have to do many meetings and express myself in japanese in front of many peoples. To tell the truth, I'm not very confident in myself . My level is between N2 and N1.
Hopefully I will arrive in Japan 2 months before starting to work and therefore have some time to focus on my Japanese.
Could you advice me some activities that I could do make in Tokyo to boost my business Japanese skills within these two months?
I was thinking if there were some companies what teach you the right manners or language for business...?
Thx!
Activities to boost business japanese in Tokyo - nadiatims - 2011-12-14
Maybe do a lot of reading related to your field to get a head start on all the vocabulary you're going to want to eventually know. Other than that a lot of general listening practice to things like podcasts, dramas, news etc. I don't think you need to worry about keigo. Just speak in polite masu/desu form and you should be fine. You can learn the rest from observing and imitating how your coworkers act in different situations.
Activities to boost business japanese in Tokyo - SendaiDan - 2011-12-15
Personally I think you should understand keigo. I'm currently employed by a 子会社 of a very large Japanese company and have frequent email/telephone contact with Tokyo employees on a daily basis. From the beginning they have always used keigo in emails etc as well as set business phrases (many of which I didn't know when I started, but thanks to google and 知恵袋 I now understand).
Sorry that doesn't really help with your situation but make sure you don't neglect keigo entirely.
Activities to boost business japanese in Tokyo - dtcamero - 2011-12-15
keigo is very easy to understand. the hard part is using it correctly. I would recommend the little book "敬語の達人” by 山岸弘子 for a quick, (relatively) entertaining trip through the world of business keigo.
Activities to boost business japanese in Tokyo - deign - 2011-12-15
Thx. Actually I understand most of keigo. I'm not afraid of my listening skills but afraid of having a fluent business conversation
Of course I could learn more set phrases and study more keigo but I feel there is something else needed which is maybe something like practical experience... Actually I feel like I speak very slowly and dont wan't to be seen like a burden
Activities to boost business japanese in Tokyo - jettyke - 2011-12-15
Find people who speak what you want to be able to speak.