They came to my work to video record my lifestyle in japan and what is like for a foreinger to work in japan. What is funny is that if you watch all of it they record me studying heisig and using anki lol! My japanese abilities are awful in this video so please feel free to criticise me but i already know i suck...read my earlier post about my writing and reading kicking butt and my speaking sucking lol. What is even worse..all the other guys had like 4-7 years experience living in japan so it made the ability gap even more obvious lol. They gave me an english translator cause they werent sure if i could understand the questions since i'd only been in japan for 1 1/2 years She kinda made things worse..hearing english then going back to japanese and all haha. All in all is was funny though. Tell me what cha think! But what is cool i represented anki and hesig (kinda) lol. I wish i get an opportunity like this again when my japanese has developed alot more..there were so many things i wanted to say (and tried to) but i either didn't (because i didn't know how) or it was cut(because it made no sense).

p.s. I'm Eric, the one on the far left..but u will soon know who i am by the anki part lol.

http://www.veoh.com/videos/v17943738PbycYk5C

What a cool opportunity! I just finished checking out the video and I must say that you did quite well! Definitely better than I could at the moment, I think. Like you, my speaking trails far behind my listening/reading/writing abilities.

I guess it's just another thing we have to work on, eh?

So can I ask how you ended up getting this opportunity?

Ryuujin27 Wrote:So can I ask how you ended up getting this opportunity?

NHK went looking for companies in tokyo area with 外国人 working in their offices. And my company was asked and accepted the offer. Then they asked for someone in their 20's that has been studying/living in japan less than 2 years...and with me at 1 1/2 years i fit the mark so I was picked. (Even if i didnt they would still pick me cause I am the company clown at times). Thx for the props man!

Cool! Misokatsu looked yummmy!! No that's not the point. 1 1/2 years and already on TV? you're on track!! you were with Chinese guys with like 7 years of experience and you were on pretty much as long as they were, you should be proud.

Thanks for the post, it was really interesting. The girl saying 「ラジオ体操 was shocking」 cracked me up too

=/
Half of the world can't watch Veoh videos.
Is there an youtube version?

mentat_kgs Wrote:=/
Half of the world can't watch Veoh videos.
Is there an youtube version?

I will see about putting it up on there soon.

wow this quite awesome. good for you dude! your speaking Japanese is much better then mine but i'll get there!

I think you did a great job! I doubt I could have said anything in Japanese considering the circumstances, and probably would have ended up physically assaulting someone.

danieldesu Wrote:I think you did a great job! I doubt I could have said anything in Japanese considering the circumstances, and probably would have ended up physically assaulting someone.

HAHAHA! At one point i wanted to elbow the translator in the face cause she would translate something for me even when I didn't want her to haha. Hey thx to everyone that said i was speaking good..i hardly think so however lol

One thing you'll probably want to work on is keeping English out of your Japanese. "uhh" "umm" "so.." etc

I thought you did a good job, whatever to all the nay-sayers on here. I wanna be on Japanese TV too!

Jarvik7 Wrote:One thing you'll probably want to work on is keeping English out of your Japanese. "uhh" "umm" "so.." etc

hey jarvik thx for the advice...that is something i have had a problem with for sometime time. hehe

cool video! your handwriting was much better than the indian guy's. XD

Thanks for sharing, saizen. What a fantastic opportunity you have. I predict you'll be one of the famous gaijin TV Talents in a couple years...you seem to have the confidence and charisma.

So, is グローバル化　new 国際化? :-)

I was surprised to learn that the numbers of foreign workers has increased so dramatically over the past 15 years. I had wrongly assumed the economic situation would have caused a different result. I'm curious whether the types of jobs/industries and nationalities have also changed during that time. Does anyone know?

I'm at work so I can't watch the video right now (old computer), but what kind of job do you do in what industry? Thats really cool that you got to do this! I'm always on the look out for foreigners on TV showing off that we DO study their language, but not everybody is Jero, David Spector, or Pattkun.

Good job, way better than I could have done, but then again, I'm not living in Japan. (excuses excuses, I know.)

skinnyneo Wrote:I'm at work so I can't watch the video right now (old computer), but what kind of job do you do in what industry? Thats really cool that you got to do this! I'm always on the look out for foreigners on TV showing off that we DO study their language, but not everybody is Jero, David Spector, or Pattkun.

Thanks to you guys for all your nice comments. I doubt I will be famous in two years, prolly a one time deal eh? I am a Sales Engineer in my company. As of now I am just doing sales and marketing strategy, but I will later move on to a design team of some sort later. Yea definitaly wanted to represent the minority foreign population that tries to learn japanese.

Thora Wrote:I'm curious whether the types of jobs/industries and nationalities have also changed during that time. Does anyone know?

My wife is from Edogawa-Ku. When I first visited Japan in 2000, it was rare to see foreigners in the neighborhood. Every once in a while you would see a lone gaijin. Now the area is brimming with Indians. (And thankfully some great Indian restaurants). Apparently, many of them come from an area known as the silicon valley of India. I was quite surprised seeing this year how much had changed.

Very nice! Saizen, your handwriting is quite good (esp for being in Japan for 1.5yrs). Your conversation skills are also very impressive - keep it up!

I never thought about it until now, but does being left-handed make writing in English or Japanese any more easy or difficult (I remember a college classmate complain that writing left-handed in English sometimes caused smudging if you put your hand down)? You must be a creative type!!!

Congrats on getting on tv!

But the intro to this segment totally made me crack up though... it totally reminded me of how quaint and backwater Japan can seem at times. Their attitude like "OMG.... there are FOREIGNERS.... in OUR country!!"

Rael89 Wrote:cool video! your handwriting was much better than the indian guy's. XD

...I just so happen to be that Indian guy!

Just kidding! I agree, actually.

*claps for saizen* This is really something to be proud of

My favorite part was when they asked "What do you want to change about the Japanese company?"

Eric: Foreigners aren't scary....

Later...

Indian guy: The parties are fun but they only talk about their jobs and nothing else.

That's awesome man, congrats!

I always write in pen so the smudging aint an issue..i just cant use pencil cause well..it will smudge. I hope my handwriting is decent cause i work really hard at it. When I was doing heisig i wrote EVERY single kanji out by hand when doing reviews and learning new ones. And now with sentences...Although it slows me down...i write out every production sentence that comes up ..every time. I just want speed and accuracy i have when i write english on paper with pen. I fill up a 30 page notebook almost every month from all the kanji and sentence reviews and i keep all the books..that is what you saw in the video( i think nukemarine also does this). I actually keep track of my workload this way..as in i better be filling up a 30 page notebook every month or i am slacking off.

and yeah i was laughing at the beginning of the show too with all the candid shots of foreigners lol.

すげ！ Seriously awesome! I think I'd be too nervous in that situation too- I just gave a speech in Japanese to my 3rd graders last week for my last class with them and I was nervous- and I talk to them everyday!

Great job- though I noticed the "I have no idea what he/she just said" face once or twice (only because I make that face about 10x per day).