Joined: Sep 2008
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Quick question... how come Japan has become out of the question for now? Can't get a visa? At any rate it wouldn't hurt to continue learning Japanese as on the side while concentrating on another language more full time.
Spanish is one of the most spoken languages in the world so I think it could be a very good choice.
Joined: May 2008
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Say what Icecream is ditching Japanese? I must have missed the other thread where he announced that? Seriously dude, I think you need to reexamine your approach to life. I think you got too obsessed with mastering it in an unrealistically short time believing that knowing Japanese would solve all your problems. You just need to chill, take a more relaxed approach to learning japanese and not over do it so you burn out. Also realize that there is no place on earth that is paradise. Everywhere has good or bad points, but some have more good or bad points than others ! Also whatever dissatisfactions you have with life, I can assure you that moving to another country will not solve them, you have to find some other way of finding a solution.
I have travelled extensively in Asia, and in my opinion Japan is the best country in Asia to live.
The weather in Japan does suck at times, but the problem is not the cold, it is the heat ! It is so damn hot and humid from about June - September !! The winter is not that cold in the main cities like Tokyo, Osaka etc. It only snows heavily a few days a year.
Here are my gross asian country stereotypes
Korea - not so dissimilar to Japan. Urban landscape is generally ugly. Not many good jobs for foreigners. More likely to be screwed teaching english than in Japan.
Japan - Most interesting country I think. Good infrastructure, relatively safe. Crowded. Not many good beaches unless you go far from the cities. Even then tetrapods are everywhere.
Philippines. Good for beaches, scuba. Poverty is everywhere, dangerous in cities. Very poor infrastructure.
Singapore. Most westernized country in Asia. Clean, efficient, safe, sterile, small.
Malaysia. Relatively wealthy asian country, not much visible poverty. Nice islands, good diving. Borneo is cool for wildlife and travelling. Probably OK to live there. Kuala Lumpur is very busy though, not especially friendly city.
China. Developing quickly, pollution and factories everywhere. Countryside not developed. Didn't like it much too be honest.
Thailand: Super hot and humid, only winter is tolerable. Nice islands etc, but too many tourists. Cities horrible. Dodgy sex tourism in many parts.
Unless you get a job with a foreign company and get an expat package, forget about making much money in any asian country. Probably your best bet is Japan and Korea. Having a holiday somewhere is not the same as trying to live there.
Why don't you learn a European language, and try and find some work in the South of France or in Italy somewhere. Asia is fun to visit, but I wouldn't like to live there unless it was in one of the more developed asian countries.
Edited: 2010-03-16, 4:10 am
Joined: Jun 2009
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I think you just need some relaxing time to come back to japanese or so. I feel for you. I remeber in the beginning i was obsessed with so many cards. Saying stuff like "I want to have 30,000 sentences in my sentence deck!!! and having 50,000 in my words deck and having 30,000-40,000 in my production deck" Which i still plan to do but in a much slower pace, b/c this will burnout anyone, and even me and i do quite abit of reviewing daily. But to be honest, it's the immersion that will help you solidify concepts you learned in the srs. For me i doubt i will ever stop in japanese until i reach my goal of fluency in all 4 skills. Preferably in 2 years hopefully. (Unno about 18months but everyone is different i guess) (Pretty confident i should have reading/understanding skills to high level in a full year, but for speaking/writing those skills will take longer, but i will work on them soon)
Also i wanted to ask, is there links to speech between native speakers? such as audio and stuff i remember seeing it posted somewhere on this forum site before. It was on varies different topics such as psychology, basic conversations and other things. Anyone know about the site?
Edited: 2010-03-15, 10:18 am
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I lived in Thailand for a year before coming to Japan, so I know a little about the place to make a comparison between the two. The two countries are so entirely different that it is often the case that one country appeals to a certain type of character, rather than one just being better than the other. I will however generalise for a bit,
What makes Thailand better than Japan?
- In a very simple and obvious way, there are more opportunities to have a laugh in Thailand. If you like going out at night, feeling a bit more on the edge, taking a few risks etc then Thailand is excellent. This fun can however be short lived and is best for a holiday.
- The students in Thailand are very talkative and engaging the classroom. They want to take you out for lunch after class etc for a drink and a game of snooker or out somewhere for the day on your day off. They don't like studying but they like to chat in the class a lot.
- Thailand is the only south-east Asian country that was never a European colony, this gives it a very differrent cultural flavour to the rest of Asia.
What makes Japan better than Thailand?
- Life in japan is much nicer, more pleasant, civilised and just generally of a higher quality. You can do want you want to do and nobody bothers you or tries to rip you off. This sounds a bit general but this kind of life is impossible in Thailand. In thailand you are always being ripped off by taxi drivers etc and also by the company you work for. In Japan things are much better organised and the situation is clearer.
- Japan has a nice variety of weather in each year. It can get a bit hot for about two months and a bit cold for two moths but nothing too extreme. the heat in Thailand gets pretty tedious.
- Japanese cities ahve a nice variety of restaurants from different countries as well as a huge range within their own cuisine. The differnce between okonomiyaki, sushi, tempura, dengaku etc is almost like they come from entirely different cuisines. whereas Thai food can get very tedious after a while and if you fancy a break from it, you have to go somewhere touristy.
In general, if you are straight out of college and fancy a year or two of living a it more on the edge, then thailand is superb. It is a good place to get such things out of your system. However, if you fancy a more mature, well balanced life, then Japan is for you. I am 100% glad that I went to Thailand first and then Japan but i would never want to live in Thailand ever again, even if you gave me a massive salary.
Joined: Mar 2007
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I have decided to ditch Thailand in favour of somewhere sunnier ^_^. For instance... The sun's corona
Joined: Mar 2010
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But iocane comes from Australia, as everyone knows, and Australia is entirely peopled with criminals. :-)
I'm also hoping to learn Arabic one day, if only to learn the script, which I think is really lovely. Also, if you know Arabic you become quite employable apparently.
