Asriel Wrote:Well this is an interesting conversation we've gone into.

I, too, thought that ta12121 was much younger than he is. The way he expresses himself always reminded me of my younger brother when he chats with his friends -- quite "train of thought," if you will. Not to say that I'm any better, but I was quite surprised to learn that he is the same age as I am.

At my school, Jr. High was used to cement the rules of grammar and such, and then High School was based on developing composition, research, and critical thinking skills. If you couldn't express your thoughts in a clear enough way, you didn't advance to the next class. Graduates from my school rarely have trouble with college essays, whereas other schools' graduates seem to have difficulty.

Slightly back on topic,


A few months back, through some connections, I got the opportunity to help some Japanese people update their website. Due to some difficulties, it didn't work out, but that's beside the point.
I met up with the older Japanese man (about 50ish?) to eat, drink, and discuss what we would do with the website. Long story short, the night ended with him getting drunk, and telling me that there was "nothing impressive" about me speaking Japanese. As an employer he would "never employ me" because I "have no ambition."

What gave him this idea? The fact that I am majoring in Japanese, and because I am studying abroad in Japan. I'm [effectively] putting my Computer Science degree on a 1 year hold in order to spend time in Japan. My focus is misdirected, apparently...

My grammer is horrrible at times. But I do speak English fine, because I've been in Canada for a while now. One of my friends told me, you should check up on you're grammer. Review the basics and you're english will be back to 100%. I've just been busy, I'll just go over that in the summer

One of my english professors told me. If you just write the way you speak, you'd be getting a high mark.

I wrote a long paragraph over the span of 10 minutes, but I deleted it. I just want to get straight to the point. I'll be almost 21 and I am also choosing my major, although you've already started yours. I am choosing Japanese Studies or Animation BS. Well it will most likely be Animation BS because that can still work in Japan and is also specialized. So I'm trying to say you should keep working on your science major, because you're already learning the language so insanely fast that it makes me pissed off and jealous (I won't lie!).

And if you want to talk to another guy who plans to take his science to Japan, you can subscribe/message/whatever: http://www.youtube.com/user/ChemistInJapan

ta12121 Wrote:My grammer is horrrible at times. But I do speak English fine, because I've been in Canada for a while now. One of my friends told me, you should check up on you're grammer. Review the basics and you're english will be back to 100%. I've just been busy, I'll just go over that in the summer

One of my english professors told me. If you just write the way you speak, you'd be getting a high mark.

I believe english is not ta12121's first language, from what he's been saying, so that would easily explain the more casual mode of speech.

Given the fact that he's been living in Canada for 19 (out of 20) years of his life, I think he is a native English speaker...

Asriel Wrote:Given the fact that he's been living in Canada for 19 (out of 20) years of his life, I think he is a native English speaker...

Could easily be a bilingual speaker, with French primarily spoken in the home, or whatever language his parents spoke where they moved from. As someone who has taught English in the inner city, I frequently had Hispanic students who were raised here but because Spanish was the language primarily spoken in the home, they never quite reached the levels of native speaking students. Sure, they were fluent and proficient, but their writing was always filled with casual speech patterns, poor grammar, and a general lack of the "refinement" other people speak of in this thread. Not all of them, by any means, and I truly believe anyone can achieve refinement of speech and writing through exposure and practice. But, at the same time, if that exposure is not going on at home, true native-level fluency will not be reached as quickly or well as those primarily surrounded by the language at all times.

You could also get a regular job (but in Japanese).

Best place to get a japanese job:
http://www.careerforum.net

The Boston Career Forum (the largest bilingual English-Japanese job fair in the world)
is always in November.

There are a few other career fairs throughout the year (Los Angeles, London, New York, and Tokyo). But the Boston Career Forum is the main one.

ta12121 Wrote:Thanks for the comment. This makes prefect sense. I haven't 100% decided on what I want to specialize in. A lot of people have told me, go for chemist. They get paid good. Plus having multiple languages under you're belt will add to the pay.

For me chemistry = magic, so if you can do that and Japanese on the side I think it would be an awesome choice! Best jobs in this world are in pharmaceutical companies, not the most ethic field to be in but they pay well, never get out of business and are recession proof.

kendo99 Wrote:I believe english is not ta12121's first language, from what he's been saying, so that would easily explain the more casual mode of speech.

I was sure he was native, if not I apologize for my remarks about this subject here and in other threads.

My first language is english. But my parents first language wasn't english. So at home they talk in a mixture of both english and other languages at time. I usual listen to japanese majority of the day, when I'm on my computer.

TheVinster Wrote:I wrote a long paragraph over the span of 10 minutes, but I deleted it. I just want to get straight to the point. I'll be almost 21 and I am also choosing my major, although you've already started yours. I am choosing Japanese Studies or Animation BS. Well it will most likely be Animation BS because that can still work in Japan and is also specialized. So I'm trying to say you should keep working on your science major, because you're already learning the language so insanely fast that it makes me pissed off and jealous (I won't lie!).

And if you want to talk to another guy who plans to take his science to Japan, you can subscribe/message/whatever: http://www.youtube.com/user/ChemistInJapan

lol. I still suck don't worry. I remember someone here saying that my level is about around the level of a highschool student in japan. I'm sure that I can definitely get my japanese to a high level(fluency) but native-level may talk a while. Like a lot of people stated, I should basically study something that will lead to good results. So I'll focus more on chemistry, learn japanese insanely as I always do. (Wait until the summer when I free time, I;ll be sure to get my japanese to a high level) and basically those two things can be linked towards a high paying career. Or at least good opportunities. I remember also that, Translators in the US get paid good, especially if the translators for certain languages are low. Japanese being one of them, and also proving to be a "difficult" language.

So in a few more months I should reach adult level. But that varies. My english grammer sucks at times, but even though being 20. I still consider myself a kid lol.

chamcham Wrote:You could also get a regular job (but in Japanese).

Best place to get a japanese job:
http://www.careerforum.net

The Boston Career Forum (the largest bilingual English-Japanese job fair in the world)
is always in November.

There are a few other career fairs throughout the year (Los Angeles, London, New York, and Tokyo). But the Boston Career Forum is the main one.

Sweet. I'll be sure to keep this in mind.

ta12121 - i think that all of the posts here that mention your English ability are all trying to say the same thing-- read your posts after you type them. Everybody screws up basic English now and again, but when you dont take time to fix basic mistakes, I spend time thinking about your mistakes and not the content of your writing.

duder Wrote:ta12121 - i think that all of the posts here that mention your English ability are all trying to say the same thing-- read your posts after you type them. Everybody screws up basic English now and again, but when you dont take time to fix basic mistakes, I spend time thinking about your mistakes and not the content of your writing.

Pretty much. That's correct. I just have to be careful and correct my mistakes.

ta12121 Wrote:

chamcham Wrote:You could also get a regular job (but in Japanese).

Best place to get a japanese job:
http://www.careerforum.net

The Boston Career Forum (the largest bilingual English-Japanese job fair in the world)
is always in November.

There are a few other career fairs throughout the year (Los Angeles, London, New York, and Tokyo). But the Boston Career Forum is the main one.

Sweet. I'll be sure to keep this in mind.

The great thing about the Boston Career Forum is that nearly all the jobs are offered ON THE SPOT. All of the famous japanese companies are recruiting. It's probably one of the only chances outside of japan to be in direct contact with these companies while they hire people right there. I have four friends (none of them were native Japanese. one was half-japanese) that got jobs at the Boston Career Forum and they were all with big companies.

For someone living in America, it's almost impossible finding a job in Japan. Phone interviews are so much more difficult than face-to-face interviews. Most companies will want you to fly to Japan for a face-to-face interview(you'll be paying all the travel fees). And most resume submissions from abroad are ignored.

So, if you have the chance, you really should go.

Here's the list of companies from last year:

ABBOTT JAPAN CO., LTD.
医薬品／医療機器・医療関連
ABERCROMBIE & FITCH
Retail Management
ACTIS CORPORATION
ソフトウェア、情報通信サービス
AJINOMOTO
食品及びアミノ酸素材メーカー
AMAZON.COM
e-commerce
BAIN CAPITAL ASIA, LLC
プライベートエクイティ
BANDAI
Entertainment Company
BANK OF AMERICA MERRILL LYNCH
Securities Firm
BANK OF JAPAN
中央銀行業
BANK OF TOKYO-MITSUBISHI UFJ
銀行業
BARCLAYS CAPITAL
Finance/Investment Banking
BAYER YAKUHIN, LTD.
医薬品、医療機器、動物用薬品
BLOOMBERG
Financial Media Services
BNP PARIBAS
金融
THE BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP
経営戦略コンサルティング
BRIDGESTONE CORPORATION
タイヤ・その他メーカー
BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO JAPAN
製造たばこの輸入、販売及び配送
BROADRIDGE JAPAN
Securities Processing
BROTHER INDUSTRIES, LTD.
製造業
CITIGROUP
Global Financial Institution
CMIC CO., LTD.
CRO（医薬品開発受託機関）
COMTEC INC.
情報処理サービス、ソフトウェア
CREDIT SUISSE
外資系金融 （証券、投資銀行）
DAIICHI SANKYO CO., LTD.
医薬品
DAIWA SECURITIES SMBC
証券
DAYMON WORLDWIDE
PB商品のコンサルティング業
DELOITTE - ENTERPRISE RISK SERVICES
監査・アドバイザリーサービス
DELOITTE - TOHMATSU TAX CO.
税務コンサルティング
DELOITTE LLP-JAPANESE SERVICES GROUP
Public Accounting
DELOITTE TOHMATSU CONSULTING CO., LTD.
経営コンサルティングサービス
DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LLC
監査・アドバイザリーサービス
DENTSU INC.
広告・コミュニケーション
DEUTSCHE BANK GROUP
Finance / Investment Banking
DEVELOPMENT BANK OF JAPAN
政府系金融機関
DISCO, INC.
情報広告サービス
ELI LILLY JAPAN
医薬品
ERNST & YOUNG LLP
Assurance & Advisory and Tax
FIDELITY INVESTMENTS
Investment Management
FUJI TELEVISION NETWORK, INC.
放送
FUJITSU
コンピュータ・通信・IT関連
FUTURE ARCHITECT, INC.
ITコンサルティング
GOLDMAN SACHS JAPAN
Global Financial Industry
HAKUHODO INC. / HAKUHODO DY MEDIA PARTNERS INC.
広告・メディア業務全般
HITACHI CHEMICAL COMPANY, LTD.
化学
HOTTA LIESENBERG SAITO LLP
会計事務所
IMS JAPAN
Marketing Research/Consulting
INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CORPORATION
Finance
J.P. MORGAN
Global Financial Institution
JAPAN BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
政府系金融
JGC CORPORATION
総合エンジニアリング
JOHNSON & JOHNSON FAMILY OF COMPANIES
医療用機器・ヘルスケア製品
KANEBO COSMETICS INC.
化粧品
KANEKA
化学・食料品・繊維・医薬品他
KAO GROUP
総合化学メーカー
KONICA MINOLTA HOLDINGS, INC.
精密機器
KURARAY
Chemistry
LEVI'S STRAUSS JAPAN K.K.
ファッション
MACNICA, INC.
商社/半導体・ネットワーク機器
MEDTRONIC JAPAN
医療機器メーカー
MELTWATER GROUP
IT Sales Management
MINISTRY OF LAND, INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT AND TOURISM (JAPAN TOURISM AGENCY)
官公庁
MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC
総合電機
MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
製造業
MITSUI & CO., LTD.
総合商社
MITSUI FUDOSAN
総合不動産業
MIZUHO CORPORATE BANK, LTD.
銀行業
MORGAN STANLEY JAPAN SECURITIES CO., LTD.
外資系金融
THE NIPPON FOUNDATION
公益法人
NISHIMOTO TRADING
食品卸売
NOMURA ASSET MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
金融・資産運用業
NOMURA RESEARCH INSTITUTE, LTD.
IT、Business Consulting
NOMURA SECURITIES CO., LTD.
証券業
THE NORINCHUKIN BANK
系統金融機関
NS SOLUTIONS CORPORATION
情報・サービス
NTT DOCOMO
情報通信
ORBIS INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED
Asset Management
OSAKA GAS
エネルギー
OTSUKA PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD.
製薬業
PANASONIC CORPORATION
総合エレクトロニクスメーカー
PHILIP MORRIS JAPAN K.K.
製造業
PLAN･DO･SEE
サービス業
PricewaterhouseCoopers GROUP
Public Accounting
QUNIE CORPORATION
経営コンサルティングサービス
RAKUTEN, INC.
インターネット・サービス
THE ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND
Financial Services
SANOFI-AVENTIS K.K.
医薬品
SEKISUI CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
メーカー(化学・住宅など)
SENKO GROUP
商社
SHIN NIPPON BIOMEDICAL LABORATORIES, LTD.
CRO（医薬品開発受託機関）
SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT INC.
エンタテインメント
SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD.
ゲーム、出版
SUMITOMO CORPORATION
総合商社
SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, LTD.
自動車・情報通信・電気電子
SUMITOMO MITSUI BANKING CORPORATION
Banking
TAIYO PACIFIC PARTNERS LP
Investment Management
TAKEDA PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY LIMITED
医薬品
TOKIO MARINE & NICHIDO FIRE INSURANCE CO., LTD.
損害保険
TOSHIBA LOGISTICS CORPORATION
総合物流エンジニアリング業
UBS SECURITIES JAPAN LTD.
Global Financial Institution
UNICHARM CORPORATION
製造業
WORKS APPLICATIONS
ソフトウェアメーカー
XEBIO CO., LTD.
小売業（スポーツ・洋装品）

Get your N2 or N1, grab some technical documents off the web and translate them and make a portfolio, come to Japan and get a visa (easiest way was to get a job teaching english) and while you are doing that, apply for translating positions. First part time, and then full time. Be prepared to move where the jobs are (usually Tokyo or Aichi).
Get what you need to get interviews. Just like anywhere else. Be sure to let them know you will commit to their company for many years (three at least, but don't mention a number). Youth is no barrier, because most compnaies have an aged-based pay system, so you would beat out an older guy all other things being equal. Skill and experience are important, but mostly they want to know if you are going to quit in a year.

Mennon Wrote:Get your N2 or N1, grab some technical documents off the web and translate them and make a portfolio

Sorry for being ignorant, but what's N2 or N1
Also: technical documents -- ones that haven't already been translated, I presume. In a field like Computer Science, this could perhaps be...the original Ruby documentation (probably already translated, but its the first thing that popped into my head)?

Damn, that much companies? I gotta go there for sure. Thanks for the info chamcham. I might just be able to get something good in a few years from now.

Mennon Wrote:Get your N2 or N1, grab some technical documents off the web and translate them and make a portfolio, come to Japan and get a visa (easiest way was to get a job teaching english) and while you are doing that, apply for translating positions. First part time, and then full time. Be prepared to move where the jobs are (usually Tokyo or Aichi).
Get what you need to get interviews. Just like anywhere else. Be sure to let them know you will commit to their company for many years (three at least, but don't mention a number). Youth is no barrier, because most compnaies have an aged-based pay system, so you would beat out an older guy all other things being equal. Skill and experience are important, but mostly they want to know if you are going to quit in a year.

Makes sense. I'll definitely be taking JLPT level 1 sometime this year. Probably December the one. Yea I was already thinking of teaching English in japan. Technical material eh, I could translate science technical stuff such as chemistry because I'm majoring in that.

@shihoro
"But Jesus if you get a Chemistry Degree and JLPT1 before you are 21 you will my admiration and unashamed jealousy"
haha, thanks. I actually have one more year left in my program. But I need to study for a few more years. Need to take more specialized courses. I prefer studying chemistry related stuff then biology. I prefer doing calculations with math and doing problems then just memorizing 100's of facts from biology courses for biology tests. Seriously even multiply choice portions of the tests are hard. Chemistry is so much easier in terms of understanding(at least for me I guess). I'm getting around 82% in my chem course which isn't bad. Only because I can understand the problems and it is enjoyable as it's a lot of problems then just memorizing facts.

Thanks for the advice. Chemistry will take some time, but as for JLPT1 I will have it within this year. I agree with the english spelling and grammar. My english is fine. If I just check over my sentences and read them out loud, I can point out my own mistakes and make it sound more natural and correct.

Yea people have been telling me that, first get a career that has a lot of job opportunities. Such as becoming a chemist. You need a bachelors degree to become one. But if you study pharmaceutical chemistry, anyone can land a good job. So that's my goal as of now. Study chemistry but focusing on pharmaceutical-chemistry.

As for If I want to do translating. It depends. The reason why I thought of translating is because I love the Japanese language and I would love to work with it as a career. I'm dedicated enough to put a lot of effort to learn more japanese. And my results are paying off so far and it's only been around 7.3 months so far.

Obviously one would need to become fluent in the language. But as people have stated here. General translation doesn't get paid all that much, but if you specialize or have a career already in a certain field. Then more jobs opportunities can open up.
So if I focus on technical stuff, then I could land a more specialized form of translation jobs. But as you stated, people do not just get into translation as a career. They have previous careers but get drawn into these jobs. I could translate stuff for practice on my own. But I'm not at the level to consider myself "fluent" or even "native-level fluent"(Which will take a while even at my speed of learning)

I heard for translation jobs, it's not about having fluent skills in japanese. It's more of making what's being said in Japanese sound natural in english. Which I can say is hard at times. I can never randomly translate it to sound more natural in english. Even expert translators can't do this. They need to have the written material and some time to translate it to english.

Just found out some more useful news. My friend said you need to build up experience and references for translating. So he recommends I join a fan-subbing group for animes,mangas,etc. So I can build some real experience in the field and get some references too.

Start with something small and build my way up in experience with translating Japanese.
I'm going to apply later tonight by giving a sample chapter of translating it to English.

ta12121 Wrote:Just found out some more useful news. My friend said you need to build up experience and references for translating. So he recommends I join a fan-subbing group for animes,mangas,etc. So I can build some real experience in the field and get some references too.

But I doubt that subbing Mangas/Anime will count as a credible reference.

ta12121 -- u might apply to somewhere like crunchyroll , where they are legitimately licensing anime for viewing on the internet. It's a medium ground between illegal/illegitimate fansubs and working directly in the publishing industry.

Also, what helped me with biology courses was learning to understand things as processes and systems instead of just brute force memorization. It's certainly "messier" than chemistry but that's what I love about it.

ThomasB Wrote:

ta12121 Wrote:Just found out some more useful news. My friend said you need to build up experience and references for translating. So he recommends I join a fan-subbing group for animes,mangas,etc. So I can build some real experience in the field and get some references too.

But I doubt that subbing Mangas/Anime will count as a credible reference.

True but it's just for my personally experience as well. Plus I can always go onto drama's,movies,songs,etc. To build on experience
But reference I need isn't for what I'm translating about, it's if what I'm translating correct and what type of service I'm providing for employer. But i hear yea. Fansubbing group isn't really a credible one. But I need to build and start from somewhere.

kendo99 Wrote:ta12121 -- u might apply to somewhere like crunchyroll , where they are legitimately licensing anime for viewing on the internet. It's a medium ground between illegal/illegitimate fansubs and working directly in the publishing industry.

Also, what helped me with biology courses was learning to understand things as processes and systems instead of just brute force memorization. It's certainly "messier" than chemistry but that's what I love about it.

haha yea. Biology majority of the time people just do rote memorize. I usual do that and my marks are alright. But for chemistry I actually understand it. So my marks are good for those courses.

As for crunchyroll I'll see what there recruiting polices are. And see what I can do to get in.

lol, do look over any communications you have with them for grammar/spelling

kendo99 Wrote:lol, do look over any communications you have with them for grammar/spelling

LOL. Yes for sure. I'll double check 5 times before hitting the send bottom.