My area of study is international management. No, I don't like the subject, and no, it did nothing to spark my interest in Japanese, except for perhaps exacerbating the feelings of isolation and depression that lead me to take up learning Japanese. However, I did enjoy learning about Japan's economic system, corporate culture and business practices, and I am looking into ways of connecting my future managerial career with Japan. That is, if my lack of interest in the subject does not eventually cause me to flunk it. In that case I might just start over with something I am actually passionate about - linguistics.

Last edited by vonPeterhof (2011 November 22, 4:43 pm)

I'm an artist, studying art academically up to a masters degree... this kind of education involves a lot of the humanities in general so i guess I could say I also have an english degree from Me U. 
  When I was 13 I was living in this suburb of Chicago that had a really great video rental store, with an awesome (and very naughty) anime section. Movies like akira and vampire hunter D were so different from everything I had seen at that point in my life that they became really formative for my aesthetic sensibility later in life.
  I always thought Japanese looked cool and sounded impenetrable, just consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel like a computer language... so I guess the compelling aesthetics of the language itself were relevant in my study... but the thing that is really the most rewarding was being able to watch those old movies in Japanese.
  It's great... the writer of the 原作 is either the artist or someone chosen by the artist, whereas the writer for a dub is just some guy who knows both languages. Benjamin wrote that the job of the translator not just to copy over, but to recreate the magic of the original in the foreign environment. This is why poets keep retranslating Dante, and this is why most dubs suck... this is also why Kaneda is like a Marlin Brando in japanese, and just a A.C. Slater in english.

Currently studying Biology and Chemistry for industrial laboratory work I will most likely study something else once I finish my program. I might head into trades, since the jobs and pay are all there(electrical work). To be honest, I'm not completely sure what I want to do (career-wise). It's hard to figure out what you really "want". Any advice?

I majored in music in college, and afterwards I quickly found out that I didn't want to do that for a living. I'm trying to go to grad school for Chinese history/historical linguistics, but I'm studying in Taiwan for ~2 years first. I may end up also studying in Japan for a year before I start grad school, since I'll be needing to learn Japanese for my field anyway. Meanwhile I'm studying a little Japanese in my spare time (which isn't turning out to be all that much) while in Taiwan.

It was to many years that past after I graduated to put the figure down here...

By profession I'm a software engineer but I always liked learning foreign languages. I attempted to pick up Japanese couple of times but only recently I managed to get enough motivation to actually do that in a way that would satisfy me. I hope that in the future I would be able to read Japanese prose with fluency equal to my English (which is my second language BTW).

I'm my granny.

An astronomer by education (oh, so many years ago!).

Self-(un)employed, depends how I feel about it.

Have been learning languages on my own all my life, to read poetry, good literature and watch good movies. Sometimes I use a language or two to write a post.

Just graduated with a degree in Computer Science, and another in Japanese Language and Literature.

Currently working at a company that focuses on helping mobilize businesses. There's a lot involved, but basically, I make cell phone applications.

Trying to see if I can't find a way to do this in Japan though... hrm...

I'm currently doing a joint honours course in Philosophy and Communication and Society with a module of Japanese. I hate the Communications part though and I might try and swap it to Mandarin, but I'm not sure about learning another language and I'm not 100% sure they'll let me take that combination ):.

IceCream wrote:

Next i think i'm gonna try & write a fiction book, which'll mean taking some time off japanese...

Write your book/s in Japanese.

I graduated with a degree in Asian Literature and Cultures with emphasis on Japanese language, but I also studied a little bit of Chinese. I'm glad my degree doesn't emphasize the language aspect in its title because I would be screwed with the actual level of Japanese that I have. I can now unfortunately and fully attest that it is better to learn on your own when it comes to Japanese. So now I am here hoping to improve my Japanese on my own so I can truly live up to my degree. I'm also currently looking for jobs teaching English so I can fully immerse myself into the language environment. I am just starting the rtk method. I feel inspired after reading the forums on this site.

Taking courses in business administration because I can probably use Japanese with it. Would be better if I went into a more specific major, such as marketing (or whatever my interest is), but I have no idea what I want to do at all. I feel I'd love to major in something health-related and work at a hospital, but I don't know my chances of using Japanese with such a major.

Also I'm already 22 so if I keep bouncing around I'll never get my undergraduate degree. When I visit Japan next week maybe I'll try to stop by some companies and talk to people there. Yes I know that sounds completely crazy but I really just need something driving me in a certain direction.

Mathematics focusing on probability and statistics with some analysis. Used to want to be a quantitative analyst but now I just want to be a career student...