Business Level Japanese

[Damicci]

What Level would this be compared as Passing one of the JLPT exams?

I mean how much studying would be required to reach this level?
I would assume it is fairly high degree of understanding.

I ask this because I will soon be working for IBM and I would like to transfer to Japan after a Year or so. And one of the requirements is to have a Business Level understanding of Speaking and writing Japanese.

 

[GaijinPunch]

IIRC there's a bit of it on the Level 2 JLPT, but definitely not enough to go handling business meetings. You know, I took a Business Japanese course at my university back in the day (about 10 years ago) and the text was pretty good, although I can't remember the title of it. Any business Japanese books will do... the more repetitive and mundane the better to match the environment of business Japanese. Once you get the hang of it it's pretty easy. Unless you're a secretary or dealing with customers, you won't have to speak Keigo. What exactly is your job title?

 

[Damicci]

I am doing IT Systems Administration work.
So basically I would be working internally 90% of the time.
I am planning on signing up for a year of Japanese 201 but I have to test into it.
I am guessing it'll be a few years before I can hit that level, maybe I can intern over there for a lil bit to help increase my knowledge.

Do you have any particular books in mind?

 

[khammo01]

What Level would this be compared as Passing one of the JLPT exams?

I mean how much studying would be required to reach this level?
I would assume it is fairly high degree of understanding.

I ask this because I will soon be working for IBM and I would like to transfer to Japan after a Year or so. And one of the requirements is to have a Business Level understanding of Speaking and writing Japanese.

It depends on what is your definition of "business Japanese"

If you just want to be able to function in Japanese society, have people take you seriously, and be able to hold your own when there are no other bilinguals present, you'll need JPLT level 2.

If you want to pass yourself off as being able to handle (nearly) any situation like a Japanese, possibly deal with business negotiations, or be able to successfully navigate the nuances of the language, you'll need JPLT level 1.
You probably need Level 1 to read a newspaper, or at least to make it a reasonable endeavor.

If you want to do translation or interpretation work, don't even think start thinking about it until you can ace the Level 1 exam.


I passed level 1 in 1997, but back then struggled to do some occasional translation work correctly. Now I'm a parttime professional freelance translator with a satisfied clientele.


See the website below for information about the skill level and estimated studying hours for each level of the exam. I would take those studying guidelines as the minimums. Also, every hour you spend simply interacting with someone should count as an hour or more towards study.

Oh, and whatever you do, learn as many Kanji as you possibly can. That's your key to a reasonable working vocabulary.
About the Japanese Language Proficiency Test

 

[GaijinPunch]

Damicci:

Sorry for the late reply. Haven't logged in in a while.

I assume you will be doing a lot of internal work. I've not worked for a company like IBM, but have been doing sysadmin work in foreign firms for a while now, even though the one I currently worked for has moved me out of Japan. I could see the job requiring you to speak Japanese about half the time. It will be internal, so as long as you don't piss anyone off, you should be okay. I doubt you'll be speaking to many customers.

You will probably learn a lot your first month be taking notes on how others speak. Other than that, I would suggest studying as much as you can and stick to the polite/textbook stuff. The rest will come naturally.

Unfortunately, I can't recommend any books. I had a business Japanese text book for a semester in school which wasn't bad at all, but for the life of me, cannot remember it.

 

[Damicci]

Damicci:

Sorry for the late reply. Haven't logged in in a while.

I assume you will be doing a lot of internal work. I've not worked for a company like IBM, but have been doing sysadmin work in foreign firms for a while now, even though the one I currently worked for has moved me out of Japan. I could see the job requiring you to speak Japanese about half the time. It will be internal, so as long as you don't piss anyone off, you should be okay. I doubt you'll be speaking to many customers.

You will probably learn a lot your first month be taking notes on how others speak. Other than that, I would suggest studying as much as you can and stick to the polite/textbook stuff. The rest will come naturally.

Unfortunately, I can't recommend any books. I had a business Japanese text book for a semester in school which wasn't bad at all, but for the life of me, cannot remember it.

No Problem I really appreciate the info.
My classes start next week so depending on if they let me stay in 201 or send me to 102 I will be here with a whole set of new questions.

 

[GaijinPunch]

And hopefully we'll be able to answer them.

I do think any "business Japanese" book will do you good. I remember my first day in a Japanese office. I sat behind the girl that took the Japanese calls. Every call was as if it was stolen right out of the dialogues.

 

[Maciamo]

Personally I have always considered that "Business level" is actually higher than JLPT1, because JLPT1 is to enter university (near native level), but business level implies that one has already graduated and knows the specialised vocabulary of their fields. So a "business level" to work in a pharmaceutical company will be knowing all the medical jargon that is necessary to work efficiently in that context. If one wants to work for a bank or securities company, they'll need a good financial vocabulary to be able to follow an everyday conversation. That is why I don't understand how most recruitment agencies consider that "business level" is lower than "advanced" or "native" levels. It is above the one of a normal native teenager.

 

[Damicci]

Yeah I figure Since I do IT it wouldn't be too hard to pick up on Business Level IT Jargon. >_<

Anyway thanks for all the replies. Better get to studying!!!!!!!!

 

[mdchachi]

If you want demonstrate proficiency in business level Japanese, you might try the JLPT run by JETRO. (http://www.jetro.go.jp/). It concentrates on knowledge and vocabulary required in the business world. It also includes social context in many questions. For example, there are questions showing an employee talking to the boss and you have to pick the right answer. All might be grammatically correct but only one might have the proper level of politeness. I think it's a better measure of one's ability to function in the real world. Whereas the regular JLPT is a better measure of one's grasp of grammar and kanji ie reading ability.