Is it worth learning Japanese now?

Glenski · 6 Sep 2007

Jersey Boy,
I stand by my original statements.

If you are Japanese, the priority for a family, IMO, should be to learn Japanese. Now, unless you are one of those who believes incorrectly that a person cannot learn 2 languages at the same time, I see no reason why your kids couldn't also learn English, but survival in Japan rests on learning Japanese first, hence that priority.

frostyg02uk · 6 Sep 2007

Hmm Ive always thought that if i had kids Id like them to speak english but also their mothers language too. If i lived in england then they would speak english all of the time but japanese at home and vice versa. Japanese might not be needed for survival but id like to give my children another option to life and of course there is always the chance that they would pick Japan as their nationality in the future.
In your case If I was you I would teach my children english. Parents these days pay good money for their children to learn another language so for someone to learn it from a young age, well it can only be a good thing not only for emigrational purposes but also in the sense of educational value and the improvement in a social case.

(Im still not sure what your really asking but i hope i have helped)

Elizabeth · 6 Sep 2007

Pachipro said:
Your children will learn Japanese easily enough in school and through their friends and become fluent in English at home with the help of you and your wife. I have known a few western families whose primary language was English at home and the children learned Japanese fluently at school and such. In the long run they were at near native language level by the time they were teenagers.

Yes, for immigrant families the language barrier is obviously a reality of their circumstances on the edge of society. Children of Japanese parents I very much doubt will have native friends without being provided a strong rootedness in the language.

A Japanese family in Tokyo that speaks to their children or even each other primarily in English can look forward to a life of social ostracism and unspeakable, pardon the pun, frustration difficult to imagine in the West. Not to mention a total lack of sympathy/accomodation, by schools or any other institution.

Jersey Boy's initial description of his approach to bilingualism as "thinking of making English the preferred (not sole or exclusive) home language" made some sense to me as far as it went. And I'm glad to see it was later clarified that a mastery of Japanese be everyone's primary concern.

Globetrotter36 · 6 Nov 2009

I haven't bothered to read all the posts here but the question 'is it worth learning Japanese? is one that's been bugging me quite a while. I got as far as the 'A' level in my native country the UK (doesn't mean much the exam was on an out-dated format with no oral).

Since then I have found my efforts to have been largely a waste of time and worst of all money. The Japanese appear the last to acknowledge your efforts, gaining employment never happens unless by some chance you happen to be fluent or are luck enough to have a degree either in Japanese or a subject supplementary to the language.

I think much depends on who you are, where you live and whether you can actally use or need the language.

Glenski · 7 Nov 2009

Just how do you expect them to "acknowledge" your efforts? Most Japanese will hear a simple "good morning" or "thank you" and praise a foreigner to high heaven. I wouldn't expect an outright remark related to getting hired. (Ex. "Oh, yes, you speak so well, it is one of the main reasons we hired you.")

gaining employment never happens unless by some chance you happen to be fluent or are luck enough to have a degree either in Japanese or a subject supplementary to the language.

What sort of work are you talking about? Teachers don't even need a degree that's related to the job, you know. If it's non-teaching work, then most of the time you need relevant education, experience, and fairly high Japanese.

"Lucky enough" is a lame excuse for lack of trying. If one wants a job, one gets the proper qualifications.

Globetrotter36 · 7 Nov 2009

Glenski said:
Just how do you expect them to "acknowledge" your efforts? Most Japanese will hear a simple "good morning" or "thank you" and praise a foreigner to high heaven. I wouldn't expect an outright remark related to getting hired. (Ex. "Oh, yes, you speak so well, it is one of the main reasons we hired you.")
What sort of work are you talking about? Teachers don't even need a degree that's related to the job, you know. If it's non-teaching work, then most of the time you need relevant education, experience, and fairly high Japanese.
"Lucky enough" is a lame excuse for lack of trying. If one wants a job, one gets the proper qualifications.

That's just the kind of BS I hear so often from Japanese, I have never heard a Japanese 'praise a foreigner to high heaven', youi are obviously living on a different planet!
There is no need for your patronizing remark 'teachers don't even need a degree related to the job you know', I know that better than you do! As for your last sentence some of us cannot get the qaulifications we want or need. By the way I have seen people suitably qualified with degrees in Japanese and other subjects be treated like dirt when they have applied for jobs with Japanese companies. You are just one of those who cannot admit the oh so frequent mental deficiencies and arrogance of your own nationality. No surprise you didn't win the war but come to think of it damned good job too!

Glenski · 7 Nov 2009

Globetrotter36 said:
That's just the kind of BS I hear so often from Japanese, I have never heard a Japanese 'praise a foreigner to high heaven', youi are obviously living on a different planet!

It's BS to hear such words, I agree, but if you've been in Japan for any length of time, you'll hear it regularly. That is not BS!

Since your profile says you have only been to Japan for a month or less, I'd say you don't have enough experience to know.

There is no need for your patronizing remark 'teachers don't even need a degree related to the job you know', I know that better than you do!

It's not patronizing. You are the one on another planet, because this is a fact of life in Japan for most teaching jobs. Do you teach here? If so, in what capacity? I smell a troll.

As for your last sentence some of us cannot get the qaulifications we want or need. By the way I have seen people suitably qualified with degrees in Japanese and other subjects be treated like dirt when they have applied for jobs with Japanese companies.

Yes, people who are indeed suitably qualified can get jobs or be treated like dirt. Case by case. Having qualifications is no guarantee of being treated respectably, and I never suggested that. I only stated what you need to actually land the job in the first place.

You are just one of those who cannot admit the oh so frequent mental deficiencies and arrogance of your own nationality. No surprise you didn't win the war but come to think of it damned good job too!

Stop the trollish remarks.

Half-n-Half · 7 Nov 2009

Globetrotter36 said:
You are just one of those who cannot admit the oh so frequent mental deficiencies and arrogance of your own nationality. No surprise you didn't win the war but come to think of it damned good job too!

Wait wait, sorry to jump in the middle of this and I might have this completely wrong but, Glenski is not Japanese. I believe he is originally from the US, correct me if I'm wrong. Is that what you were referring to when you mentioned the lost war? World War 2?

Glenski · 7 Nov 2009

Half-n-half,
Yes, I'm American, as my profile and avatar clearly state.

Ignore the trollish comments from that guy. It's not worth it. If harassing comments continue, moderators will take care of matters, but for now do what trolls hate most: ignore them.

LLingo · 9 Jan 2010

I have two kids aged 5 and 3 years and they both are growing up trilingual (Thai, German and English). My wife is Thai and I am German and they are attending English international schools / kindergarten. It works very well and the older one speaks all three languages nearly on the same level. So I would definitely expose the kids to as many languages as possible. One tip: Make sure that the kids asscoiate one language with a specific person (e.g. Mother, father, school etc.). Do not talk in more than one language to the kids as they then can not separate the languages anymore easily.

gaijinalways · 10 Jan 2010

LLingo posted

Make sure that the kids asscoiate one language with a specific person (e.g. Mother, father, school etc.). Do not talk in more than one language to the kids as they then can not separate the languages anymore easily.

That sounds like an odd assertion, as people often codeswitch when using multiple languages depending on the situation, the speakers and listeners, and the habits of that locale. I'm sure they'll easily be able to separate the languages as they learn to identify which is which, just as kids learn to adjust their style of speech depending on the cirumstances.

Tokugawa Ieyasu · 20 Feb 2010

I'm working in the technology district in Beijing right now and learning Nihongo as a beginner.

For me, it's partly for passion (I find Japanese culture to be fascinating), and partly for commercial and career advancement (there's a big presence of Japanese investments in the first-tier Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai, so fluency in Japanese will set me apart from my competitors).

Yukiko chan · 23 Feb 2010

JerseyBoy said:
I have to admit my sentiment on this point is biased as I have been in the English-speaking country for many years. The economic and political powers in the world change. I am Japanese but I tend to prefer speaking English as I feel it has a better use internationally (English is considered an international language in business) and will get me where I would want to be or become in the future inside or outside Japan. If I decide to start a family, I am thinking about making English as the preferred household language.
I am not a nationalist and don't subscribe to the virtue of the cultural identity; so, I am not listening to the argument a Japanese has to stick with Japanese.

My interest in Japanese is part of my general interest in linguistics and world cultures. I don't subscribe to any nationalistic BS either. I'm a world citizen and would like to learn as much as I can about all world cultures, and as many languages as I can until I die.

I don't think it would be a problem if your potential children had to learn two languages as their native tongues. Children possess high learning capacities, and only about 5% of people keep the same ability when they grow up (according to some language acquisition theories). It's not only work and business that matters in life: opening up to different cultures is a great thing in my opinion, and most monolingual people I've met feel sorry that they were never given the chance to learn one or two more languages when they were little. I have a friend who hates the fact that her Russian mother never taught her Russian for the sheer beauty of it!

Is it worth learning Japanese now?

Glenski

Just me

frostyg02uk

先輩

Elizabeth

先輩

Globetrotter36

Registered

Glenski

Just me

Globetrotter36

Registered

Glenski

Just me

Half-n-Half

先輩

Glenski

Just me

LLingo

先輩

gaijinalways

puzzled gaijin

Tokugawa Ieyasu

Shōgun

Yukiko chan

先輩

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