Your only 15, finish up school first, and while your at it, aslong as your studies wont suffer, see about learning Japanese NOW.
The sooner the better.
Only decide to study in Japan if you find a uni or whatever that offers a course you wish to take, dont decide to study there simply because its Japan and study any old thing.
If a western uni offers the best prospects for a course you wish to pursue then see about attending that one.
Otherwise your still a few years off from it, and being 15 you can still change your mind so, worry about getting voer the hurdle of mandatory schooling and your total lack of Japanese first, you can tackle further study and where you take it afterwards,
I am very interested in Film, especially Japanese anime and film, and may also like to work for a film company perhaps.
I'm bothered about it, as I am very interested in my future and making the most out of it!
Unless England is overly different from Scotland, If you wanna go live and work in Japan you wont be leaving full-time education at 18, sorry to say.
Sorry, you need at least auniversity degree to live and work in Japan.
If your thinking of doing a language study at a British/western uni, see if they have an exchange student deal or whatever that allows you to spend time studying in Japan.
You could also perhaps see about a scholarship to a Japanese uni I dunno, but since you appear to be majoring in an English course its doubtful.
Unlikely to happen, but, up to you to try, as someone else here who's lived in Japan a long time and knows the deal stated, your best bet will always be Marketable job skills or such.
What this basically means is if you want to work in Japanese film industry (a very insular industry by the way) you will need to show potential Japanese employers that you have a skill they need.
Japan isnt like a member nation of the EU where you can just waltz where-ever as your whims see fit, the Japanese, putting it bluntly, wont hire a foreigner if they can hire a local for the same job.
Your best bet starting out at least will be teaching English, they always want native speakers to teach and dont seem to bothered by lack of Japanese language skills, but, if your moving to a foreign country, knowing the language at leats to get by is always a benefit, as you seem to know.
Good, no-one should plan on moving to Japan without preparing well in advance, those who seem to want to go sooner end up not getting there at all.
Glad to hear you will concentrate on your education, where you live can come after.
I would advice if you have any serious immigration concerns, to consult the Japanese embassy, and naturally, ask the regular members around here.
I cant really think of any lessons to learn Japanese in Britain, I tried my local area but no joy, so perhaps a more localised search on your behalf will work, check around really.
Basically the Japanese wont want you unless you can do something for them that they cant do themselves (or think they cant) so as Mike Cash always say's, prepare prepare prepare, and most of all, make sure you have job skills that prospective employers will want.
Your safest bet will be starting off as an English teacher and looking for work from there, I assume. Anime and japanese film are nice, but not an entirely accurate portrayal of Japanese life, and your life will involve alot of working and getting by, especially in the beginning.
Also Japanese culture is obviously different, especially in the work place and stuff, so make sure you buff up on the need to knows and make sure thats what you want.
All in all you seem to have a solid fotting unlike some others so yeah, stick your guns in your studies, get that degree, and then plan plan plan for Japan and go!.
Best of luck.
P.S. Really do look around and ask about, there will be those of us here that are far more qualified to advise you and inform you then I.
When you are 18, you are able to leave education for as long as you want, and continue again at university, whenever you see fit. Education stops becoming free after you have finished your 2 years at college, as you go to university. So I don't really see what you mean about the whole Scotland thing. I think you may have misunderstood.
Perhaps I did not simplify what I was trying to portay enough. I hope to move to Japan for a year, when I am 18, AFTER I have finished College, to study Japanese, and just get a taste of the lifestyle properly. Unless I have been mis-guided
AFTER I have finished College
Unless I have been mis-guided, I am sure that you can study in Japan WITHOUT a degree
I have family members who have done this in China before at the age of 19 without any Degree.
I am to return to the UK, and take up a degree in a university, most likely in English. After 3 years at University I shall have my degree, and this is when I plan to move to Japan to WORK.
I am fully aware that moving to any country outside of the EU is not an easy process to say the least.
I feel that throughout what you have just said, you seem to be patronising me because of my age, and being rather negative. Of course, this could be the way I have read through this, and picked up on subtle hints. This is not something that I hope to rush into, hence the reason I am gathering information at such an early stage.
Unlike any stereotype you may hold in your views, I however, do not fit this. I have respect for any country of which I have ever visited, and have tried my best to adjust to any regulations of traditions they practice.
And incase you didn't notice, the reason I am asking for Universities and Colleges where I can study Japanese is only for a year, which you can do as I have seen it as options on many websites. I want to spend a full year in Japan to study Japanese, that way I would have a fuller and more in-depth knowledge of it. I am not hoping to move to the country when I am 18 and live and work there: I do not even wish to get a job when I go there for the year.
ncase you are wondering where I plan to stay, I plan to get accomadation through the College/Uni OR through another agency, for example, Sakura House.
I hope I have cleared up any misconceptions you have of what I have tried to explain, and would now like to go back to the subject at hand.
No you have misunderstood. When did i say i want to work in Japan when I am 18? I never said that. I am going to go to a college over in japan for a year to learn the language. No degree required there, even quiered this at my school today with print outs of this entire conversation to show the careers advisor at my school. She told me, that you do not need a degree to study at college, which I was saying I was going to do anyway. And Its not liek im trying to move to the country permanantely without a degree. Incase you still dont understand, I am coming back to the UK when I am 19 to go to university to get a degree in english.Nope, sorry, you misunderstood, you wont be able to work in Japan without a degree. Period.
You can go to uni whenever you want or do what you want, but without that degree it wont be doing it in Japan.
If thats the case you will have to make sure you somehow have enough money to form a budget to last you that long, again i repeat, without that university degree you WONT be working in japan.
Hate to be repeating myself but a college qualification wont cut it. Degree. Need. Period.
Sorry...
Possibly, but then you have to find a Japanese uni that will take you, if this is the case it will be the better option, but if your gonna go to uni in Japan, you wont need to bother with uni elsehwere. I dunno if a Japanese uni will except a foreigner for a one year course, if they even have such a thing.
And you would need to consult with a Japanese consulate/embassy to see what the working rules are for foreigners studying in Japan.
China isnt Japan.
This part sounds okay, you know for a fact you can live and work in Japan with a degree, and by the sounds of a degree, perhaps a teachnig position, which is the most open area for foreign employment. The problem is this year in Japan deal, I have my doubts its possible, if you need to work while there to keep yourself, Japan isnt the EU, so unlike say studying on the continent, you cant just decide to up-sticks to Japan and expect to study and get a job for a year.
You will have to look for infomation on Japanese universities aswell and see if they have any one year courses and wether they accept foreigners for these.
Theres definately exhcange programmes, but as far as I know they tend to involve short stays for courses relevant, such as Japanese study, or full blown 4 year deals.
Good to know.
No, not patronising, just being honest, your not the first teenager to have idea's of going to Japan and alot of them stumble along the way because they dont prepare or have the patience it takes.
If you wish to make any sort of life in Japan, which will involve working, you need that degree. There is no way around it.
I am being blunt merely to try and help you, you seem wiser and more thoughtful then many with idea's to hop off to Japan, and Japan needs more foreigners living and working there to help Japan come to terms with the fact it will need foreigners for the labour force and economy and simply our unique skills and take on work and bussiness.
That degree, in the eyes of the Japanese, greatly lends itself to he impression you have important job-skills the Japanese want or need and arent easily found in Japanese potential employees.
Japanese bussinesses if they can help it will hire locals, there are various reason for this, many are logical, such as language skills and knowing the culture and work ethic, others may be a bit less positive, right down to merely aprihensive to take the risk on a foreigner who they have no idea how they will act and work, will this foreigner quit? will he be too pushy or lazy?.
You have to prove to them that you are a good investment, and thats what employee's in Japan are, and to begin proving that, you need to show you have a good education, which the Japanese government has decided is proved via a university degree.
I guess my responses could be looked at as negetive, but I'm just trying to convey the reality of the situation, and that is that the prospects of a foreigner making a living in Japan without knowing exactly is require dof them and leaving plenty of time to prepare, maybe even into the years figures, are negetive relatively speaking.
You mistake me.
The EU has a nice little law that means any EU citizen can go to another EU country, set up home and find work with minimal hassle, hence the waltzing in on a whim comment. This is not the case in Japan.
Japanese only want foreigners that can benefit them, and the Japanese, speaking in terms of employment, arent sentimental for diversity, if they can get or do what they need without a foreigner, they most likely will.
Japan is expensive, how will you keep yourself while staying in Japan?.
I dunno, perhaps you get an allowance or something, no doubt you'll know more about this then me, and again, maybe theres special rules for scholarship students, but to live in japan, you will need to work in Japan, even if its studying for a year, and to work in japan you need a degree.
Good good, I need not mention the difficulty of a foreigner getting private accomadation.
No worries, as long as your fully informed and aware of what you need to do.
Sorry for any derailment.
Ihave intentions of working Japan while I go there for my first year to study, and how i shall get the money is nothing to do with you, yet I can assure you that this will not be a problem.
Ran-rane is just asking about
places she could study japanese for a year from beginners level.
I have lived and worked here for 19 years, and all without a degree.
I studied japanese at a japanese language school for over 2 years, working
part-time until I was fluent.
I never was able to go back and get a degree or TEFL as I have children.
She does not necessarily have to go to a University here to study japanese,
lots of japanese Language schools will help you get a student visa and the
prices are not astronomical like at a University.
to Nurizeko
p.s. how's the granite city these days, I'm part aberdonian myself.
This is the "Japanese Language School Database" which covers most of Japanese language schools in Japan.
http://www.aikgroup.co.jp/j-school/index.htm
As there are so many of them, it can be a bit difficult to find which one is suitable for your purpose, but it gives detailed information (not that all schools give full info though) - what kind of courses they offer, cost for each course, what their students do after they graduated, etc.
Since you are from Europe, I recommend not to choose a school whose majority of students are from Asian countries such as China, Korea. Nothing is wrong with such students, it is simply because when the majority of students are familiar with Chinese characters (kanji), the lessons tend to be difficult for students who don't know kanji. (This is what I was advised by a person who has long experience teaching Japanese and had many students from various countries.)
I once looked up some schools from this database for a friend of mine who wanted to learn Japanese in Japan. It seems that most schools offers the course for people who want to join college/university in Japan.
If you wish to learn Japanese from the very beginner's level, perhaps the general Japanese course which some schools are offering.
Since you have a dream, I hope you can find a school where you can study what you really want, to materialize your dream.