What career I can choose if I learn Japanese?

Japanese is the sole language of Japan, and almost all of the 128 million natives speak it. Although there are a number of dialects and accents around Japan, the essentially monolingual status that prevails here is quite rare, experts say. Several principal languages are widely spoken within the borders of most countries. According to Nagoya University linguistics professor Ken Machida, there are between 6,000 and 7,000 living languages in the world today, which, if evenly distributed, would break down to about 30 per country. Outside of Japan, 2.98 million people in 133 countries are studying the language at 13,639 institutions, according to a 2006 survey by the Japan Foundation. This number, up 26.4 percent from the previous survey in 2003, does not include people teaching themselves or taking private lessons. According to Nagoya University linguistics professor Ken Machida, there are between 6,000 and 7,000 living languages in the world today, which, if evenly distributed, would break down to about 30 per country. Outside of Japan, 2.98 million people in 133 countries are studying the language at 13,639 institutions, according to a 2006 survey by the Japan Foundation. This number, up 26.4 per cent from the previous survey in 2003, does not include people teaching themselves or taking private lessons.

Japanese language experts can look for jobs in Translation, which involves working with documents in at least two written languages, such as textbooks, instruction manuals, and newspaper articles. The translation is a profession that appeals to anyone and everyone because it allows them to work remotely and on their own schedule (freelance basis). Translation is a highly competitive and dynamic job that works best when one chooses to specialise in a specific domain (law, science, medicine, education) in order to target a specific niche. Avid travellers often find success as translators in the foreign country where they live.

You could also consider working as an Interpreter, someone who works with at least two spoken languages. An interpretation job, unlike a translation job, is critical, time-sensitive, and less flexible. In conferences and courtrooms, interpreters must be present in person with the employer. The most popular type of interpretation is simultaneous interpretation, in which a language is decoded as it is spoken, as in the case of UN interpreters. You are considered skilled if you are able to smoothly convey the words and personality of the person for whom you’re interpreting, effectively without being felt around. This requires a great grasp of the knowledge in terms of comfort with speaking, ability to decipher non-standard accents, knowledge and presence of mind, to find apt and equivalent expressions across languages, on the spot. Interpretation has less competition due to the excellence needed but is an exceptionally demanding and pressured field.

Japanese learners can opt for proofreading jobs, working in conjunction with a translator

Before anything is sent in public circulation it is required to be proofread before publishing by a professional. As a proofreader, your role will be to ensure that the translation is grammatically correct and free of grammatical /typographical errors.

Another option is to work as a freelance Japanese language editor. In this case, your responsibilities would go beyond those of a proofreader. Your job would be to ensure that the Japanese content follows proper syntax, grammar, and flow is proper for the reader to follow.

Multilingual tour guides are in high demand in places such as museums and monuments. If you enjoy interacting with people and learning about different cultures, becoming a tour guide for the town’s Japanese tourists may be a position to consider. You could also start your own travel agency or tour operator.

Japanese speakers can be accepted as Flight attendants on long-haul international flights where being bilingual in English-Japanese pair of languages, has a huge advantage to start in this career! There are many other hospitality positions available at Casinos, resorts or at famous hotels! There are a variety of positions to fill from receptionist to manager, depending on your qualifications and prior experience.

Japanese language learners can also opt to work at consulates and embassies as administrative staff. If Japanese is an add on to an existing, competitive, appropriate qualification you could apply for a Consul, Ambassador or Diplomat positions.

Learners are advised to bear in mind that these positions accept applicants through a rigorous examination process.

Japanese learners who have cleared their C1/C2 with stellar performance can opt to become a Japanese teacher in their country of residence or choose to be an ESL teacher, teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) in a Japanese-speaking country. As an ESL teacher, you would be expected to have great translation and proficiency skills as you would be translating your lessons back into Japanese to ensure that your Japanese students understand them easily. Besides, you’ll also have to speak Japanese in the teacher’s lounge and when you’re not at work.

More opportunities available for a Japanese-language learner are working in specialised KPO, BPO as a chat, voice or email support, or to extend support as a voice-over artist to dubbing movies, for commercials and cartoons, be an RJ, 

Academic Fields to associate with!

Learners of Japanese could also look at picking up roles such as being a content writer, curriculum designer, instructional coordinators, subject matter expert, a researcher in a variety of domains like social policy, economics, military, technology and culture.

Japanese is a mora-timed agglutinative language with straightforward phonotactics, a pure vowel system, phonemic vowel and consonant length, and lexically important pitch-accent. Word order is usually subject–object–verb, with particles indicating grammatical function, and sentence structure is a topic–comment. Sentence-final particles are used to add emotional or emphatic effects, as well as to ask questions. In addition to kanji, the Japanese writing system mainly employs two syllabic (or moraic) scripts, hiragana and katakana. Latin script is used sparingly, such as for imported acronyms, and the numeral system mostly employs Arabic numerals alongside conventional Chinese numerals.

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