JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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- English Instructor (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe)
- Berlitz Japan, Inc. (ベルリッツ・ジャパン株式会社), Kansai
- Salary: ¥125,000 ~ ¥250,000 / Month
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- FT English Teachers for Kids - Osaka
- Kohgakusha Co., Ltd. （株式会社興学社）, Osaka
- Salary: ¥255,000 ~ ¥275,000 / Month Travel Expenses, Encouragement of Japanese learning*
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- Translator
- ZAIHON, Inc. (日本財務翻訳株式会社), Tokyo
- Salary: ¥6.0M / Year Negotiable
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taiko666
I think you'll find that Japan has extradition treaties with only the USA and South Korea.
Posted in: Japan seeks to arrest anti-whaling activists
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taiko666
Howling and war-whooping just seems to be natural behaviour for Americans (as is yelling at each other during 'private' conversations on trains.) Unfortunately the rest of the world always ends up apeing Americans (except the French - doffs hat) so I expect eventually we'll all be acting like prats when we win something. (The Brits being exempt through 1) natural decorum and 2) never winning anything.)
:-)
Posted in: What do you think of American swimmer Michael Phelps' long victory yell after he wins a race?
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taiko666
melissamt: Sounds like you just date jerks, and that's your problem.
Posted in: 'Vintage year divorce' hits older couples
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taiko666
dendychou: You're whinging. The BBC coverage seems pretty even handed. For all the (factual) accounts of the pollution, there are articles like this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7511876.stm, which feature nothing but praise for the Chinese.
Posted in: U.S. cyclists apologize for wearing masks upon arrival in Beijing
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taiko666
A car with manual transmission there's a direct mechanical link from the engine to the wheels. Automatics have a huge hydraulic sponge soaking up engine power. That's partly why in Europe, 80% of new cars still have manual transmission... that and the rewarding feeling of actually driving the car oneself. If you've never driven a manual you're missing out.
Posted in: Nissan cars to push back when drivers floor it
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taiko666
If you're American or Japanese, it's a near certainty that your car is already deciding when to change gear for you. (Europeans prefer to make that decision themselves :-)
Posted in: Nissan cars to push back when drivers floor it
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taiko666
Shunkodai: And if I want to pump any other obnoxious, carcinagenic gasses into the faces of people near me, should I be allowed to do that too? It's a free country after all. And what's more, if people don't want the gasses in their faces they shouldn't be in the same room as me.
Posted in: Life is one rule after another for taxi drivers
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taiko666
The biker sounds like an imbecile, but the police, who as ever should know better, have no business endangering the life of his passenger by chasing him.
As for the typical Japanese city biker, with no eye protection, a pudding bowl helmet hanging down the back of his neck, puffing on a fag while chatting to his mini-skirted girl on the back, and a road manner that seems to suggest he has a death wish... god knows how they get away with it most of the time. Is there no road safety education in Japan?
Posted in: Motorcyclist dies, school girl passenger injured after police chase in Yokohama
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taiko666
Gyudon - there's a difference between hating a country and being realistic about its merits. I love living in Japan, and I'm extremely fortunate to be here inspite of my initially poor Japanese ability. This is the whole point of this thread. In Britain, having poor English skills is no barrier to gaining employment. In Japan, things are very very different. I'd hazard a guess that most of the people who are crying 'whiner' have never been in the position of NEEDING to get a job in Japan while having poor Japanese skills, esp people whose Japanese spouses wish to return to Japan. I'd also hazard a guess that, ironically, when many of said Japanese spouses intially moved to country X, they were able to find employment with limited language skills.
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taiko666
nigelboy- a scan of any IT jobs on offer in Japan will reveal that fluent Japanese is normally required, except for some non-Japanese companies. Outside Japan, non-fluent English speakers are often found in English speaking companies (well, in British companies at least.) My experience is in IT, and I've known dozens of overseas employess with barely comprehensible English. Their English was enough to allow them to the job... the companies made allowances for their poor English, and hey presto, their English rapidly improved and the companies gained valuable employees.
But I've never heard of a non-fluent (or near fluent) Japanese speaker ever getting a job in a Japanese company, except where Japanese is absolutely not required at all (like in my company.) Ok, I admit the chances of this happening are not zero, but they're as near to zero as makes no difference. To get a job in a Japanese company in Japan you need to get fluent, or get very, very lucky.
Yes, Terrie succeeded, and well done to him, but his story points out, succeeding is exceedingly difficult.
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taiko666
cleo - my mechanic friend was married to a Japanese and thus had a spouse visa, so he didn't need sponsorship. He's sole barrier to getting a job was not having fluent Japanese.
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taiko666
Cleo, normally I respect your posts, but this time...
Anyway, two anecdotes: I used to worked in an IT firm in London. A Japanese man started working there, and his English conversational skills were practically nil. But could he write good software? Absolutely. Could he understand the tasks assigned to him? Yes, even though it sometimes took longer to explain. Result: we gained a valuable employee, he gained 4 years valuable experience and went home to Japan a fluent English speaker. Chances of this situation being reciprocated in a Japanese IT firm in Japan? ZERO.
In most developed countries, you can get a job if your language skills ENABLE YOU TO DO THE JOB. However, in Japan, Japanese companies demand you already have fluent Japanese.
Another case in point is an English friend who married a Japanese girl in England. Eventually she wanted to move back to Japan. He spent A YEAR in Japan trying to find some employment- he is a highly trained motorcycle mechanic, but with no degree, and only basic conversational Japanese, although we was learning. NO Japanese company would even consider him, although with his Japanese skills he was perfectly capable of working in a motorcycle maintenance shop. Due to his inability to find work, they divorced.
Of course Cleo, I don't know about your circumstances/history, except that you're married to a Japanese man. I infer therefore that you've never been in a position of NEEDING work in Japan but not being able to get due to not being fluent in Japanese. With the increasing number of Japanese/non-Japanese marriages, please spare a thought for the many, many people who are, or will be, in this situation. And also consider how the situation in Japan compares with that in other countries.
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taiko666
... and in the event of an emergency they'll probably stand around exchanging meishi and/or bickering about who is going to do what, whilst rejecting outside offers of help (eg JAL Flight 123, Kobe, and the sarin attacks.)
Posted in: Medical priority system handled badly at Akihabara rampage scene
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taiko666
bamboohat:
I reckon on issues like these people fall into 3 broad categories: 1) Those who like to do something positive 2) Those who don't give a monkey's / can't be bothered (=most of us) 3) Those in group 2 who also feel the need to diss people in group 1
I can't see the attraction of being in group 3...
Posted in: 'Eco-actress' Saya Takagi under attack
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taiko666
Zen Builder: there are no special conditions for foreigners in the UK who want to open mobile phone contracts. Seems that not trusting foreigners is just part of the 'unique' Japanese culture.
Posted in: Apple's iPhone goes on sale in Japan to cheering crowd
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taiko666
JapanProbe has an article describing the restrictions placed on foreigners who want to buy an iPhone in Japan.
http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=5106
Posted in: Apple's iPhone goes on sale in Japan to cheering crowd
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taiko666
Yes, and if the owner of a murder scene flat is desperate to find a new tenant, he/she might even consider renting to a gaijin!
Posted in: What happens to apartments where murders occur?
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taiko666
Because at school they don't study English, they study 'Katakana-Engrish'. Children are taught in their 'tekisutu buku' that 'the' is pronounced 'za'. No attempt seems to made to pronounce the many sounds that don't exist in Japanese. When you get off to such a bad start it's hard to recover. And with the ubiquitous Engrish on t-shirts, products, ads, notices etc there are countless examples of bad English to augment the bad teaching received in school.
That's why I have extra respect for Japanese who've managed to break out and actually pronounce the language... especially those who've never lived abroad. There are at least two such people in my office and I tip my hat to them.
Posted in: Why don't Japanese speak English better than they do?
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taiko666
Heda Madness
Because they're acting illegally and they don't care.
Not in the least. Is it strange in your country? Mind you, I wouldn't recommend doing it in certain countries, particularly brutal police states such as Burma. But Japan is a G8 country, supposedly modern and enlightened. Taking a photo of a cop should be no big deal. And the law should be respected... especially by the (illegal random search happy) police.
Posted in: Police search
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taiko666
If it's true izakaya food, chicken stock will be in absolutely everything.
Posted in: Izakaya: The Japanese Pub Cookbook