Should I learn Japanese?

Should I learn Japanese?
I'm currently learning Hiragana right now, and so far, things seem easy. I hear that Kanji is a bitch, but I'll get to it when I get to it.
I'm just wondering if it'll serve me actually use aside from reading untranslated manga/games. Could I become an English teacher and live in Japan? How long does it usually take to become proficient with the language? Any other uses?

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>Should I learn Japanese?
If you want to. I find the process rewarding and that's enough for me.
>I'm just wondering if it'll serve me actually use aside from reading untranslated manga/games.
It is admittedly not very useful for everyday life. Games were the primary motivation for me to start learning. They're also a fantastic studying tool.
>Could I become an English teacher and live in Japan?
You don't even need to know Japanese to teach English in Japan, but it probably helps.
>How long does it usually take to become proficient with the language?
It's a pretty big undertaking. I've studied on my own for about 4 years and I'm just starting to feel confident in actually speaking and writing. Also, you really need to use it just about every day even if it's just reading a VN for half an hour or doing Anki reps.
>Any other uses?
I make friends with people online and Japanese students doing exchange programs.

By any chance do you have links to websites/resources you've used to better your understanding of the Japanese language? I only know the vowels for hiragana so far.

How long would it take to learn Japanese enough if I just want to read manga and Japanese games?

Try the links in this OP
It really depends how much effort you put in. I started reading manga like 6 months after grinding flash cards and grammar. Even then I had to use a dictionary all the time, but it's good for practice. For complete understanding without relying on any help it'll take years.

As someone else said you don't need to know any Japanese to be a teacher in Japan. I've been living in Japan and teaching English for the past 4 years now and I wouldn't recommend it at all.

Why wouldn't you recommend it user? Seems like an okay job to have.

Not him but teaching English in Japan is a crapshoot or a coin toss.

I think a lot of it comes from people's expectations, whatever they might be doesn't matter if you're a anime otaku or something or just someone looking to get away from their old life.

One of the biggest disappointments is people finding out that they are gonna be teaching in th3 middle of nowhere in some no name town between two rice fields instead of the Tokyo or Kyoto they were expecting.

People also feel socially isolated there and they might assume it's because they're foreigners and Japanese people are racist towards them. Not true. Japanese society is introverted and loads of native Japanese feel isolated as well.

The list goes on. If you have no major expectations that will set you up for disappointment then it can be great.

Like most jobs it really depends on the company and location you work at. From what I've experienced and heard from others that have worked at those other companies, their all the same scummy trash. Ive heard this from people that work at all kinds of different places(Private, High Schools and Uni).

I'm married now(not to a Japanese person) so I'm trapped for the time being and I've never been into Japanese culture aside from video games like street fighter, but a good majority of the foreigners I met that DO have a big interest in Japanese culture grew to hate living here within months.

There is a lot of good in the country though and if you're hoping to find some Japanese gf like I've seen others post here about then you'll have an easy time. Japanese girls are super easy lol.

I'm typing this on my phone while taking a shit at work so sorry if it's worded weird, but if you have any more questions feel free to ask.

>Could I become an English teacher and live in Japan?

Just a bachelor's degree. In literally anything doesn't have to be in English or Teaching or anything you can have a degree in Jazz and it's just as good as any other.

Already having a JLPT cert will definitely help in not just getting hired but also just your daily life in Japan. Not necessary like it was said but it is a plus.

>How long does it usually take to become proficient with the language?

Depends on what you consider to be proficient and also at what level. And also obviously how well you study.

>Any other uses?

Uh no not really lol there's such a tiny population of Japanese outside of Japan it's real hard to find native speakers. If you live in a real major city you could find some Japanese cultural centers but that's about it.

Yea this guy put it perfectly.

I was fortunate enough to be placed in one of the major cities, but my image of living in Japan was to live in Tokyo. Of course you always have the opportunity to move there if you like, but rent is insane if you want to live in tokyo (unless you rent out one of those apartments where someone committed suicide).

Lingodeer is a fantastic app, miles better than Duolingo or memorise, it has a really good teaching method and you can disable romanji text when you're confident enough. Also tango risto provides news articles sorted by diffuclty from JLPT n5-1 with furigana if you cannot read kanji yet. Renshuu (free) or wanikani (trial then paid) are good for learning kanji. Also, if you watch anime, NO MORE English Subs!! Watch it on daiweeb dot org with no subs or full hirigana & kanji subs. This improves your listening comprehension and reading by miiiiles, and your subconscious will pick up so much Japanese without you even reaising, then you'll notice you start to 'understand withpit thinkong about it' every now and then. Good luck user. also one more tip, you have to do it every single day!

This is probably a dumb question, but are there any disadvantages associated with applying to be an English teacher if you're not white? I'm a Flip, but English was pretty much my first language, so I have confidence in my skills, and I'm also learning Japanese right now. Sorry if this question is offensive user, I just wanna know what factors I need to consider.

You don't need to be able to speak Japanese to be an English teacher in japan

Learning japanese requires proper study every day, and is majorly helped by going to lessons regularly and just living in the country so you have japanese coworkers and friends that can help you out day by day
Hiragana is easy, you can learn it in a day, the rest takes study and then actually speaking proficiently can take you a while.
Watching anime and other japanese tv shows/movies can help understand how people talk/use the grammar but you wont learn just by watching.

t. English teacher in japan for 6 months today

here,
Skin colour doesn't matter at all. Everyone is a "gaijin" to japan, whether you're black white or brown. They're quite fair in their racism lol.
Your native speaking language does matter however. Its all about fluency.

If you grew up speaking English as your first and native language, and can speak it as proficiently as anyone in america or england or australia would, then you're fine. If you learned it as a 2nd language however, they wont hire you based on proficiency.
The point is, they want to learn how to talk as English native speakers from the west do. They don't wanna learn from someone who also learned.

Learning Japanese can aid you outside of living in Japan because of western companies that do dealings with Japan. You can do translation work etc.
Go and work at the Nintendo Treehoues and translate vidya and shit like that

Also you don't need a bachelors degree. I got hired without one

The company I originally worked at when I first got here actually had some rule where Filipino teachers received less pay then others regardless of their experience or educational background. The normal salary at that company was 250000 yen(Roughly $2500CAD) a month, but the Filipino teachers got 230000yen. It's a minor difference, but it was kinda bullshit considering I had a Chinese coworker in my area who barely spoke English clearly and constantly had parents complain about him, yet he was earning the normal amount.

My current company is a little better and there are a shit ton of Filipinos here. If your a girl you'll have no problem booking up lessons either since Japanese office workers seem to have some kinda fetish for Filipinas.

Shadowing for Japanese is an overlooked essential to learning the language.

Do look into the JLPT as well as the textbooks they offer. For $30 I got the N4-N5 book of basic words and grammar and it has helped immensely.
jlpt.jp/e/certificate/

Thank you. That's one less thing to worry about.

Took 3 semesters of Japanese classes in community college and I'm convinced the Japanese language was purposefully designed to keep out and confuse baka gaijins.

This. I use lingodeer as well as Obenkyo and removing English subs from Japanese videos is really helpful. Getting Japanese music or even podcasts or audio books is good for when you're on the go

>Japanese girls are super easy lol
What about if you're not white?