Comments on: 5 Reasons You Shouldn’t Major in Japanese (and 2 You Might Consider It)

By: Justan

Justan — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 22:43:00 +0000

You really have no clue what you’re talking about…. do you? Go look up a guy named Danny Choo then try again.

By: Alice

Alice — Sat, 29 Mar 2014 13:15:00 +0000

Hey, I’m sorry, I just can’t resist.
“That’s as dumb as majoring in english in American”
America*

By: Shishi

Shishi — Mon, 24 Mar 2014 19:23:00 +0000

Regardless of whether or not you choose to major in Japanese, remember to be flexible. Keep on learning new skills not matter what, do not be afraid to try new things, and consider how Japanese can aid those skills you are currently developing.

By: Kotak

Kotak — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 22:59:00 +0000

Non native speaker here. First off majoring in Japanese is not a good idea. I’m trilingual and not american, please correct any of my spelling errors if you find any. You won’t though. It’s not hard to be fluent in Japanese(or any language) as a matter of fact its fun. I can understand more then any Japanese major and I have zero debt. I can still put fluent in Japanese on my resume just like you. What do you think looks better someone who is an engineer/programmer who is fluent in Japanese or just someone who is fluent in Japanese with no other degree? Stop defending your degree, its useless. Also if you are living in Japan why the hell would you major in Japanese? Why not shoot for a degree that is guaranteed to make capital and just learn Japanese on the side? That’s as dumb as majoring in english in American. Use your common sense. It’s your bank account though.

By: David Curry

David Curry — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 13:08:00 +0000

I’ve been reflecting a bit on how I’ve spent my adult life. In the past 5 years, I moved from casually learning Japanese– never questioning my learning resources or learning progress– to stomping my foot on the gas. In that frame, I learned over 2000 kanji, built my vocabulary, ironed out most of the problems I had with grammar. I can now read a news article without assistance, listen to and understand spoken or written dialogue. My weakest ability is speaking or output/finding something to say ()or finding the courage to do it). I just don’t know what to do with it.

I lived in Japan for a long time… but long story short, it hasn’t worked out. It’s not for me, or rather, I’m not for them. I’m not big on Japanese entertainment or culture (anime, music, etc) where JP comprehension skill would be an advantage. I’m just glad that I learned everything on the Internet for free, instead of taking out loans for school.

So am i stuck with a meaningless skill? I’ve been thinking about learning Cantonese, since I find myself understanding the traditional Chinese writing after having studied kanji… but I don’t think Cantonese is in demand anymore, is it? I can’t make heads or tails of the simplified Chinese writing commonly used in Mandarin, which I hear is a marketable skill.

By: Paul Heidt

Paul Heidt — Sat, 01 Mar 2014 09:00:00 +0000

I have a question about when you said “Since most people aren’t at this level when they graduate” I live in South Africa JHB and Japanese as a High School subject is non-existant so id like to find out. Sounds like Japanese may be a subject for your school that you graduated at? Please tell me at what grade you had the option to start learning?Or unless it was Varsity and not school? Im fascinated!I am teaching a young girl she is in grade 9 at the moment so my contemplations are what level of Japanese is taught in Schools that have it as an option.And i dnt mean Japanese Schools, Western Schools.