Hi guys! as far as i know there are people here in APforums that are living in Japan. Or is at least familiar with Japanese culture and norms. I plan to work in Japan as I venture into my career. I have now started to study Japanese (self study). Can you please tell me what to prioritize between the two scripts? Which is more important for a foreigner wanting to work in Japan? The Hiragana or the Katakana? Your reply would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks in advance!!
Question for japan based employees or residents
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This has been asked and answered soo many times. Your best bet of working in Japan is probably as an JET. Learn all you can about the language, but as a JET you'll mostly be speaking English, and little Japanese words/phrases to help with the translating. Something like saying the English word, then the Japanese word. Don't prioritize with kana, just learn both of them, and don't ever forget them.
I'm not sure what the current amount of Kanji needed to actually live in Japan is right now, you'd have to ask Greg or someone else on this site for that.
Bottom line is, get your grades together from High School/College, get some reccomendation letters, save up some money, and learn the crap out of the Japanese language.
You "may" end up working as a full time English teacher if you put effort into it, and look into getting your degree and stuff. I've had a few subscribed friends go as a JET, then as soon as they were done, applied to college level English, and got accepted as a full time teacher. Hell, I've had friends live in Japan for 5+ years being a concept artist over the internet, I've had friends live there, being a freakin' comedian.
What exactly is your career?
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Wow thank you so much for your reply. Actually I don't believe that I can use my college degree in Japan. I'm an electronics and communications engineering graduate. And yes you may not have heard about this course because I live in the Philippines. This is basically electrical engineering that majors in semiconductor theory and communications technology. I am aware that my country is pretty left behind in everything haha.
I'm actually planning on learning the language with or without an opportunity to work in Japan.
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Simply said, you need both hiragana and katakana. There's no "more important", although as a 1st year student of Japanese I'd say your best bet would be to begin with hiragana, which is used more in written Japanese and to do the katakana after that.
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You can learn both in under a week, so either one is fine. It's not like you'll be reading by the time you're done with hiragana.
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Hi guys! as far as i know there are people here in APforums that are living in Japan. Or is at least familiar with Japanese culture and norms. I plan to work in Japan as I venture into my career. I have now started to study Japanese (self study). Can you please tell me what to prioritize between the two scripts? Which is more important for a foreigner wanting to work in Japan? The Hiragana or the Katakana? Your reply would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks in advance!!
actually katakana isnt much used so hiragana is mosly used but japanese students are required to be ably to write in all take my name for example katakana:カイマナ hiragana:かいまな and so hiragana is used in many show's letter's etc. etc. etc.
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I'm from the Philippines and an Electronics and Communications Engineering major as well (I guess there are really many ECEs in our country). Well, I'm not yet a graduate. I have one year to go.
I actually don't have an answer for your question. Just posting here to share some thoughts (you know, as a fellow kababayan).
I tried learning Japanese since I'm a freshman but that's not for working there or anything (I'm just too fascinated with Japanese culture I guess). If you're going to Japan and work there, I guess you'll not get any job related to your degree. You see, Japan is the most technologically advanced country in the world, the finest engineers are there. They don't need ECEs from the Philippines. Just to give you more idea on how worse it is, my professor in a power systems class said that Philippines can't even maintain its own power grid systems without regularly consulting with Japanese firms. This is really unfortunate.
Well, working in Japan in a non-ECE related job is not entirely absurd. I actually thought of doing this as well, to work in Japan even with mediocre job just to experience living there. But I changed my mind. Instead I'm eyeing South Korea right now. Many universities there are offering generous scholarship grants for International graduate (masters) students who can speak English. Apparently, Koreans do want to have English gain foothold in their country really fast that universities there are accepting as many International students as they could. Their grade requirement is not that high (hell, I'm not even graduating a laude). And the allowance they give you is quite high. And unlike Japan, I believe we Filipinos can still keep up with what's being taught in South Korea. Also, South Korea is near Japan. I may be able to visit Japan as tourist once I'm in South Korea.
Well, it's still a year to go. I may change my mind. I'm not really confining my options to South Korea only. China (high pay, cheap goods), Dubai (really high pay) and Canada (easy entry and near US) are some options I'm considering. Also, I do want to serve our country first before leaving. You know, the stuff they say in schools and media, serve your country first. If I'll not be able to continue studying in South Korea, I might work here in the Philippines for a couple of years I guess. And while I'm at it, I may enlist as an army reservist, just to amplify my service. I heard that our Army really sucks at some of the latest communication technologies, especially wireless communications where I'm specializing.
Again I'm just saying saying some thoughts. I encourage you to continue learning Japanese even if you're not yet sure on whether you'll go there or not. In the end, you can benefit from that language.
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actually katakana isnt much used so hiragana is mosly used
That's basically the equivalent of saying when learning the alphabet, you don't need to worry as much about uppercase letters since they aren't used as much.
Both are important.
As Danial said, you should be able to master them in a week. They're the easy part.