Want to live in 日本 for one year to improve japanese - give my plans feedback

[shivan]

I hope I will not be flamed for making this post, although there might be many similar ones.
Im looking for the community's feedback to the plan I have lined up myself.

My plans are designed after two crieteria:

1. The trip has to be largely self financing so I dont end up with huge debt afterwards.
2. I want to improve my japanese

The details:

I am danish college student currently studying japanese (and economics) at Copenhagen Business School (Asian studies Programme). I want to go to Japan for one year to improve my japanese skills. The thing that separates me from other (american) people who want to go to japan is that I will be able to speak some japanese when I arrive.
I think my japanese skills will be equivilant to JLPT level 3 (basic) in June next year when I plan go.

Besides from the japanese I speak fluent English and Danish, intermediate Chinese and German.

I don't know if I will be able to get a job as an english teacher since im not a native speaker (rats).
My own plans are still in the making but include some of the following elements:

• Get a 1 year working Visa for japan (there is a special agree between Japan, Denmark, Canada and some other countries)
• Apply to an internship at the royal danish embassy
• Send my CV to a bunch of companies and try to get an internship with partial pay
• Try to find some kind of job in Japan where I can use my japanese (possibly teaching english although I'd rather have something that looks better on the CV)
• Possibly get a homestay
• Apply for scholarships to help with financing.

Does anyone think the skills I have so far make me any better of than all the other run-off-the-mill persons?
If anyone has alternative suggestions for what I could do I would really like to hear them.

[AAres]

If you are going there to improve your Japanese, why not enter a Japanese Language Institute for 1year, and be sure to find a school that will suport a Student Visa while your there. It will cost more money, and I do not think finding a part-time job is good for your studies, so you might wanna have all the money in your pocket before leaving.

AAres

[shivan]

eth? What is a japanese langauge institute? Do you mean a langauge school?
The "having all the money in my pocket" before leaving is easier said than done. Working there will not be good for my studies, but if I dont work there I will have to work here which will not be good for my studies here.

I plan to have saved 15-20k DKK (at the current exchange rate that is 233k-310k yen) by the time I ago. The yen has had some insane fluctuations in its value, by working there, being paid in yen and paying my bills in yen I would not be affected by all these fluctuations.

[Ronin4hire]

Well if you're that proficient in Japanese I say go for it as I am supposed to be able to achieve JPLT level 3 at the mo and many people (including Japanese people) have recommended it to me too. You might be able to get a working holiday visa which is what I was once planning to do but since then I've been accepted by my university to go as an exchange student to study at a Japanese university next year so you might want to look at the exchanges your University offers in Japan.

[kcyk8703]

I have a buddy here who is under internship, you dont pick where you stay.
If you can speak at a native level of english then you can teach english. From the looks of your plan, your english ability is more than adequate.

If you plan on improving your japanese then joining a language school would be best. If you're really intent on working while in school pick your hours wisely, getting around is an energy burner.

You can find guest houses/dorms as low as 29 000yen/month (shared room) and as for food, Id average something like 10 000-15 000yen a month.
Transit will vary depending on how far you travel, you can get monthly payment passes between certain stops if your school/company supports it.

Anyway, lets just say Japan aint cheap, if you want to learn how to budget, this is the place to do it. Especially with Japans stable yen crushing many currencies like my canadian dollar.

(Theres no need to be rude, everyone has their own vision of japan and prepare differently or not at all.) There is no run-of-the-mill person either, everyone is different, always going to be someone more or less skilled than yourself.

[shivan]

thx for the feedback so far. Today I talk to some of the veterans from my study programme who have been to japan several times.

They gave me the following input:

• The market for english teachers is oversaturated, your working conditions will not be that good and you have to know someone to get the job.
• Aviod Tokyo - everyone speaks english
• Try to freemove to a university, its costs only ~30.000 DKK ($5000) for two semesters.
  [/]

I think I will try to talk to my student counciler before anything else. She will give me valueable input. I
Now I understand what I got myself into when I started studying japansese, you cant just study for one year and then quit, it takes several years to get to just a decent level.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by shivan

Now I understand what I got myself into when I started studying japansese, you cant just study for one year and then quit, it takes several years to get to just a decent level.

That's an important lesson to learn.

[Emone]

ur'e european u'll do fine! most european ppl are good at pronouncing japanese compared to americans or any other ppl

[Kelvir]

Originally Posted by shivan

Aviod Tokyo - everyone speaks english

I live in Tokyo, studying japanese and I promise you, there are not that many englishspeakers here. Ofcourse you can find englishspeakers if you want to and the rate is perhaps a bit higher then the rest of japan but there are still very few whom speak english, and if they do it is probably a very basic english. If you know fairly good japanese when you come here then you will have no problem at all. Japanese will just be the natural choise. I knew no japanese at all when I came here and so far it's working out quite well, and Tokyo is the best and coolest city in the world

[Firebird]

I think you shouldnt have any Problem getting a Working holiday Visa (if that WHV agreement is also for Denmark.
It should also be possible to find a Job as English teacher if you are not native.
Not everyone in tokyo speaks english, but most people who want to teach come here, so theres alot of competition (at least more than a t other places).
If you want to improve your Japanese try not to work as a English teacher as you will use english all day and most likely also talk in English to your workmates. If you have a working holiday Visa you can get other jobs wich will probably not pay as much as teaching, but enough to make a living (if you dont spend a couple of hundres a month on partys or stuff).

I currently live in a Guesthouse in Tokyo and have around 1 hour commuting time to work and i spend around 5000-6000 yen a day (currently) but hope to drop that figure a bit later this month. Around 2000 for the room (got a good deal) around 200 for Transport (got a monthly Ticket) and around another 1500 to 2000 for food. The rest depends on how fancy you want to live (alkohol, cigarettes, party,....).

Just had a quick google check, the WHV Japan-Denmark exists (i didnt know) since recently (around a year ago) so i think you should be fine with that.

Oh one more thing: Depending on what kind of Japanese you want to learn, it would maybe be wise to visit a school at least for sometime. What you will learn by living here will be spoken everyday language and maybe not the politest form. If you want textbook Japanese then go to a Language school in Japan.

Anyway, good luck in your plans, Japan is amazing and im happy there is a WHV for Germans (but ive also had some hard times already...)