I work for a Japanese company and I suddenly got the opportunity for a business trip to Japan in 1 week to have meetings with my Japanese colleagues and explain a project to my Japanese boss.
It feels like a dream. I have been studying as hard as I can since November last year with weekly italki classes, Anki, wanikani, bunpro and immersion. Although I don’t have much time because of my long working days.
I will work for 5 days and have 2 days off in Osaka and/or Kyoto. The other days I’m visiting the HQ and some other departments.
My colleagues barely speak English, so I will be forced to speak Japanese. I will try to also do it in the hotels I stay, restaurants, and so on.
Any tips here? A nice podcast to prepare myself, your own experience,…
I will also be going back in May 2025.
It’s quite an impulsive post, but I need to share it somewhere 😄 I’m just too excited.
by Ngrum
4 comments
That’s really exciting! I hope you have a great time, try to get as much speaking practice in as you can before you leave
Congrats man wishing you well! For some podcasts I usually listen to “Japanese with teppei & Noriko” and when It’s bedtime or at night I listen to “Japanese podcast for beginners (Nihongo con teppei)”.
Congratulations! What’s your current Japanese level?
おめでとう🎉
I hope your trip will be successful both for your work, but also for testing your language skills.
As for your hotel, they will likely use what is known as [敬語 けいご (keigo)](https://www.fluentu.com/blog/japanese/japanese-keigo/), don’t let that stress or discourage you, but it’s quite different from normal Japanese.
You are also likely to encounter [関西弁 かんさいべん (kansaiben)](https://nihon-godo.com/media/japanese-language/719), but perhaps you’ve already come across that while interacting with your colleagues.
Enjoy your trip! 頑張ってください