I have been struggling with making a decision on whether or not to do Japanese studies at university, I still have a year until I would start so I have some time to make a decision. I would cost £40 thousand plus (minus student loan) which is a lot of money, and I don’t know if it is worth it. My only problem is I don’t know how I could learn the language at the same speed or to the same degree otherwise.
Is there anyone who has done it at degree level who has an opinion, or anyone who has done alternate methods?
8 comments
You could check whether your uni offers Japanese language courses. Japanese studies usually doesn’t only consist of the language. In addition, you also learn about Japanese history, culture and literature.
I considered doing Japanese studies at uni myself but ultimately decided against it and just took a Japanese language course.
It ultimately boils down to what you want to do in the future but job prospects if you have a degree in Japanese are very bleak. Especially if you have to pay tuition fees, I’d think twice about job prospects.
Well, depends what you wanna do with your life. £40000 just to learn Japanese is a lot, consider this simple calculation.
You can find an iTalki tutor (very easily done) for let’s say $20 which is 16.37 pounds
40,000/16.37=2443 iTalki lessons
That’s a lot of lessons. Of course you will also need to probably buy other things to study with. Such a books. But still.
If you wanna good life, go to college! But major in engineering or programming. Or think about something that always is in demand, pays really well, and is also 9-5 job. Such as being a dentist.
>My only problem is I don’t know how I could learn the language at the same speed or to the same degree otherwise.
Actually, college language classes are typically inefficient as hell compared to self study (maybe w/ weekly meetings with a private tutor, even) if you put in like 2 hours a day for a few months, and then you’ll get good enough to just consume native material like books/manga/youtube/movies. If you can’t get good through self study, you wouldn’t have gotten good through classes. Trust me, you’ll outpace everyone majoring in Japanese by doing that. Please don’t waste tens of thousands on a Japanese degree.
IF:
– your primary goal is to master Japanese
– you are sufficiently committed to mastering Japanese
– you can survive living overseas on your own
THEN a few years of intensive study at a language school like the Yamasa Institute in Aichi prefecture is your best bet and likely cheaper than university, especially given the current exchange rate (note: I intentionally chose a language school not located in any of the big cities because, imho, they present more distractions than benefits if your primary goal is to master the language). But you’ll have to push yourself hard to become more than ‘that guy/girl who speaks a bit of Japanese’. Really hard if you’re short on time due to funding constraints etc.
That having been said, the benefits of reading Japanese at university include:
– a year abroad at a potentially prestigious Japanese university, which does make a difference when working in Japan (you really want to aim for either Keio or Waseda)
– an opportunity to achieve first class honours because you’re studying something you actually care about
– a university degree, which would be necessary to qualify for a work visa in Japan (assuming you don’t already have citizenship etc.).
Regardless of which path you choose OP, do not fool yourself into thinking that most Japanese Studies graduates come out fluent in Japanese. The vast majority don’t even come close in my experience.
I studied French and Portuguese at university, so not Japanese, but I can hopefully give a little insight:
If your main goal is to get a degree in the UK and Japanese is a language that very much interests you, I think it’s a solid choice. There’s a wide range of careers available to you with a language degree, and they’re not just limited to language-specific things like translation or teaching.
That said, if your main goal is to learn Japanese and you’re not particularly focused on getting a degree in itself, as others have mentioned here there are far cheaper ways to do it.
But I loved my degree and as long as you’re definitely very interested in languages and are willing to put in the effort to learn Japanese well, I bet you’ll have a great time! The year abroad is an amazing experience too, although again as others have said you could look at options where you study at a Japanese uni instead of a British one.
Good luck and follow your heart!
I dm’d you! 🙂
I personally wouldn’t recommend it. If you’re motivated you can learn the language in your own way in your own time, which allows you to get a degree in something that naturally leads to a certain career. You can study abroad at a university in Japan without being on a Japanese degree, you’ll just have to pay for it yourself.
Bad idea, as 99% of people who try to learn J fail at it. Do another major and learn J as a hobby / minor.