I’m currently working in a technical department for quite a big company that makes automated machinery. I’ll stay vague, but let’s just say packaging, cosmetics, tobacco. I also have experience as a field technician working on-site for customers. I’m quite flexible when it comes to skills since I had the opportunity to learn different platforms. I have a technical diploma, above highschool, but I don’t have a degree, I’m working as an engineer, with engineers, but automation engineering where I live (Italy) is a bit different since you don’t need a bachelor’s degree to work in this field, and many times, experience is valued more than a title.
That said, having noticed an increase in demand over the past years I thought I could give it a shot.
I just started with Japanese. I already knew hiragana and katakana and some really basic stuff (been there a couple of times) but I never put much effort into it. Now I’m doing it seriously. The real issue is that is quite hard to learn a language if you can’t practice it. Especially one like Japanese. Many offers that I’ve found on LinkedIn require Japanese, others don’t but they kinda sound like a scam and others, I think, completely mistake N1 with N5. I mean, if they ask “N1 or above” why don’t just ask for a native?
I’m quite good with languages so with the right chance I could pick it up faster if I could practice it regularly, but I don’t know for sure if the language is a true barrier or not. Sure, the best thing would be to know it already. What I have are my job skills and will to learn. JLPT are scheduled yearly and they run out of spots immediately. From what I saw N5 and N4 should be fairly easy even for self-thaught but again that same level could be achieved much faster by actively practising it.
So how hard could it be to find a job this way? I could easily compensate with English in the meantime (in this field is almost guaranteed that people have at least a colloquial English skill to communicate) and I’d study Japanese after work while practicing it daily. I’m sure this isn’t nearly as easy as it sounds but still… Opinions or advices?
2 comments
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
—
**PLC Programmer/Automation Engineer: learn the language by working**
I’m currently working in a technical department for quite a big company that makes automated machinery. I’ll stay vague, but let’s just say packaging, cosmetics, tobacco. I also have experience as a field technician working on-site for customers. I’m quite flexible when it comes to skills since I had the opportunity to learn different platforms. I have a technical diploma, above highschool, but I don’t have a degree, I’m working as an engineer, with engineers, but automation engineering where I live (Italy) is a bit different since you don’t need a bachelor’s degree to work in this field, and many times, experience is valued more than a title.
That said, having noticed an increase in demand over the past years I thought I could give it a shot.
I just started with Japanese. I already knew hiragana and katakana and some really basic stuff (been there a couple of times) but I never put much effort into it. Now I’m doing it seriously. The real issue is that is quite hard to learn a language if you can’t practice it. Especially one like Japanese. Many offers that I’ve found on LinkedIn require Japanese, others don’t but they kinda sound like a scam and others, I think, completely mistake N1 with N5. I mean, if they ask “N1 or above” why don’t just ask for a native?
I’m quite good with languages so with the right chance I could pick it up faster if I could practice it regularly, but I don’t know for sure if the language is a true barrier or not. Sure, the best thing would be to know it already. What I have are my job skills and will to learn. JLPT are scheduled yearly and they run out of spots immediately. From what I saw N5 and N4 should be fairly easy even for self-thaught but again that same level could be achieved much faster by actively practising it.
So how hard could it be to find a job this way? I could easily compensate with English in the meantime (in this field is almost guaranteed that people have at least a colloquial English skill to communicate) and I’d study Japanese after work while practicing it daily. I’m sure this isn’t nearly as easy as it sounds but still… Opinions or advices?
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/movingtojapan) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Japanese ability is a bit of a red herring for you. You will likely not be able to communicate at a professional level for a long time, and considering that you feel you would need to be living there first before you could reach this level, you need a job with no expectations of Japanese ability at all. Incidentally, N1 Japanese is highly fluent, but still quite a way away from being native-level (at least, according to most people I know with N1). But N1 is indeed accepted by basically everyone as being business-capable; N2 is actually the more common threshold. Most people take years to reach this level, even with dedicated practice.
So you’re gonna need to find a job that doesn’t require Japanese. Even more pressingly, you’re gonna need to check that your technical diploma makes you eligible for a work visa. The standard for Japan is generally a bachelor’s degree; there are *some* qualifications that are also considered eligible, but it is not common. If your diploma is not eligible for a work visa, then the whole conversation about Japanese ability is moot. You can waive the degree requirement with proof of 10+ years of professional work experience, but that can be hard to prove even if you’ve done it.