Long story short: I have been living in Japan for almost four years now. I just passed the jlpt N1 last year, and I also started a translating/interpreting job as well. I’ve been looking for jobs mainly because I’m not satisfied with my job location, and am trying to work in a bigger city. Since I started this interpreting job I had the sinking feeling that my Japanese was just not good at all. I thought it was maybe imposter syndrome, or that I was being hard on myself. Especially since no one has ever criticized my Japanese (but they’ve also never directly praised it either).
Cut to today I recieved word that I failed my interview due to my spoken Japanese not matching what is on my CV (jlpt N1), and a mismatch with work culture (still trying to find out what this means).
I really want to get better at my Japanese, and while I’m sure it is passively getting better just through my job, I feel it is not nearly enough, especially when it comes to keigo. Since no one criticizes or corrects my Japanese, there is really no way for me to find out exactly what I’m doing wrong.
I’ve been thinking about using PTO to take a business level course or something, if a short program like that even exists. But I don’t have that much PTO, and my job for sure would not pay for something like that for me.
Up until N1, it was clear what I needed to do to improve. But after passing, I’m genuinely lost. How can I improve? Has anyone ever been in this kind of situation?
19 comments
many language schools have night, weekend, or online courses for working people. also classes specializing in business Japanese. maybe finding and taking a class like that would be a good start?
So my Japanese ability is better than I test. And I found the big improvement was from being in a immersive social situation where English can’t be used. By being forced to only use Japanese I’ve improved incredibly. Look for a social activity that you’re interested in and make sure you only speak Japanese. You’ll improve on speed and comprehension of verbal communication. Also at your translation position try to use more business Japanese in conversations to maintain the business vocabulary.
“Japanese not good enough” and “doesn’t fit the work culture” sound like bullshit excuses. They probably didn’t like the cut of your jib, don’t dwell on it and move on, it happens all the time.
Is Japanese your only marketable skill? If so, it’s probably better to try and study up on other skills instead of zeroing in on Japanese.
Talk to people…
Try, if nothing else, an online tutor.
I hear good things about Coto
https://online.cotoacademy.com/
> a mismatch with work culture
I guess, you dodged a bullet there. Congratulate yourself for having flunked that interview. It might as well be that this company is not worth your time and effort.
>I failed my interview due to my spoken Japanese not matching what is on my CV (jlpt N1),
JLPT doesn’t test spoken Japanese at all. That’s one of the biggest criticisms about the test. You should call them out on this.
>and a mismatch with work culture (still trying to find out what this means).
It’s a professional way of saying they don’t like you.
Regarding the language issue, if output is the problem then this is the one case where I would actually recommend hiring a private teacher to help you but you can’t just go with any random bloke who’s willing to sit down and listen to you talk, they need to be an actual teacher who knows what to listen for and how to deal with the issues.
The N1 just means that you mastered the basics and can now train on your own.
You no longer need schools now, what you need real life experience and more cultural immersion. Find a few hobbies and join clubs related to those, watch Japanese movies, read books from Japanese authors, get involved with your local community, etc
The feeling that your Japanese was not good at all was correct, the N1 only teaches you 10k words. [Adults understand roughly 40k words](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160816111017.htm) in their native language so you have only scratched the surface. Note that 40K words is passive vocabulary, words that you understand. The active vocabulary, the words that you use when speaking, of an adult is around 20k words.
And just knowing words and grammatical rules is not enough. You can be grammatically correct but be culturally wrong.
Becoming fluent means speaking like a native and being culturally right even if it means being grammatically wrong. This can not be taught in school and there is no shortcut to learning that, you need the real life experience now and it’s going to take years, maybe decades to reach real full fluency.
Unfortunately the JLPT is just…. a bad test. The only things that are intensively assessed are reading as a core skill, vocabulary, grammar, kanji, and debatably listening.
So no speaking, no productive writing (short response, essay, etc.) and the listening is notoriously easier than the relative difficulty of other sections. It is entirely possibly to pass the JLPT level 1 with nearly no speaking ability, no writing ability, and very low listening ability.
So that means your speaking could actually be years behind you’re reading. Even your writing could be significantly behind if you’re doing L2 to L1 translation. Unfortunately the only solution is time, active skills take more effort in getting resources and practice for since they tend to require other people to participate and give feedback. Find people that are open to talk about academic subjects, and get their permission to talk their ears off while sometimes giving correction. Good luck.
It kind of sucks that N1 is so far removed from the actual needs of actual business Japanese. I don’t want to say that it’s too easy, but the test is not as stringent as the real world.
As someone who cut my own teeth on translation and interpreting, all I can say is that you need 慣れ. It takes time to get it and you will have to settle for less than what you’re worth until you get it, but 慣れ plus documented experience makes a lot of difference.
Don’t give up. People spit in your face when you only have one year of experience in translation and interpreting, but they will be coming back for more once you have five or ten years of experience. And people will remember you. I have had people reach out to me because I did translations for them years ago.
Don’t worry about rejections. You have to apply to a dozen companies to get one interview these days, and they will often find someone somewhere who somehow has 50 years of experience. Put your faith in the translations that you produce, and the rest will follow.
It could just be that you’re bad at interviewing in Japanese. You’re not going to get better at it without practicing interviewing in Japanese. Every companies asks the same set of questions every single interview, and you should practice those answers over and over until you can fire them back effortlessly. Also practice which questions you’ll ask in advance. Probably only 10-20% of every interview is on the spot stuff.
highly suggest italki, not too expensive & flexible
Is there a possibility to practice interviews with native speakers such as your friends? Don’t be too hard on yourself. It might be that you got nervous and lost your ability to communicate on the level that they want you to be able to speak or you might have to improve. If it’s the latter I would recommend to practice speaking as much as you can with people willing to help you in a relaxed environment.
Proper use of 敬語 is a requirement for any meaningful job that isn’t entry level, or in industries outside of English language school or back-office IT work where human interaction is rare.
Your skills or lack thereof are directly reflected onto your department manager, and having a subordinate who frequently makes language mistakes or cannot communicate properly is only going to make their life tougher. Why take the risk in hiring someone like that?
Moreover, the language on your resume should match your actual language ability. As a former recruiter, it was a common problem for foreign applicants to have impressive resumes but lackluster language skills, especially when speaking.
Although the JLPT does not measure speaking ability in the slightest, most interviewers are going to view it as an admittance of speaking ability, as well.
敬語 might as well be a separate language for the linguistically impaired, so I would recommend taking lessons to improve your ability if home study isn’t cutting it.
Passing Japanese interviews is also a trial in and of itself, so be sure to study up on that. Approaching them in the same way as western interviews is not wise.
The main reason I have seen people get rejected by JP companies is not being able to show enough passion for the company/project/product.
You need to go above and beyond to show knowledge about their company and product, including ideas for improvement and passion for their mission. Especially in manager interviews (and this is one of the reason all/most interview loops include one). If their CEO has written any books, read them or be familiar with their content. If it’s a tech company, make sure to download their app.
Others have talked about N1, and I’ll agree with their statements. When I started with N5, I also had the view that it was a top, near-native level of proficiency. Now I know that due to the lack of speaking and testing of business Japanese, it’s nowhere near that. You could improve by taking a business Japanese course and asking your teacher for practice with vocabulary in that area. I took one of this courses a few years back (after having passed N2) and I was sweating in every class like crazy. Especially when giving formal presentations using formal Japanese.
Good luck!
How about trying to get a much higher score on JLPT or finding a Japanese language exchange partner who works as a white-collar?
I don’t know how well you speak Japanese.
They might have said so(your spoken Japanese doesn’t match what’s on your CV) only to reject your offer.
If you have very close Japanese friends, ask them to value and review your Japanese skill very honestly.
Get a skill that someone will pay you for other than just speaking Japanese. Until then you will always be up against the entire native population.
Unless it’s a client facing role or something really technical that you are not familiar with, N1 should be enough for day-to-day interaction with your internal team. If this is a Japanese company and previously you never worked with a Japanese manager, sometimes it can be the reason for “a mismatch with work culture.”
Take the ビジネス日本語能テスト and study 尊敬語、謙譲語 and fixed business expressions.
Also put your japanese into use by outputting more
I think what they mean by work culture is that they’re looking for a “traditional” Japanese workers who are loyal to the company under horrible working conditions and you left your company bc location