Here is a link to the Love for Miyagi Japan project blog.

This non-profit organization was founded by Chie Murakami Schuller, who was born and raised in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. She now lives in Columbus, Ohio. She founded this organization to raise funds for and awareness of the recent natural disaster in Northeast Japan. Ishinomaki(Miyagi) was devastated by the recent tsunami caused by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake on 03/11/11. Donations raised by this organization will be sent to Chie’s friends including one friend who is still missing (she left behind a husband and a 5 month old daughter). Money can’t buy happiness nor can it bring back a loved one. However, our love will be much greater than the tsunami that took everything from the victim. As our logo says, our love will cover everything-including thier sadness and pain. Thank you for making a difference and showing your support for Miyagi, Japan. If you have any questions regarding this organization or how the donations are sent/spent, please contact us at loveformiyagijapan@gmail.com

Also, if you donate 25 bucks you get a tote bag that will carry your stuff while spreading the word.

If you’re still looking for ways to help Japan, check this out.

Get a unique bag that shows your support with each donation!

If you’re serious about giving this a shot your first step will be to take one of their tests.

You can test in many aspects of the translation process, including translation, editing, and lettering. You can even form a group and plan to work together on projects.

The workflow, click to enlarge

I have never tried Digital Manga Guild myself, but it does look like a legit opportunity. They even have a profit sharing scheme going, so if you stick with it you should eventually make some change.

Translation is always great because it forces you to figure out language that you may not be familiar with, and it’s a real skill that can serve you well in the future. I encourage peeps out there to give it a shot! And if you do, let us know how it goes!

がんばれ！

- Harvey

Sensei in her graduation kimono

Why did you decide to come to the U.S. to teach Japanese?

I received a scholarship to study TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) while teaching the Japanese language at Boston University.

The initial motivation to come to the U.S. again (I was an exchange student in upstate NY for 9 months) was the urge to explore outside Japan more after going around the world on a cruise ship as an interpreter. Also, I did not have such a great experience in NY because of my lack of understanding of the American college lifestyle, so this time I wanted to achieve what I could not do last time I was in the U.S.

Interesting.. what about American college life didn’t you understand that gave you a hard time? We’re curious to know what about the American lifestyle might be tough for Japanese people.

I did not like the crazy parties on campus especially because my next-door neighbor was a DJ… Also, I did not like some students’ crazy drinking on the weekends. Also, since I was in upstate NY and there were not so many Asian people, the school cafeteria did not serve rice at all. The difference in food was one of the biggest culture shock experiences for me and made me miss Japan a lot.

Another thing that was difficult in upstate NY was to make “American” friends. I lived in the International House, so I was able to make a couple of really good international friends. But, it just felt like no American students were interested in me and I was sometimes too scared to talk to native speakers of English. I felt very self-concious when I spoke English and I did not want them to judge me based on my English.

Wow, thanks for sharing that, and you should know that it’s very courageous of you to give study in the US another shot. Many people would have just been done with it! Nice job! Now, could you briefly describe your job now?

I teach first and second semester Japanese at BU. I teach two sections of 20 students. So, each semester, I have about 40 students in total. We have a 50-minute class four days a week and we cover all the four skills of language. We use the textbook Genki and the first semester covers from Chapter 1-6 and the second semester covers Chapter 7-12.

I have students from different backgrounds such as students from Korea, China, Mexico, the Philipines, Vietnam, and the U.S. They are very studious and many students study Japanese not because it is a requirement of the department but because of their genuine interest in the language and the culture. This is my 3rd semester to teach Japanese at BU, but as I get used to teaching and gain more experience, I can predict my students’ mistakes and change my instruction styles depending on the “teacher instinct.”

I love my job and I would like to continue teaching Japanese in the future although I am thinking of applying for a PhD program in one or two years from now.

So what were your initial impressions of people who study Japanese in the U.S.?

I was very impressed with my students’ ability to speak. Also, I am very happy to see students who are are very energetic and genuinely interested in the language. Although the first two chapters of Genki are very overwhelming for native speakers of English or Spanish since they need to learn “hiragana” and “katakana” in less than a month, once they grasp the broad picture of what the language is like, they seem to succeed very quickly after that.

Do you think that learning Hiragana and Katakana in a month is unreasonable? How do most of your students handle that pace?

I think it is reasonable to learn Hiragana and Katakana in a month because they are the two core alphabets in Japanese and I believe that students would learn better by “recycling.” In other words, rather than being stuck at the same learning stage, I believe it is better to move on to the next stage and come back to the previous stage later and review it again and again. Students would inevitably have to see the two writing systems anyways, so I do not think it is unreasonable at all to learn Hiragana and Katakana in a month (although it may be difficult for some students).

What are your recommended textbooks for people learning Japanese at the level that you teach?

I recommend the textbook “Genki” that we use in our school. The textbook is great in that it has a number of picture prompts and has CDs (You need to purchase them for the current edition, but the new edition, which will come out next year, will come with CDs.) Also, it has a website called “Genki Online” which has a lot of useful resources. You can easily self-study Japanese using the resources online.

Another textbook that I recommend is “Minna no Nihongo.” It is the most-commonly-used Japanese textbook in the world and it is translated into many languages. Although it would be a great textbook for native speakers of English, grammatical explanations in other languages could be confusing for some who do not know any English because the textbook was written for native speakers of English and then later translated into many other languages.

What do you notice about students who are able to learn Japanese well? Do they do anything different from those who… well… don’t?

The second language acquisition theory of “Interaction Hypothesis” states that students need to interact with others and negotiate meanings to acquire a language. What I notice in my class is that students who are outgoing and interact with me or other people who speak Japanese have a great command of speaking whereas very serious straight A type students score high in quizzes and exams. Thus, I do not think the academic grade necessarily reflects their true linguistic ability. However, each student has his or her own learning style and those who already know how to study a language and know multiple learning strategies succeed in the language in the long run.

Thanks for your time Yuka! I know you’re busy keeping all those students in line so we’ll leave it at that.

Thanks for having me! It’s fun to share!

Good luck with the rest of your studies and work!!!

- Harvey

If you’re into Interviews you might also like…

Interview with Translator @Durf
Interview with @Sandkatt
Interview with a new JET CIR
A JET CIR Interview

Feel free to post any questions that you may have in the comments and Sam will come back to answer them!

From the CRUSH of 9,000 suits, a solitary photo survives...

About the Boston Career Forum

Boston Career Forum (CFN) is run by Disco International, a Japanese HR company. They hold a few different job fairs throughout the year in LA, London, and Tokyo. But the Boston event is by far the largest (I met a few students who flew from Tokyo to attend the event!!). For anyone who’s been following this thread, it’s extremely difficult to get work in Japan when you’re in the US. CFN is definitely the best way to do it! The Boston event is targeted mostly at undergraduates, but there are all kinds of positions for mid-career, MBAs, and other grads.

Getting Prepared

I started preparing for Boston Career Forum through their website probably 3 months before the event. It’s free to register with Disco and free to register for each of the events. After registering, the first thing you do is fill out your resume in English and Japanese using their form. You can’t upload your own resume in DOC or PDF format, so this can be a little time-consuming.

Basically, how it works is each company will post their information on the website: their company profile, what positions they’re hiring for, what majors they’re looking for, what Japanese/English levels they require, etc. So search for the companies to which you want to apply and start doing research. Each company will have a few screening questions, either in English or Japanese or both, that you are required to fill out. These are questions like: “why are you choosing this company? What are your strengths and weaknesses? Describe a difficult situation?” Standard interview questions basically. So you’ll submit your resume and the answers to these questions. This should be viewed as the first step of the application; so be sure to put your effort into this step.

Depending on the company, they might acknowledge your application with a response through the CFN email system or to your personal email address listed on your resume. Some companies won’t reply at all, so it really is a case-by-case sort of thing. Other companies will ask you to apply through their own internal application system, where you’ll be invited to complete online assessment tests and other screening questions. So again, it depends. Just to be sure to stay on top of your email, and check the CFN website often. In my case, a few companies contacted me for phone/Skype interviews prior to the actual event. But from talking to other applicants, this is pretty rare.

About one month before the event, companies will start contacting you to set up interviews for the actual event. Based on previous year’s statistics, most people are able to schedule a few interviews before the event. I was in this group. Again, I think it depends on the company. So if you’re not contacted for interviews, don’t be discouraged! The vast majority of companies accept walk-in candidates at the event. But, of course, if you do get an interview scheduled, that’s a good sign!

So the strategy that I took was to apply to all companies that I was interested in, or that I met the requirements for, get a few interviews scheduled and focus heavily on preparing for those interviews. Other people will focus on one sector (finance, IT, retail) and do research on all of those companies and try to walk-in interview with all of them. I think it depends on how much time you have and what your personality is like.

Navigating the Career Forum Battleground

The actual event takes place on the third weekend in October at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Friday and Saturday are the busiest days, with Sunday being a bit slower because a lot of companies leave on Sunday. So, if you’re doing walk-ins, try to do them as soon as possible. That being said, I didn’t find it necessary to arrive as soon as registration opens (9AM) and wait in line with the other 9000 people (true!) to be the first one into the venue. It’s fine to get there at 9:45, 10:00 AM and just walk in on your own pace.

The venue can be a bit overwhelming. It’s held in a large open room, with thousands of people running around in suits. One on side of the room, there will be all the company booths, registration tables, office supplies desks, computers and copiers for printing out resumes, etc. On the other side of the room are individual interview booths that are enclosed with white curtains. You’ll get a map and other information when you arrive for registration.

Overall, the event is, in traditional Japanese fashion, very well-run and efficiently organized. There is free Wi-Fi in the building, a lot of eating options, and plenty of room to sit and prepare for your interviews. The only issue that I observed was the dearth of power outlets. So if you’re bringing a laptop, be sure to charge it before you go.

Once you get in there, you are free to walk around and do walk in interviews with any company you want. The vast majority of companies will accept walk in interviews. It works like this: the company will have a person greeting applicants. Go up to him/her and introduce yourself, explain that you’d like to do a walk-in interview. They’ll probably ask you to submit a resume, likely the English version. Then you’ll probably have to wait for a chair to open up in front of the interviewers at the booths. Some of the more popular companies, you’ll have to wait 30 minutes to get to the front of the line. But that should give you more time to rehearse your answers! Other lines will move more quickly.

Handling the Interviews

The first interview takes place at the company booth, in the open, in full view of your fellow applicants. This can be a bit intimidating; but it’s the only way for the companies to get through so many applicants in a single day. After you’ve left the booth after the first interview, the company might contact you (most likely via your cell phone) to schedule a second interview with a more senior employee. They’ll set up a time and ask you to come back to their booth. At this point, the two processes (walk-ins and pre-scheduled interviews) look the same. When you go back to the company booth, check-in with the greeter and tell him/her your name and interview time. They’ll escort you back to the individual interview area where you’ll sit in a chair outside the booth and wait for the interviewer to call you in. The same call back process will take place if the interview goes well. I personally was called back twice (3 interviews total) by a few companies all on the same day. So your schedule can fill up pretty quickly. Pace yourself!

In my case, the interviews were about 50/50 English and Japanese. Again, it depends on the type of position/company/location you’re interviewing for. In one case, an interviewer gave me a Japanese newspaper and told me to read out loud. Other interviews were all in English. So it depends.

Wine and Dine

If all the interviews go well, (some) companies will invite you to attend dinner with the employees and other applicants at night. From my point of view, these dinners are an opportunity for the interviewers to observe you in a more casual environment and see how you interact with other people. So you should be on your game for these dinners, even if it’s very casual. That being said, you don’t need to be in total interview mode. It’s ok to have a couple of drinks and get relaxed a bit. Just make sure you don’t drink too much!

That’s a Wrap, or, The Big Wait

So that’s a basic rundown of the pre-event and event details. I can’t tell you too much about the post-event situation, because I am still living it! It’s been about 5 days since the event finished and I am waiting to hear back from the companies with which I interviewed. I didn’t receive a timeline (i.e. “we’ll let you know within one week”) from any of the companies, so I am keeping my hopes up. Of the applicants that I spoke to, only one received an offer of employment at the actual event. So I think this is a very rare case (look at the statistics, only 16% get offers in Boston). So to any participants who are reading this now, let’s keep our hopes up for good news!!

Feel free to post if you have any questions or comments.

- Sam the Newbie

Related Links:

Photo Tour of the Career Forum on their official site.

Help a newbie get Work in Japan! – the original Sam the Newbie Post

From JapanNewbie Of Centuries Past:
Career Forum FAQ
Career Forum Opinions

Moyamoya Talk with Oe Mariko

とーく！！！ Just a quick Japanese print culture lesson. Seeing とーく, with it’s と and く in Hiragana placed around a katakana vowel extender ー thing may seem a little weird. Basically, this is トーク which is a katakana-ification of “Talk,” but they used Hiragana to make it cute. Hiragana is cuter than Katakana. I think this is a fact. That happens quite a bit in advertising, so keep on your toes!

This podcast is basically a conversation about recent business and economic trends that affect Japan. Most of the podcast has someone explaining things to Oe Mariko, and she keeps it moving by asking questions and giving prompts in a quasi-conversational manner. The podcast description says that it will clear up those unclear, fuzzy, you know… “モヤモヤ” subjects that you need to know if you’re an individual investor or just want to keep up to speed with the latest trends affecting the Japanese economy.

For example, on my flight back from China yesterday I was listening to one podcast where they happened to mention the increasing numbers of Chinese tourists in Japan. They went through the demographics of the visitors, what they were likely to spend on gifts, the places they were likely to visit, Japan’s readiness in regards to the increase in non-English speaking tourists, stuff like that. I recommend this podcast to anyone learning Japanese because it’s not as much of an in your face information dump as a straight forward news podcast, yet the conversation is serious enough that you’ll still learn lots from it.

Here is a link to the Moyamoya Talk Podcast Website.

You can also follow the host, Mariko on Twitter!

Here is a direct link to the Moyamoya Talk files in the feed.

Be sure to check out the Manyoushuu Podcast Recommendation, and Nikkei Trendy Podcast Recommendation, and the Profile Podcast from the other posts in this series!

- Harvey

Other Japanese Podcast Recommendations:
Nikkei Trendy
Manyoushu
Ueda’s working person Profile!
Audio Book: Ningen Shikkaku