I'm not sure how to further my education in Japanese...

[Mizumiblu]

Hello, I'm new here to the forum. I thought maybe I would try to look into some help on getting some insight on some decisions that I am trying to make.

I already have about three years of college experience under my belt but had dropped out nine months ago because of change of career plans as well as some recurring personal hardships that was taking its toll on my school performance.

Anyway, I've been taking Japanese language courses ever since I started college. I was going to settle for the minor that my former school had but I eventually became unhappy because I wanted to do more with the Japanese I was learning - in becoming a Japanese/English translator to be exact. So now I'm sort of stressing out on exactly what my next step should be. Should I just settle for staying in the US and find a college with a good Japanese program here OR should I try and maybe finish college out with a degree in Japan. I could use the experience, immersion, and honestly, a change of scenery but the only thing that is making me hesitate is the expense. I'm from North Carolina and so, either way I feel like that I have to travel a bit to get the education I need. East coast Japanese programs are usually in the competitive , expensive private schools whereas west coast, Japanese programs are strategically all over the place, especially in California. So I sorta feel stuck with my decision. Can anyone here help me get some insight and maybe an idea or two in what I could do?

I would really appreciate it.

[NTREEG]

I'm from North Carolina too so I feel your pain. When I was back in NC, I looked around for Japanese classes and weren't really able to find anything that could suite my schedule or my interests. I took private lessons from a great, native teacher for a few months, but I could only afford to go once a week and thus wasn't happy with my rate of progress. I eventually ended up just coming to Japan and enrolling in intensive courses here. I won't lie, the expense is rather substantial. But for learning the language, nothing beats being in Japan. As for your career / education plans, I really don't know what to tell you as it's not my forte. You will need to finish your degree to have a good chance of securing a working visa (I'm assuming you'll want to work in Japan eventually). You could take a year off from university, come to Japan for a year of language study, then go back home and finish. Or you can just stick it out and finish up your degree right away. You'll probably have a better chance of making contacts to pick up translation work when you're physically in Japan though.

The school I go to takes about 2 years to go through all of it's courses from beginner to advanced. If you enter a school like mine already with a few years of University level study under your belt, you could probably jump right into the intermediate classes and finish out the advanced classes in a year.

If financing your studies is a concern, you can apply for a Monbukagakusho scholarship. I can link you to some information, but I've got no first hand experience with this program:
Consulate-General of Japan in Atlanta