japanese

[aichan]

how much japanese should i know before i go to japan?

[biginjapan]

It depends heavily on your situation. If you're going there to be an English teacher its not required to know any Japanese. If you're going there to travel then you probably won't have enough time to make any friends regardless if you knew it anyway.

Knowing Japanese is never really required, but it will make your experience better. When you only can speak English, you are limited to who you can make friends with. Obviously if you speak Japanese fluently this opens up a lot of doors for making new friends and new opportunities for careers.

[YukisUke]

I agree. Knowing a lot of Japanese can help you out and open doors to many oppritunities. I recommend that you brush up on your Japanese.

[aichan]

ya because if i go to japan i might get lost there and have no idea how to find my way because no one will speak englishT_T but then again..i am not even that good at englishXDD haha i am from the south usa so you can guess on my weird southern accentXD

[SSJup81]

Originally Posted by aichan

ya because if i go to japan i might get lost there and have no idea how to find my way because no one will speak englishT_T but then again..i am not even that good at englishXDD haha i am from the south usa so you can guess on my weird southern accentXD

Who cares if you have an accent. That's no excuse not to use proper grammar and speak proper English. The accent just lets others know where you're from. I have a heavy southern accent, even though I'm in Virginia, but that doesn't change the fact that I can speak decent English. The accent should be irrelevant.

That aside, introductory Japanese would probably be the ideal. At least if you do get lost or something, you can say, in Japanese, that you don't speak Japanese all that well, and that you're lost.