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08-03-2010, 12:50 AM
Well, that's a start. I think if you know a little bit of Japanese you might be able to accomplish something in two months. I think even if you immerse yourself as best you can you still won't be at a basic conversational level by the time you get there. The best you can do is just try to expose yourself to as much Japanese as possible.
I would say it would be a good idea to focus your studying on certain areas. For example, it would be a good idea to know how to say important things like "I need to go to the bathroom..." etc. Beyond that, I think food is VERY important. Try to learn what different foods are called because that can be a very big thing to talk about. Besides those kinds of essential things, you'll need to learn words/phrases that comply with your work. So you might want to learn how to say all the country names that you'll be dealing with (as they are sometimes slightly different than English, or different all together). You'll have to learn money language and words like import/export and junk like that. I'm sure you understand that, but sudying it and actually using it are two very different things. The best you can do is expose yourself to as much Japanese for the time being. Here's some more advice- learn to really observe. I think when you have a langauge barrier your senses naturally perform better, but really focus on watching how your co-workers act and their mannerisms and the tones of their voices and stuff like that. Watch them when they interact with each other as that will be the "real deal". Japanese have a special way (in general) of dealing with foreigners. They want you to feel at home, so they might exaggerate the handshake or use phrases that they think you'll understand better. It's important to understand people when they talk to you, but to get a grasp of natural Japanese you'll need to kind of eavsdrop on all the conversations around you. Immersion is the best way to learn a language, but you have to actively take part in the process for it to work. It's tiring, but worthwhile, so just try not to zone out too much and you'll probably pick up on some basic Japanese fairly quickly. You'll probably find that you won't even be able to understand the most basic of phrases when you hear them in actual use at first. Getting past that initial period is probably the hardest! Good luck! |
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