I know I’m on the wrong forum for this question, but you guys know better than me. I don’t know anything about Taiwan yet.
My wife is Japanese. One of the reason she and I are thinking of coming to Taiwan is that Taiwan is more Japanese-friendly than Mainland China (or so I’ve heard over and over again). Anybody have any idea what jobs are open for an (extremely wonderful) Japanese woman with no Chinese skill and only a little English? Japanese teaching? Baby-sitting for Japanese people living in Taiwan? Elderly care? Work at a Japanese restaurant or hotel? Any idea where we’d start looking?
With no Chinese would she be able to get a job in tourism? Maybe something in the back office? Wouldn’t there already be enough cheap, legal Chinese workers in this field?
Yeah, we’re kind of thinking that. China might be an easier place to find work if you’re Japanese and don’t speak Chinese, just because there are so few Japanese speakers to fill that need in China.
milse, let me give you an advice on job. Your wife may find a job in Taiwan that’ll fit her needs. But you have to question yourself 1) whether the job is sustainable, long term, if both of you decide to stay in Taiwan for a long term 2) whether your wife is marketable in Taiwan, long term, since no job is permanent (should your wife loses that job after, say, a few months) and 3) whether there’s a market for your wife, long term, since markets do change and jobs in a market that were profitable a few years ago might not be as of today.
Your wife, as of today, will have a hard time finding a job in tw since she doesn’t speak Chinese. Ok, so she can become a Japanese teacher in tw. How will that market be in 10 years from now? Or maybe in 5 years from now? Are there people here that are dying to learn Japanese such that there’s going to be a sustainable market?
You and your wife really have to ask yourself all these questions before deciding the move to Taiwan or else you’ll probably have to manned up and support her while in Taiwan.
Can or can’t? Your statement above is pretty arguable.[/quote]
Not looking for a debate/argument over something so trivial. Let me change the statement for you. In my opinion a lot of Taiwanese people can speak Japanese. Happy?
Can or can’t? Your statement above is pretty arguable.[/quote]
Not looking for a debate/argument over something so trivial. Let me change the statement for you. In my opinion a lot of Taiwanese people can speak Japanese. Happy?[/quote]
I have also found “a lot” of people who can speak Japanese (to some extent) - mostly because i know where to look for them. And most of them are older people. Also, percentage-wise there are apparently way more people who can speak Japanese in Hualien and Taitung than in Taipei (because that skill is related to some extent to the indigenous population). I also have heard that there is a growing interest in schools in the eastern counties to learn Japanese (quite like the growing interest in schools in Ishigaki to learn Mandarin)…
Yup. Quite a few. I"m not really that involved in the Japanese community, but the impression is that it’s easy to get jobs if you want one - most Japanese are here for a different job or to study.
Yuli, I think you find the best speakers on the East coast! A lot of 本省 Ama and Agong can speak good Japanese as well (No Mandarin, just Taiwanese and Japanese), particularly out there. Lots of young people are learning Japanese on the west coast, I’d say roughly a quarter of the local students in my uni (NCKU) can hold a good conversation with no/little difficulty. But they have this damn accent which is so catching, yet really annoying.
Yup. Quite a few. I"m not really that involved in the Japanese community, but the impression is that it’s easy to get jobs if you want one - most Japanese are here for a different job or to study.
Yuli, I think you find the best speakers on the East coast! A lot of 本省 Ama and Agong can speak good Japanese as well (No Mandarin, just Taiwanese and Japanese), particularly out there. Lots of young people are learning Japanese on the west coast, I’d say roughly a quarter of the local students in my uni (NCKU) can hold a good conversation with no/little difficulty. But they have this damn accent which is so catching, yet really annoying.[/quote]
Ok, I guess I’m the frog in the Taipei proper well then.
There are many Japanese companies with operations in Taiwan so could also look at that too. Plus Taiwanese companies who want to sell into Japan, they would like to have a Japanese to help with sales and marketing and meetings, if your wife had some English would be better.
In any country, regardless of how many people speak a foreign language,there are still jobs for native speakers of that foreign language, because native speakers often know and do certain things better than second language speakers. In most countries, however, for a company to get permission to hire a foreigner, the employer has to show that the foreigner has some skill that is hard to find among domestic employees. In principle, things in Taiwan work the same way, so it would be a good idea for your wife to find out where in the Taiwanese job market Japanese speakers are needed and wanted and then consider whether she can fill that need in some way. You never mentioned what training or skills your wife has, therefore much of the discussion here has been about various general issues, but i think one thing your wife should do is consider what she has learned and what kind of work she would do (and would like to do) in Japan and take a look at the employment situation in Taiwan from that perspective as well (especially peruse job listings at employment offices and in newpapers and on the internet where companies are advertising staff positions). I would also suggest that she get in touch with organisations such as the Taiwanese Nihonjinkai ( japan.org.tw/ ) and other Japanese organisations and companies that have a presence in Taiwan - making contacts with people may be as important as, or perhaps more inportant than, searching for job information on one’s own, because such contacts often lead to high quality information. Maybe it would also be a good idea to make one or two visits to Taiwan before moving here, to make contacts with Japanese who live in the country and start the process of creating connections.
first of all, yes she could teach Japanese for a while and learn Chinese over a few years, make connections and so on - enabling herself to start something else. are all of you guys doing the same thing you started in the first place??
second of all, turn to mixi.jp the premier social networking site that has a large focus on specialized communities for people. I’m on there myself and there are a few wonderful ‘communities’ (groups) for Japanese (speakers) to find work and so on…
If you would like, send me a pm and I’ll send you the links
I know many Japanese teaching Japanese language in Global Village, a language school here in Taiwan. It doesn’t pay much, but is a job. Japanese teachers make 1/2 to 2/3 as much as English teachers, though. It isn’t necessary to speak Chinese or English to teach Japanese, so long as one is teaching at a high level. If the teacher can’t speak Chinese, then the students need to already be able to speak Japanese, sort of like an English teacher in Japan, for example.
I wouldn’t hold your breath waiting for your wife to find some amazing job here in Taiwan. The economy is suffering here too. Taiwanese are being forced to take unpaid leave from good companies. Yes, it’s true that I know a Japanese guy who works at a semi-conductor company here, but he majored in physics, and made it through a round of lay-offs, so he’s lucky. He’s being sent back to Japan, too, even though he was supposed to go to China first, and he doesn’t want to go back to Japan.
The situation for Japanese in Taiwan is no different than the situation for Americans, Canadians or Europeans. What I mean is that for 99% of Westerners living and working here teaching is the only option. I know people in the bicycle industry, software design industry, and electrical engineering industry, and they all were sent here from companies located in their home countries. They didn’t show up in Taiwan and land such good jobs. Honestly, you’re wife’s chances of coming here and landing a great job are slim. It’s true that you will always find someone who “knows” someone who got some great job, but there are people who win the lottery every day, right? That doesn’t mean anyone can come here and walk into some great situation.
Publications: one of my exroomates is Japanese and still works at a Japanese magazine -making the Taiwanese version. There were a dozen Japanese working with her. So, there are opportunities writing, translating or simple doing office work for such publications.
Companies: sales agent, represntative, simple secretarial jobs for Taiwanese companies that associate with Japanese enterprises or have investments there. you can be referred by a friend of a friend or go to the Japan-Taiwan business council.
Travle agencies: go to the travel fair and make contacts.
If we Spanish speakers can find jobs other than teaching, for a Japanese is easier since more people speak it and need those services and there are more exchanges with Japan.
And most of them are older people. Also, percentage-wise there are apparently way more people who can speak Japanese in Hualien and Taitung than in Taipei (because that skill is related to some extent to the indigenous population). I also have heard that there is a growing interest in schools in the eastern counties to learn Japanese (quite like the growing interest in schools in Ishigaki to learn Mandarin)…