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> What does one do with a DEGREE in Chinese? 1. Teach Chinese 2. Translation and interpretation 3. Dual degree with any number of degrees (e.g., business, ar

by csa 3y ago

> What does one do with a DEGREE in Chinese? 1. Teach Chinese 2. Translation and interpretation 3. Dual degree with any number of degrees (e.g., business, art, etc.) that have natural pairings due to demands in the labor market (although not sure how much demand in West Virginia specifically). On a more real but anecdotal note, I know many language majors who have moved to the/a target language country for a year or more after graduation, and they learned more about what types of bilingual jobs were available. That led them to either get a job in one of those areas or skill up in some way (typically going back to school) to get the skills and/or credentials they needed to get the job they wanted. On a personal note, even though I wasn’t a Japanese major, I went to Japan after college to learn Japanese better. My idea was to learn Japanese and become an “international lawyer” with a focus on Japan. I met a few folks who did that exact job in Japan, and most of them were miserable. Needless to say, I changed the direction of my career.

webmaven 3y ago
> I met a few folks who did that exact job in Japan, and most of them were miserable. Interesting. What was the source or cause of their misery, and how sure were you that the correlation wasn't spurious?
- csa 3y ago
  > What was the source or cause of their misery, and how sure were you that the correlation wasn't spurious? Great question! In their words, the legal work wasn’t that interesting, the business side (rain making) could be infuriating due to cultural differences, working in Japan wasn’t that interesting after the honeymoon period, and living in Japan wasn’t something they wanted to do long term with their family. I will add that some ambitious folks who worked in firms that had locations back in the US kind of felt like second class citizens in their own firms, even though they were driving quite a bit of revenue at the time. Having worked in Japan myself (since I spoke with them), I can add some things that they probably thought but didn’t say: 1. Trying to explain American anything to someone who thinks that the Japanese way is the best way and should be the only way around the world gets old after a while. These folks existed in Japan in droves at that time (90s). It’s better now, but they still exist. Note that this knife cuts both ways — trying to explain Japanese ways to Americans who think the American way is the best and only way gets old as well. I’ve done both. If you want to get technical, it usually boils down to the “international” person being at a higher stage of adult cognitive development than the local (see Robert Kegan for an example of what these levels look like). Given that some US legal concepts seem counterintuitive or even unfair even to Americans, you can imagine how added layers of a different culture and a different legal system might meet some resistance from Japanese clients. 2. Raising a family in Japan, even in Tokyo, can present challenging issues. Even if everything is covered in terms of cost (housing, schooling, travel, etc.), there is still the issue of the constantly rotating cast of characters of your co-workers, friends, classmates (for kids), etc. Also, some spouses get very antsy and/or dissatisfied for a variety of reasons. If costs are not covered, it takes a lot of money or a lot of compromise to make things work. 3. I’m fairly certain that one or more of the folks I spoke with actually didn’t speak much Japanese — they were top notch legal practitioners who had interpreters do whatever speaking needed to be done. While one could live in Tokyo fairly well without speaking a word of Japanese, it would be a very shallow experience, imho. There are a lot of things I could say about the legal profession in general. They aren’t related to Japan at all, but they may have contributed to the misery these folks were experiencing. While certain areas of law fascinate me (Berkman Center stuff can be quite interesting), I’m glad I didn’t become a lawyer in general, and a lawyer in Japan in particular.
- Spooky23 3y ago
  Many attorneys are miserable. It’s easy to get stuck with awful, dreadfully boring work.

by csa 3y ago

webmaven 3y ago

> I met a few folks who did that exact job in Japan, and most of them were miserable. Interesting. What was the source or cause of their misery, and how sure were you that the correlation wasn't spurious?

csa 3y ago
> What was the source or cause of their misery, and how sure were you that the correlation wasn't spurious? Great question! In their words, the legal work wasn’t that interesting, the business side (rain making) could be infuriating due to cultural differences, working in Japan wasn’t that interesting after the honeymoon period, and living in Japan wasn’t something they wanted to do long term with their family. I will add that some ambitious folks who worked in firms that had locations back in the US kind of felt like second class citizens in their own firms, even though they were driving quite a bit of revenue at the time. Having worked in Japan myself (since I spoke with them), I can add some things that they probably thought but didn’t say: 1. Trying to explain American anything to someone who thinks that the Japanese way is the best way and should be the only way around the world gets old after a while. These folks existed in Japan in droves at that time (90s). It’s better now, but they still exist. Note that this knife cuts both ways — trying to explain Japanese ways to Americans who think the American way is the best and only way gets old as well. I’ve done both. If you want to get technical, it usually boils down to the “international” person being at a higher stage of adult cognitive development than the local (see Robert Kegan for an example of what these levels look like). Given that some US legal concepts seem counterintuitive or even unfair even to Americans, you can imagine how added layers of a different culture and a different legal system might meet some resistance from Japanese clients. 2. Raising a family in Japan, even in Tokyo, can present challenging issues. Even if everything is covered in terms of cost (housing, schooling, travel, etc.), there is still the issue of the constantly rotating cast of characters of your co-workers, friends, classmates (for kids), etc. Also, some spouses get very antsy and/or dissatisfied for a variety of reasons. If costs are not covered, it takes a lot of money or a lot of compromise to make things work. 3. I’m fairly certain that one or more of the folks I spoke with actually didn’t speak much Japanese — they were top notch legal practitioners who had interpreters do whatever speaking needed to be done. While one could live in Tokyo fairly well without speaking a word of Japanese, it would be a very shallow experience, imho. There are a lot of things I could say about the legal profession in general. They aren’t related to Japan at all, but they may have contributed to the misery these folks were experiencing. While certain areas of law fascinate me (Berkman Center stuff can be quite interesting), I’m glad I didn’t become a lawyer in general, and a lawyer in Japan in particular.
Spooky23 3y ago
Many attorneys are miserable. It’s easy to get stuck with awful, dreadfully boring work.