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As someone who has been living in Japan for years now, and still has a long way to go learning the language, I generally support language proficiency requiremen
by freetime2 6mo ago
As someone who has been living in Japan for years now, and still has a long way to go learning the language, I generally support language proficiency requirements. First, it should be noted that these are fairly common sense requirements designed to reduce fraud - requiring people applying for work visas that require Japanese proficiency to actually be able to speak Japanese. I suspect there will be more requirements in the future for things like permanent residency, but will wait for those to actually be implemented before commenting one way or another.
And second - it’s really hard to participate in society if you can’t speak the language. I think this creates resentment for both Japanese citizens and foreign residents alike.
I regret not studying sooner and harder, and a clear language requirement probably would have influenced me to try harder.
- seanmcdirmid 6mo agoI did two years in Lausanne without speaking French and 9 years in Beijing with…maybe 2nd year proficiency in Chinese (better than most foreigners, but hardly fluent!). You can totally live in society without fluency, Switzerland being harder only because I never studied French before. If you are doing work with a world market, you are kind of expected to speak the language of that work and not necessarily the country you are in.
- m463 6mo agoSounds like freetime2 is taking personal responsibility for his deficiencies which is a pretty japanese way of thinking. YMMV in the rest of the world.
- timr 6mo ago> And second - it’s really hard to participate in society if you can’t speak the language. I think this creates resentment for both Japanese citizens and foreign residents alike. I basically agree, but there are two problems with this: 1) the JLPT is a test of fairly academic reading and listening (for those unfamiliar, it’s basically the equivalent of the US SAT reading/vocab section in terms of difficulty). There’s no speaking or communication requirement. I probably cannot pass N2, despite being conversant and functional in everyday life at a high B1 level. 2) The populations who are most likely to abuse the current system are fairly notorious for being able to pass the exam without real communication ability. I know a fair number of people who were able to pass without being able to have even a basic conversation at the time. Language schools here are essentially factories designed to shove kanji readers through the JLPT in minimum time, with little attention paid to conversation. Overall, this feels like a sledgehammer approach to a screwdriver problem.
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- maxgashkov 6mo agoNot sure why your comment is downvoted, because it hits the issue dead center, namely it's completely possible to pass either of the required tests (N2/J2) and not being able to speak a single word of Japanese in a live conversation. That's why at least one category of applicants abusing the visa (Chinese) will continue to do so without any issues.
- timr 6mo agoThere are a lot of folks who do not want to hear anything truthful if it violates their sense of national justice. I don't have a dog in the fight. I just think the current "solution" is blunt, and will end up damaging both the Japanese economy, and a bunch of people who were never "the problem", per se.