In the US corporate world, is learning Japanese worth it?
Historians believe that ancient Japanese and the indigenous dialects of the Ryukyuan languages off mainland Japan are derived from the travellers who came from Asia and various nearby Pacific Isles during the Yayoi period around 200 BC. Sadly, there is little or nothing to prove this. During the Yayoi period, we don’t know much about Japan. Anthropologists have concluded that only around the 8th century was the earliest recorded text containing kanji-like writings. Japanese is de facto Japanese but is not the only place where Japanese is spoken.
In the modern-day, many young aspirants from around the world travel to the US in order to be part of the US corporate world.
It is one of the highest paying countries in the world and also utilises the skills of its workers in the right manner. With that said, only a few handful competent aspirants actually get entry into this corporate world. This is due to their achievements and strategic certifications that they attached to their CV. Hence, it is extremely important to choose an appropriate second language that could decorate your CV and make it look more attractive to your employer. Keeping that in mind, let’s now understand if Japanese is the right language for this.
In my opinion, the Japanese don’t have as much utility in the US corporate world. This is specifically in comparison to languages like French and Spanish. You see, when you enter a country’s corporate industry, you need to cater to the clients of that country. While the US and Japan do have good relations economically, their major clients are French and Spanish-based. Additionally, a very small demographic of the American population actually speaks Japanese.
Therefore even as a second language, Japanese will not get you much admiration in the country. Although learning Japanese is not an easy task, in fact, it is notoriously the toughest language in the entire world. Even withThat taken into consideration, you still will not be able to bring clients from different countries to this corporate world. At the end of the day, the US corporate world looks for those aspirants, whose achievements and certifications bring them business. Even if those achievements and certifications aren’t at the power of some others. Instead of Japanese, I suggest you can focus on learning Spanish, French or Portuguese.
Do give preference to The Spanish first, then French and finally Portugal’s. Due to the popularity of the Spanish language in the United States, your CV is bound to seem extremely attractive. French comes in close, with being one of the most popular languages around the world. Portuguese, is specifically popular in South America but not so much in North America. Either way, you can still try your luck with this language as it would still yield better results than learning Japanese for the US corporate world.
Finally,
In the Republic of Palau where the island state of Angaur speaks mainly Japanese, Japanese is recognised as a minority language. As of 2010, about 1% of the people of California speak Japanese and 15% of the people living in Hawaii. Mandarin, Cantonese Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai, are tone-dependent languages, but not Japanese.