Japanese Online Lessons using SKYPE

Is the traffic signal “green” or “blue”?

January 24, 2018

Do you know why the word “blue” expresses a color of new leaves which is actually “green”?

In old Japan, it’s said that there were only four words used to represent colors: black, white, red and blue.

 

So the word “blue” had a broad meaning that included green and purple. Even in today’s Japan, the distinction between green and blue is not very clear.

For example, we say the color of the traffic signal that indicates you can proceed is “blue”, and we also say “blue apples”, “blue insects” and “blue vegetables. There is a long-standing tradition in Japanese language of using the word “blue” to describe green things.

In English you can use the word “green” to indicate that someone is inexperienced, such as “He’s still green.” In Japanese, we can express the same concept using color, but we say “He’s still blue.” You may find it interesting to compare differences in expressions involving green and blue in each of your own languages.

Why taking notes by hand is more efficient than typing?

January 24, 2018

Which do you prefer, hand writing notes or typing on a computer keyboard when learning something new?

Possibly, those who like typing insist that we can type significantly faster than writing and that it allows us to do more, like engaging in online activities.

Nevertheless, a couple of studies prove that we learn better when we take notes by hand than when we type on a keyboard. Why is writing down notes with a pen more efficient than typing?

Scientifically speaking, writing in longhand is important because it stimulates a parts of the brain “RAS”(= the Reticular Activating System) that typing simply doesn’t. The RAS acts as a filter for everything your brain needs to process information, giving more attention to the stuff you are currently focused on.

Dr. Virginia Berninger, who studies reading and writing systems and their relationship to learning processes, says the difference between handwriting and typing: the act of handwriting is engaging the brain more actively by using our hands to form the letters and connect them. Typing, on the other hand, involves just selecting letters by pressing identical-looking keys.

Of course, whether the pen or the keyboard depends on your personal experience and comfort with these tools. As a compromise, perhaps stylus-friendly tablet PCs or digital pens may help us learning something better.

 

Reference：

http://lifehacker.com/5738093/why-you-learn-more-effectively-by

What can enhance both Japanese language skills and business skills?

January 19, 2018

Do you have the opportunity to read Japanese business books?

Reading books written in Japanese will help you improve your Japanese reading comprehension.

If it is a business book, it is useful also for business skills UP, so it is two birds with one stone.

 

But,

• It is difficult to read Japanese books because it takes long time…
• It is hard to choose a useful book for me…

For these reasons you may not be able to read?

 

Therefore, this time I will introduce services that will solve these troubles.

That is “book summary service”.

You may know getAbstract etc.

 

There are several similar services in Japan so I chose the following two from the point of view,

“Business books are handled a lot”

“Abstract quality is high”

“Site UI is good”

 

(1) Flier : https://www.flierinc.com/

Features:

• From topical books and masterpieces, celebrities such as managers and university professors, experts, etc. have chosen “books that business people should read now”.
• Management consultants and experts in each field prepare a summary.
• It corresponds to PC smartphone tablet.
• It is summarized so that it can be read in about 10 minutes.

(* For non-Japanese, it may take longer)

• Because you can choose from categories, it is easy to find a book that suits you.

There are categories such as “Skill-up career” “Self-development / mind” “Productivity / time management” “Leadership management” “Management strategy” “Entrepreneurial innovation” “Personnel” “Marketing” “Finance” “Technology IT” “Science” “trend”.

 

Plan:

• Free plan (free)

Viewable number: 20 (2 changes per month)

Number of additional contents: none

• Silver Plan (500 yen / month)

Viewable number: Free plan + up to 5 from charged contents every month.

Number of additional contents: About 30 books every month

• Gold plan (2,000 yen / month)

Viewable number:: Unlimited

Number of additional contents: About 30 books every month

 

 

(2) BOOK-SMART : https://book-smart.jp

Features:

• A professional staff with abundant business experience is preparing a summary at about 3,500 characters.
• You can read over 400 good books on the website anytime.
• 2 or 3 books are newly added each week.
• You can read it by email, too.
• Distributing essential readers of business people such as new topics and long sellers.

 

Plan:

• Subscription (6 month contract) (1,500 yen / month)
• Subscription (1 year contract) (1,350 yen / month)
• Subscription (2 year contract) (1,275 yen / month)

 

* All amounts stated are without tax.

* The amounts of BOOK-SMART is the amount when converted in the monthly amount. Actually, users need to pay the amount according to the contract period.

 

Both sites introduced a new book “Job Theory” by Clayton M. Christensen (original title: Competing Against Luck), so I will link each of them for you. I think both are compactly summarized.

https://www.flierinc.com/summary/1164

https://book-smart.jp/16750/

 

It will be a good story in a conversation with a Japanese business person, so please try it.

 

 

Japanese IT company that might be the world’s top company

January 5, 2018

In this article, we will introduce a company called Mercari, Inc., that might be the world’s top Japanese IT company for the following three reasons:

 

Reason 1: A strong management team

Mercari has so far raised 12.6 billion yen in funding. As its business in Japan has matured and grown with an increase in the operating profit, in the future it will probably invest human resources and capital proactively to expand overseas markets.

 

Mr. Yamada (President of Mercari. Inc.) is a key person who sold the network company Unoh to Zynga. He is known as a serial entrepreneur in startup industry in Japan.

 

Mr. Ishizuka (Director of Mercari, Inc.) who grew up in America, has a career in establishing the online social media networking, RockYou Inc, in Silicon Valley.

 

Mr. Koizumi was responsible for IPOs of leading Japanese companies such as Mixi and DeNA when working for a securities company. Then, he had provided consultation and other assistance to several startup companies, and joined Mercari in 2013.

 

Mr. Nagasawa (CFO of Mercari. Inc.) graduated from the Graduate School of?Business at the University of Chicago and then joined Goldman Sachs. He joined Mercari in 2015 after taking charge of IT-related M&A and IPOs in Tokyo and San Francisco.

 

In addition, Mercari’s management team brings together a wealth of elite entrepreneurial and sales experience, excellent members are gathered under the leadership of Mr. Yamada to further develop the business.

 

Reason 2: A great user interface

Compared to other flea-market app, Mercari has a very good ease of use. The company’s customer support team provides comprehensive support at the back, it can respond to a large number of user inquiries at a great speed to improve service quality.

 

Reason 3: Innovative corporate human resources

Mr. Ishiguro (Human Resources Department) was chosen as “Wantedly Award 2016” by Wantedly, Inc., a company provides social recruiting tool. Mr. Ishiguro is so famous in the Japanese IT industry that I doubt there would be a single person who doesn’t know him. He is engaged in various events regardless of online or offline, and many excellent talents decide to join one after another.

 

 

 

However, one point I have concerned is that there is no foreign executive in the company. As I mentioned before, “companies who do not hire foreigners in executive or HR are more difficult to globalize” (please refer to this article for details).

Mercari is now actively hiring bilingual talents, I believe that foreign executives?and HR staffs will come out soon.

 

 

https://www.mercari.com/

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mercari-shopping-marketplace/id896130944?mt=8

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mercariapp.mercari&hl=ja

Giving Excellent Presentations in Japan (Don’t Imitate Steve Jobs!)

November 27, 2017

In a lecture on presentations being given the other day to advanced foreign learners of Japanese, there was a student who imitated Steve Job’s presentation style, but the Japanese people attending gave him a low evaluation.

So, let’s take a look at some important points that non-Japanese people need to know when giving a presentation in Japanese.

 

Learn the orthodox Japanese style well

When giving presentation in Japanese, there will probably be people in the audience who do not understand English very well.

Japanese people of this type are not used to presentations of the type Steve Jobs would give.

Actually, most Japanese people are used to a very simple style like that in this video.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1dNSkGuCeg

 

Polish your presentation until you get it right

Advanced Japanese speakers should aim to give a perfect presentation just like a Japanese person.

Ideally, the presentation should be logical, informative, and easy for Japanese people to understand. Mid-level Japanese speakers should think of ways to compensate for their incomplete knowledge of Japanese.

First, try to gain the good will of your company.

To accomplish this, we recommend that you convey the disadvantages of products and services in addition to the advantages.

The reason is that honestly stating disadvantages in a frank appeal can easily gain the trust of Japanese people.

 

Practice your presentation

Make a video of your presentation and review it.

If you don’t have a video camera, use a ?Bandicam.

http://www.bandicam.com/main.php?from=jp

 

Get feedback from two Japanese people

You should ask your Japanese teacher about the accuracy of your Japanese.Particularly make sure that your particles and sentence ending expressions are correct.You should also ask the opinion of a business person regarding the content.

Good luck on your presentation!

 

 

When do you feel like going back to your own country?

November 27, 2017

Naturally, people who have decided to live in Japan, sometimes feel like they want to go home.

I saw an article about what non-Japanese people say when they are asked which times make them feel like going back home. I’ll tell you some of the things they said.

 

You can read the original Japanese article below.

http://news.mynavi.jp/column/gaikoku/052/

 

・When I want to see my friends and family

You can talk to them on Skype, but of course you would also like to have fun with them in person.

Try to make close friends in Japan so that you don’t get lonely!

 

・When I can’t express my feelings in Japanese

I also felt this way when I was living overseas. So, be sure to study your Japanese harder!

 

・When I can’t find a job other than teaching English conversation

In this day and age, I recommend trying to find an IT engineer job. The pay is good and a VISA is easy to get.

 

・When I get on a train fully packed with people

I don’t like it, either! (^_^;)

・When meetings at work drag on needlessly

One person said that even though Japanese people are very exact about starting on time, we don’t care so much about ending on time. We really are like that, aren’t we?　Unfortunately, companies that have old corporate structures still hold lots of long meetings.

If there any of you out are lonely and don’t have any friends in Japan, please contact us.

How to get free Japanese audio examples?

November 21, 2017

“There is no audio example of the text that I want to read” is one of the problems foreigners often faced in self-studying Japanese. In this article, we will teach you how to solve this problem.

 

There are numerous audio materials that can be used for listening practices, such as textbooks attached with CDs and free YouTube movies. However, these are not the text that I want to read.

Japanese learners had no choice but to ask native Japanese like a Japanese instructor to read out the text.

 

Now, everyone can get audio examples of any text for free by using speech synthesis software.

Please visit the following site. (This page is only available in Japanese.)

http://voicetext.jp/

 

1. Choose a language
2. Choose a voice actor
3. Fill in the text you want to read out

 

The above three steps will help you get your own audio examples.

 

You can create your own text as below, it would be useful for practicing Japanese in various business settings such as interviews and presentations.

「大連のシステム会社でスマートフォンのソフトウェア開発に携わっておりました。」

“I have been engaged in software development for smartphones in a system company in Dalian.”

 

「本日はプレゼンの機会を頂き、誠にありがとうございます。当社の新商品をご紹介させて頂きます。」

“Thank you very much for the opportunity to make this presentation today, I will introduce our new products.”

 

「Keikoさん、僕と結婚して下さい。必ずあなたを幸せにします。」

“Keiko-san, please marry me! I will make you happy forever.”

 

Such private conversations are also okay.

Audio examples made by speech synthesis software are not perfect because it is mechanical sound, but I think it is sufficiently useful for self-studying.

Please try it!

Things People Learning Japanese Should Keep in Mind (Part 2)

November 15, 2017

In the article (Part 1), we had talked about three important things that people learning Japanese should keep in mind.

<1> Motivation does not last

<2> People are forgetful

<3> Retention rate according to the study method

 

This time we continue to discuss this topic related to learning Japanese.

 

 

<4> Take a balance of reading, writing, listening and speaking

Often listen to people who are learning a foreign language, like to practice speaking, but do not interested in studying grammar or practicing listening. However, taking a balance of each category is important in learning a foreign language. Especially people who are living in their own place to learn foreign languages, writing and speaking practices are probably not enough.

 

For example, there are many people studying Japanese for the Japanese language proficiency test (JLPT). However, most of the Japanese learners are not fluent in speaking, even if they are N1 qualified. On the contrary, there are a lot of foreigners living in Japan can speak fluent Japanese, but may not be so familiar with the basic grammar.

If there is a significant lack of writing and speaking practices (output), you are recommended to increase the opportunities of using Japanese.

If there is a significant lack of reading and listening practices (input), try to practice more reading and listening, even though the work might be boring.

 

 

<5> Don’t read Amazon reviews when choosing textbooks!

Many people will probably read online reviews, such as reviews from Amazon, before purchasing self-study textbooks. However, this method is not highly recommended because most of the reviews are simply written by common people, rather than experts, so the comments are very subjective. What’s more, common people will not take a few textbooks to make a detailed and objective comparative analysis, so this kind of information may not have reference values.

 

Instead, two methods are suggested as follows:

• Ask a professional Japanese teacher
• Ask a bookstore specializing in selling Japanese textbooks (SHOGAKUSHA, BONJINSHA, etc.)

Large bookstores like KINOKUNIYA, are also not highly recommended. As the bookstore staffs are not familiar with Japanese education, they may just introduce you the bestselling textbooks. However, the bestselling may not be the best. It is difficult to obtain appropriate advices from large bookstores. There are a variety of Japanese textbooks and learning materials available in specialty bookstores in Japan. It’s worth checking out!

 

The following site is recommended. A lot of teaching materials for learning business Japanese with commentary are available.

List of Business Japanese Textbooks

In addition, this site is particularly recommended to people who are learning IT business Japanese.

Japanese for IT Business

 

 

<6> How to find a good teacher?

 

What kind of teacher is a good teacher? It is difficult to say unequivocally because it varies from person to person. There is a very useful question that can clarify a Japanese teacher’s experience. Ask your teachers: “How many textbooks you are used as teaching tools?” If your teacher just answer one textbook, then you should be careful. In my opinion, a good teacher “can use appropriate materials and curriculum in accordance with student’s level and needs”. In other words, a teacher who has long experience in teaching Japanese, the number of textbooks using in teaching should be increased steadily. I know several Japanese-teaching experts who use more than 50 Japanese textbooks. If a Japanese teacher use more than 20 Japanese textbooks, he/she should be very enthusiastic about teaching Japanese.

 

We sincerely hope the above information is helpful to you.

About pausing a new application

October 10, 2017

Currently we have received many applications, it is difficult to secure the lecturer’s schedule.
For this reason, we are pausing accepting new application.
When we resume, we will inform in order from those who registered in the Waiting List,
so if you would like to register to the Waiting List,
please contact your name and email address from the next page.
https://j-os.com/en/inquiry/
We appreciate your kind understanding.

Things People Learning Japanese Should Keep in Mind (Part 1)

July 23, 2017

Anyone who climbs a mountain or runs a marathon approaches the challenge with a specific target timeframe and plan in mind.
 |
Learning Japanese takes even more time than climbing a mountain or running a marathon.
 |
And yet people try to learn Japanese without a specific target timeframe and plan in mind.
 |
Why?

Motivation is more likely to decrease than increase for most people.
Motivation increases if you hang out with other motivated people
So, seek out other people who are working hard at learning Japanese.
If there is no Japanese language study group nearby, you can find such groups online such as on Facebook.
We also recommend that you take part in speech contests and give presentations.

<1>Motivation does not last

After all, people studying Japanese who have a strategic plan in mind are far more likely to succeed!
So, we’d like to tell you some things that anyone learning Japanese should know.

<2>People are forgetful??

German psychologists have demonstrated that there is a “forgetting curve”. People forget more of the new information they have learned as time passes.

People forget about 60% after 6 hours, and 70% after one day.
We therefore recommend multi-level review at the following times:
・Immediately after a lesson
・One day after a lesson
・Several days after a lesson

Reviewing material immediately after a lesson is particularly critical, so be sure to set aside time for review.

<3>Retention rate according to the study method

Results are completely different depending on the study method used even if the time spent studying is the same.
So, try to learn using the study methods with the highest rate of retention.
(For people taking lessons) Preview is essential to achieve this.

That’s all for today. We’ll tell you more in the days to come!