I am starting my last year as a bachelor (undergraduate, 3 years) in electronic engineering next year and I don't exactly know what I'm going to do after that. I might do another 2 years to become a master (graduate), but I'm not sure yet. I don't think I am ready to get a job yet, mostly because I want to do something else but also because of the bad economical situation. In my country (Belgium) there are not alot of company's where you can get a job in the industry with alot of career possibilities. There's some but due to the fact that alot of them are moving abroad or going bankrupt I'm a bit unsure. Since I have always been fascinated by Japan, I was wondering if it would be a good choice to do another 3 years of Japanese after obtaining a degree in electronics. I might just do it out of pure interest but other than that, is there any use to it and would I have a better chance of working abroad? The course I would take does not only include Japanese, but also Japanese culture and even some Chinese and Korean. You also have to choose a minor which can be economics or another language. The length of the course is another 3 years. That would make me 24 or 26 years old depending on if I do a master in electronics or not. I know some of you here are living in Japan, how hard is it getting a job in Japan with those degrees?
If you want to speak Japanese a year in Japan doing anything (even working in a gaijin bar) will do you better than 3 years of university. If you need the paper, well... that's another story.
Well the course also includes one year (third year) in Japan. You get to go to a university on a full scholarship for an entire year. Also I don't really have the money to just go to Japan for an entire year on my own. I have heard in alot of places though that going to Japan is the best way to learn it's language. Just to bad it's so far away :110:
I'm sorry, here we say "secundair" and so I spelled it wrong, thinking the o was supposed to be a u. My native language is not English, but Dutch.
Nice to see a fellow Belgian here! You should check this thread out: http://www.9lives.be/forum/anime-manga/344942-japanologie-42.html It's from a Belgian games-forum, so it's all in Dutch. Check out the last 3 pages, someone asks basically the same you ask here, with a few good responses. Unless you are that guy ofcourse, then I can't really help you.
I'm thinking of a similar route, perhaps, however I will not have such a lucrative degree as engineering on my back. My uni offers a similar exchange program, but I believe it's probably only for one semester (half year), with a possible ability of return.
Thanks, I've read it and some the answers were very useful! And the exchange program is during a course of Japanese? What degrees do you currently hold or are you finishing?
It's more of an offer to study abroad for any degree, and pay local tuition. Currently I'm working on a quick design degree and someday later I'll finish my computer engineering... I hope. Right now I want to do too many things, rather than attempt to juggle the workload of working as much as possible as well as the demanding degree that any engi has to go through. One of those things I want to do, is try out Japan. Then either Germany and the UK.
The fact that he knows the existince of languages other than his own puts him above 99% of Americans.
I am graduating the same course myself this year. Not to disappoint you, but there are only a few 'full' scholarships each year, and the number of students is increasing each year so positions will be limited. The better your grades are the better your chances are at a position. ;-) There's two minors: 'Economics' or 'History-Culture' (with the 'other' language being Korean) Korean is just a basic course. Chinese is Classic Chinese. There's no real difference between minors when it comes down to employment prospects, although some might say otherwise. There's quite a few students I know that did a bachelor/master in IT, Chemics, Engineering,... before they started doing Japanese. Some quit halfway and moved on to something else, some are employed in Belgium by Japanese companies, and some moved to Japan,...
