<p>Hey, everyone.
I'm a little frustrated and I need some advice.
I'm 19, and I just recently finished a degree in culinary arts. However, my real passion is learning languages, interacting with people.I'm also interested in engineering..but I can't decide between japan (osaka) or germany. For japan, I would be able to get a degree in japanese studies and get a job involving anything involving language, however tuition is $14, 000 for two years....As for Germany, I could get both a degree in engineering and language studies, and most schools that I'm looking at have no tuition, just semester fees, and I really like that.....I wonder which one would be a little better...from which country would a degree be more recognized...in both cases, I would be able to stay after graduation for a certain period of time to find a job... I welcome all comments!!!</p>
<p>Well, do you speak German and Japanese fluently? If not both, which language do you speak better?</p>
<p>I’m fluent in both languages…</p>
<p>I’m fluent in French as well, and the rest are at an intermediate level.</p>
<p>
What are your plans exactly?</p>
<p>Germany doesn’t have the American concept of a double major. If you want two degrees, you’ll need to do the work for both degrees. Since engineering and language studies don’t overlap, you’d literally have to do twice the work of your classmates. I don’t think that that’s a realistic goal.</p>
<p>Engineering is a very hard and time-consuming degree in Germany, but also in most other countries. You can do some language courses in most Engineering Schools, but not get a degree in your language studies.
Staying in Germany after getting an engineering degree here should not be a problem. There is high demand for skilled engineers and after finding a job you can get permission for permanent stay.
German Engineering Schools have a good international reputation, even if they do not show in the ranking tables. KIT in Karlsruhe is a good school, für example.</p>
<p>B@r!um and worriedmom777 after reading your comments, I see it would be a better idea to get an engineering and maybe take language classes or become certified in a language in my own time… that could work 
then that is my goal! I actually just finished looking at KIT, and I like it a lot. </p>
<p>Another question, how money much per month would I need in germany? If I wanted to buy a car would that be possible?</p>
<p>
That depends a lot on where you are living. In the cheaper German cities, the recommended student budget is at least 800 Euros per month. If you want to live in a more expensive area (e.g. Munich), you’ll need more. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t recommend buying a car. Germany has an extensive public transportation system that can get you most everywhere you might want to go (as long as you stay in the cities; the countryside is a different matter). A large segment of the population, including most college students, don’t have cars.</p>
<p>I would agree to b@r!um’s estimation. 800 Euro per month is what students at KIT usually have and spend. The university is located close to the center of the city. There is plenty of public transportation and students use bikes. A car is expensive and traffic in Karlsruhe is very busy. In the long run you have to get a German driver’s license and pay for parking. Most people start without a car and then find out they do not need one anyway.
If you want the spend the money on a car, insurance, taxes and gas, nobody will stop you.</p>
<p>I was born in Germany and lived in Japan for quite a while. I think there are two decisions to make here:</p>
<ol>
<li>Engineering vs. Language degree</li>
<li>Germany vs. Japan</li>
</ol>
<h1>1 Go for Engineering, especially if your choice is doing something with language studies in Japan. Every other person in Japan is some kind of English teacher, their pay sucks, and their career is a dead end. You’ll always regret your decision of getting a degree in “Japanese Studies”, it’s basically worthless.</h1>
<h1>2 It really depends on your preference, but Japan would probably be more exciting of an experience. It’s very different from the US (but you know that if you’re fluent in Japanese), and you’ll have the opportunity to visit a lot of neighboring countries in East and Southeast Asia, which are pretty exciting and radically different as well. Europe is nice, but in terms of culture it really isn’t much different from the US.</h1>