<p>sauronvoldemort,</p>
<p>Japanese is by no means easy. Anyone who tells you that is either a language savant or lying. Japanese is a very difficult language to learn-- even the Japanese themselves say it.</p>
<p>This site provides information regarding the difficulty of learning a large number of languages:</p>
<p>Note that, according to the ratings provided by the Foreign Service Institute of the Dept. of State, Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean are all rated as "exceptionally difficult for native English speakers". Japanese is identified as "typically somewhat more difficult for native English speakers to learn than other languages in the same category". This makes Japanese "officially" the <em>most</em> difficult language for English speakers to master, although it is, of course, possible specific individuals may not experience the relative difficulty of learning various languages in this way.</p>
<p>Awesome link! Thanks for that.</p>
<p>Note, though, that that list holds true generally -- there are some (however few) who find Japanese to be a cinch.</p>
<p>UCLAri,</p>
<p>Happened across this thread randomly as a new CC member -- are you still at UCSD as IR undergrad currently or in Japan (doing language-related work (JET/teaching English, translation, etc.) or using Japanese as part of a separate profession (banking, accounting, programming, consulting, etc.))? Just curious given your current outlook on ROI of further Japanese study.</p>
<p>Anyways, good luck whatever you do.</p>
<p>YojimboJoe,</p>
<p>I'm at UCSD as an IR GRAD student. I went to UCLA for undergrad. I lived a year in Japan between UCLA and UCSD, and I will be back in Japan this summer with the US State Dept.</p>
<p>The ROI is still pretty good, even if the Japan pool is shrinking. It's not the flavor of the month like Chinese, but Japan's still the 2nd largest economy, so I'm not worried.</p>
<p>You're going to work at State? Very cool. I hope it will be at the Embassy and not at one of those far-flung consulates.</p>
<p>Agree that Mandarin is the "flavor of the month" -- I wonder if new students in Mandarin/Cantonese realize there are many locals & ABCs who are already fluent, whereas Japanese/English bilinguals (or advanced fluency in both) are hard to find anywhere.</p>
<p>I mean, why else do they put on those huge job fairs in Boston, London, etc.?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.careerforum.net/index.asp?lang=E%5B/url%5D">http://www.careerforum.net/index.asp?lang=E</a></p>
<p>Well, to be fair, there are a good number of nikkei around. </p>
<p>I wouldn't worry about getting a job in a far-flung country, unless you're going the FSO route. There are plenty of State jobs that aren't going to lead you to work in Djibouti. </p>
<p>By the way, the job fair in Boston's a great opportunity. I know at least two people who got top-flight internships out of it.</p>