"The 2-Belo" <the2belo@msd.biPOKPOKglobe.ne.jp> wrote in message
news:3fa1bb42$0$2950$df066bcf@news.sexzilla.net...
> Michael Cash and fj.life.in-japan is a baaaaaaaaaaad combination:
>
> >On Wed, 29 Oct 2003 06:59:44 +0900, "Fabian" <lajzar@hotmail.com>
> >belched the alphabet and kept on going with:
> >
> >>LRW hu kiteb:
> >>
> >>> OK, I found a couple of threads here that answered most of my
> >>> questions (for now) regarding a Westerner teaching English in Japan.
> >>>
> >>> But how about this: My wife is getting her degree in computer
> >>> animation.
> >>> (The idea of living in Japan right now is just a distant dream--when
> >>> it becomes a closer goal, we'll of course be doing more industry
> >>> focused searching, but until then, I'd like to hear your opinions.)
> >>>
> >>> What are the chances that this 32 year old (will likely be a few years
> >>> older by then) redhaired and freckled American woman (I can see that
> >>> as being either a big plus or a very big minus) with only little skill
> >>> at spoken Japanese of getting a decent job in Japan? (Tokyo or
> >>> otherwise?)
> >>
> >>Unless your Japanese is near fluent (JLPT level 1 or better), getting a
> >>job in Japan outside teaching English is the stuff that Twilight Zone
> >>shows are made of.
> >
> >Wow. I knew I was a freak, but I never knew I was Twilight Zone
> >material.
>
> And what is "near fluent"? Either you're fluent or you're not.
>
> Sorry about the segue here in the middle of this fine thread, but why does
it
> seem that fluency in Japanese, unlike other languages such as French, has
a
> hillion bazillion levels? When people hear, "Oh, Person X is fluent in
Russian",
> then they take that to mean that person can speak, read, and write pretty
much
> everything in Russian. But when people ask me if I'm fluent in Japanese,
and I
> answer "yes", they continue to hit me with several piles of questions to
> pinpoint what I *really* mean when I say "fluent". Knock it off, folks.
It's a
> simple word with a simple meaning.
>
>
> -- 
> The 2-Belo
> the2belo[AT]msd[DOT]biglobe[DOT]ne[DOT]jp
> news:alt.alien.vampire.flonk.flonk.flonk (mhm21x20)
> news:alt.fan.karl-malden.nose            (Meow.)
> http://www.godhatesjanks.org/            (God Hates Janks!)
>
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>
>
>

No, I disagree. Fluency in the language and culture.. which you need 100% of
the latter to fully understand the first,... it's rare. I've heard that
there are less than 20 foreigners that are truly fluent in Japanese. I never
tell anyone that I'm fluent in Japanese. I'd be telling a lie.