A few friends of mine wrote to me saying that they found it interesting that I studied Japanese literature but worked in an English environment.

What is so-called English environment? For my case, all communications are basically conducted in English: Emails, contracts, documentations, etc., in Japan. But, that’s the last company’s case. My new company is basically a Japanese company, where I only use English to clients who are non-Japanese. That’s why I am hired for!

Big firms like financial institutions basically have all the communications conducted in English because it’s such a nuisance to translate it to and flo to English/Japanese. So, people who work there need to have achieved a required English level.

Countries like Malaysia or Singapore, or even China basically can find English speakers easily. Perhaps English isn’t an issue. But, for countries like Thai, Korea, or Japan, where basically only one language is used, being able to speak English and write good English mean something more than “can speak” but it makes life better. English is a tool to success!

My new job – outsourcing temporary staff – which target for multinational companies where need bilingual staff, is in high demand. The trend goes further to, for instance, looking for staff who knows American tax, English accounting, group secretary experienced in foreign management staff, etc. Sometimes, they require English native level plus business level of Japanese. And the more amazing part is, there never lack of choices of candidates.

The world I live in, her name is Tokyo.

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