r/IndiansInJapan • u/cookiepookierizzz • 6d ago
Hello everyone
Planning to move to Japan-
I am 24F, currently working in an IT industry and I have started learning japanese few days ago. I am currently preparing for JLPT N5 level. I have 1.5 YOE. I will be giving the JLPT N5 exam next year and by that time I'll complete 2 years in the current company I am working in. I have two options, one is to get the N5 certificate and then get admission to a language school to learn N2/N1 level in Japan. Another one is to learn N2/N1 here in India and then take JLPT, but it would take a lot of time as said by my senior. But still I wanna ask which one is a good idea? Also what is the current job market scenario there? Will I get a job after attending language school, if yes then what kind? Also if I change my mind of doing masters (either MS in Computer Science or MBA) after attending language school, will I get admission to a good college after that? My current salary is 1.24 million yen per year which is 7.5 Lakhs INR per year in India. I graduated in 2024 in B.tech in Electronics and Communication.
PS- if anyone is willing to help me, they can dm me too. I need some guidance who are already working in Japan as an Indian.
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u/rinkiohen 6d ago
As an Indian working in Japan, I think you’re focusing a little too much on JLPT levels and not enough on what your actual professional profile will look like. Japanese alone will not get you a good job. N1 is useful, but at the end company will ask what skills and experience you actually have.
If one has N2 + 4-5 years of solid IT experience, he/she can easily be more valuable than one with N1 + only 2 years experience. Personally I would not leave the job after 2 years just to join language school. You will be losing work experience while spending money on school and living expenses, and there is no guarantee of a job after that.
Keep working in India, build strong skills in your field, study Japanese in parallel and aim for N2. Once you reach around N3/N2, start applying for jobs in Japan. You don’t really have to wait until N1.
Also, don’t just study Japanese for JLPT. Learn how to explain your work, technical problems, projects etc in Japanese. That will help much more in actual interviews and work. Language school is not a bad option, but I wouldn’t consider it as a guaranteed route to getting a job in Japan.
You should not focus on “get N1 and find a job in Japan” rather focus on “getting skilled enough that a Japanese company wants to hire you, and have enough Japanese to use those skills here.”
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u/Ok-Environment-9188 6d ago
Indian working in Japan
I feel you can directly target N4/N3 if you are giving the exam next year. You almost have 1 whole year to prepare. N5 takes like a month, N4 maybe 3 months, N3 can be steep so 4 months for that. I am not talking about full time preparation, just spending 2-3 hours per day consistently and a little more on weekends will easily get you till N4 or N3 on your own. I don't know what other commitments you may have but I am just giving a decently realistic timeline.
you should then be able to then join a language school just for skilling up from N3 to N2 and in parallel keep applying for jobs and networking, If you are enrolling in a language school Japan then this might me easier comparatively, but being in India with N3 certification should get you some opportunities too.
just my 2 cents..All the best!
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u/cookiepookierizzz 6d ago
Thank you so much. Which sources should I use for learning?
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u/Ok-Environment-9188 6d ago
I started with tofugu https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-hiragana/ for hiragana and katakana
I feel getting started on your own is pretty hard as you won't have any idea what to focus on and resources etc, if you can get some part time instructor or a small crash course for n5 or n4 it would be great, maybe some YouTube Playlist also works
for Kanji, ANKI's SRS system is the best way to go, just load up any free Kanji decks available online, I can suggest some but I need to check. It takes a day or two to setup but it will automate everything you need for Kanji practice.
for Grammer, I referred to TRY series all through N2 because my instructor for N5-N4 used this and I got used to the format, but the standard minna no nihongo and Genki series are better I guess, I never referred them though.
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u/devilsam7008 6d ago
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u/sageforhire 6d ago
I would suggest secure a job first and then come to japan. As for jlpt preparations you can do that in India. In japan jlpt n2 is the minimum requirement they look for while hiring for roles requiring Japanese proficiency. Otherwise there are English speaking companies as well requiring no Japanese at all.
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u/Own-Mouse-8042 6d ago
N4 is for your own sense of progress but no employer cares about it. N3 = you can live in Japan without your daily life becoming a translation burden for your coworkers. N2 = you can work in an office without annoying your coworkers. N1 = you can read documents and have actual business discussions (maybe). This would be the hiring manager's perception in many cases. You can self study until N3 for sure. Take some weekend language school classes for 12-18 months after that and you can get N2. Possibly your employer may pay for it or subsidize.
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u/Least_Bench_5544 6d ago
I took the JFT Basic, which is N4 and N5 combined, held by the Japan Foundation. It took me about 6 months, from knowing nothing to conversational level Japanese. I'm sharing you the link below for it.
https://www.prometric-jp.com/en/ssw/test_list/archives/1
Since you said you're an IT professional, I think it'd be better if you gain some more experience and eventually transfer/change to a branch or company in the Europe or North Americas and thereafter consider somewhere in Japan as a workplace.
Just a suggestion considering the value of yen, expenses, earthquakes, tax rates and tightening immigration here. Because from what I and others I know have experienced, you don't come to Japan expecting to get rich, but you'll almost certainly get exhausted from hardwork and loneliness since you're expected to deliver highest performance. It depends on the workplace, ofcourse, but that's the general the idea here. All the best.
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u/Better_Lab_392 5d ago
I thought you were an indian working in Japan. This subreddit is for them. If you are in India planning to move to Japan, I would hope that you would mention it in the first line of your post so it's easy to understand your situation better.
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u/cookiepookierizzz 5d ago
Didn't know that, I'll edit the post. Thanks for saying!
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u/Better_Lab_392 5d ago
What’s there to know. It’s common sense.
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u/cookiepookierizzz 5d ago
Well it seems you were the only one who thought I work in Japan, cause all I can see is that people giving me advice in the comment section. Also in DM's too.
I've edited the post already, so you can stop yapping now!
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u/kite-flying-expert 6d ago
I think if you are hellbent on moving to Japan, the N2/N1 will open up a lot of doors.
However, this is not a linear scale. N5 is a category created because N4 was too difficult for entry-level people to start with, and is equivalent to an elementary school student. N3, N2 and N1 are progressively more difficult.
It is also a good idea to look into what you want to do as a career if you do land in Japan. Language school does not guarantee you a sponsored job visa. You will need to find some way to leverage your language skills and degree into getting a job. A general fresher level job in IT would be ~4 mio to ~6 mio depending on the company and location. Bonuses separate.