There’s probably a lower ceiling on what you can expect from your earnings and lifestyle from learning Japanese.Īnd with regards to China, that ceiling is likely to keep climbing higher and higher for the foreseeable future. However, it’s hard to say, especially as China is growing, and Japan is… not. ![]() What’s the final word on money between the languages?įrom my analysis of the situation, I would say that, for the moment, it’s a pretty even split between the two, when you compare the cost of living. Plus, the demand for Chinese to English translators is much larger. You can bring your skills to Taiwan, Malaysia, or Singapore, not to mention to any of the wide-ranging Chinese diaspora communities around the world.Īnd, as with Japanese, if you develop your skills as a translator, you can work from nearly anywhere.Ĭhinese to English translators don’t make quite as much as Japanese translators do, but the difference is only a penny or so per word, depending on specialization. In the mid-range you can expect to find jobs for between $3-4.5k, which can afford you a pretty great standard of living almost anywhere in China.Īnd if you can leverage your Chinese speaking skills into a job at a multi-national company, with lots of experience behind you, you could even be making six-figures a year, which would give you a very posh lifestyle indeed.Īnother great advantage to Chinese is that you’re not locked into mainland China. Of course, the cost of living in China is significantly lower than in the West, so that $1,200 goes a lot further. There’s a surprising amount of variance in salary for foreign workers in China.Īt the low end, for those trying to build a career in China from the ground up, you might make as little as $1,200 a month. What’s the pay like for a Chinese speaker? In fact, it’s less than 75% of the Chinese demand according to some numbers. Lunch menus? Not so much.Īnd, unlike Chinese, the demand for Japanese translators isn’t quite as high. On average you can get 9-12 cents per word, although, again, specialization can help pump that price up. You could rely on interpreters and whatnot, but I imagine a good grounding in the language would give you a serious leg up.Īs a translator you could also make good money, turning Japanese into English. Would you, strictly speaking, need Japanese to do that? Marketing and sales geniuses could even get close to five grand!Īnd if you’re an IT consultant of considerable skill, you could push even further, close to six grand a month.įinally, of course, if you start your own business you could end up striking it rich. Plus, one nice thing about Japan is that, in theory, no avenue is closed to you if your language skills are good enough.ĭepending on your specialization, your salary could rise even higher. Lucky you, however, if you go the somewhat more lucrative route, you’ll be earning roughly on par with your Japanese colleagues at around three grand a month. If you’re living in Japan and working a blue collar job you can expect to make just over $24,000 a year, nearly a quarter the earnings of a native Japanese person in a similar role. Another big factor is your location.įor example, if you’re in Chicago, in an in demand specialization for Japanese, you could be pulling in nearly six figures. Since you’re reading this, I’ll assume you’re at least fairly fluent in English. Next, it’s what other languages can you pair with Japanese. First, and perhaps most obviously, is what kind of job you have. ![]() Several factors are going to affect this. What’s the pay like for a Japanese speaker? Also, the growth of Chinese is almost guaranteed in the future, while Japan’s economy has been relatively stagnant for many years. Chinese pays slightly less, but there’s more opportunity. Japanese pays slightly more, but there are fewer job opportunities. I’ll be covering a handful of different things, but we’ll focus on the earning aspect first.įrom a purely financial perspective, learn Chinese, specifically Mandarin. There’s a lot of different factors that would influence your decision. A surprisingly common question is, “Should I learn Chinese or Japanese?” This is, equally, a surprisingly difficult question to answer.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |