JAPANREALTIME, a blog by journalists on Japan (is it still a blog if cooked by journalists? anyway ...). Just came with a short (it's a blog after all) piece on Money Hubs: Can Tokyo Compete With Singapore, Hong Kong? Nothing of any depth in there, but the readers reactions are quite funny. I especially loved this one :
Make English mandatory !
To illustrate this problem imagine:
- foreign and local companies which resort to hiring expensive third party interpreters to conduct business negotiations. In addition to high tax, the idea of spending a lot of money on interpreters simply kills many business initiatives
- all the low-skill jobs that have to be relegated to Japanese whose number is shrinking. It makes no sense for a company to pay a janitor the same amount of money it pays a programmer.
- all the high skilled IT people who would rather go to English speaking countries and inversely,
- all the high skilled Japanese workers (and there are so many of them) who cannot find employment overseas thus capping their salary.
- and simply all people who are deterred from spending their money in Japan because they are afraid of the language barrier. These people span from CEOs to tourists.
My two yens and free Friday advices to this comment.
Make English mandatory ! Don't count on it. It will not happen. Period.
Don't hire interpreters from agencies and save. The problem will be that many if not most interpreters sheepishly rely on agents. Look for the daring interpreters you will pay less and contract them often to turn them into your partners.
Don't blame the interpreters' costs. Pay your expats and your sales people based in or visiting Japan on results.
Don't loose steam once you leave Japan. I have seen so many businesses loosing track and the momentum inflated during meetings once the plane fly away from Narita. Do your remote homework and follow-up. Use your smart interpreter as a business enabler. Not all interpreters are able or willing to do it though. Find the one that fits and keep him/her busy with your business. It will pay down the line granted you too do your homework.
Don't expect any gizmo to replace your interpreter with a piece of hardware with a screen and battery.
And the last point : don't comment on a business, that of interpretation, you know mostly nothing about. Consult your interpreter. And if he/she has no answer to provide - the linguist robotized type of interpreter - call it quit and look for a proactive business oriented interpreter.
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