>>10573908but japan is super relevant internationally. the other big languages to learn would be mandarin, korean, maybe something slavic, or spanish if i were married to the idea of staying in the US.
china has notoriously difficult people to work with, my school doesn't offer korean, and i'm not exactly enthralled by the idea of mexican culture or working with immigrants in the US so that just leaves japanese and german/russian really.
>>10573913yeah, immersion is something different and i really don't have the resources to just pack up and move to a foreign country for 8 months with no prior knowledge.
it's a problem of ambition in my opinion. translating is cool and all but it's an oversaturated market so you're dooming yourself a bit if that's your only plan and TEFL is so common because people don't think ahead and end up without any goals or marketable skills other than being a native english speaker.
the other reason TEFL jobs are so common is because english is a really highly sought after skill in foreign countries, especially asian ones where english fluency is less common. that isn't exclusive to the school system though so if you show willingness to learn and/or base competence in business, computers, finance, etc. then being a native english speaker in countries where that isn't common is a huge asset for getting jobs in those areas.
different places have different mindsets about what college "is for" but i'm sure you know in america it's just a prerequisite to show you have capacity to learn for when you get on the job training. so one could get a business degree and move to japan and learn the language by immersion to then seek out a job as a businessman in japan but it's just as easy to get a japanese degree with a business minor or some activities on your resume to then move to japan and get your on the job training that they were going to give you wanyway
>>10573926certainly true but unfortunately i have to give a much softer pitch
