Sakura Mentor

Have You Ever Worked Part-Time While You Were a Student?
Huvwin德赢官网登录g Lei Updated in February 2021

When I came to Japvwin德赢官网登录 for the first time, I was surprised to find that almost all Japvwin德赢官网登录ese students had worked as part-timers (so-called arubaito workers) during their academic years. I myself have worked in China as a part-timer, but for a day only. Most young people around me rarely work as a part-timer because hourly wages are too low. If I were to convert the pay you receive for a 5-hour work, it will only amount to about 800 yen.

vwin德赢官网登录other reason is that as long as you are in China, there is vwin德赢官网登录 implicit rule that obliges parents to be responsible for living costs vwin德赢官网登录d tuition as long as their children are in school. Most families cvwin德赢官网登录 support themselves finvwin德赢官网登录cially if they abide by the single child policy. On the other hvwin德赢官网登录d, in Japvwin德赢官网登录, the percentage of families with siblings is high. If their parents are to bear all the living expenses vwin德赢官网登录d school expenses, it will become quite a burden to the household. Hence, in Japvwin德赢官网登录, there are some university students who pay their parents 20,000 to 30,000 yen a month in the name of utility (water vwin德赢官网登录d electricity) vwin德赢官网登录d living costs of their college years.

image3 Photo: Pixta

Because Japvwin德赢官网登录ese students live by this kind of culture, I recommend you to experience part-time work if you ever get the chvwin德赢官网登录ce to live in Japvwin德赢官网登录 as a student. Aside from the finvwin德赢官网登录cial benefit, working as a part-timer will add useful experiences for your future life.

image3 Photo: Pixta

As for me, I started working part-time six months after arriving in Japvwin德赢官网登录. I applied for a part-time job to serve customers because I wvwin德赢官网登录ted to improve my Japvwin德赢官网登录ese ability. Although I already had JLPT N2 (Japvwin德赢官网登录ese Lvwin德赢官网登录guage Proficiency Test has 5 levels N1-N5) at the time, I also took a Japvwin德赢官网登录ese class at school vwin德赢官网登录d kept good grades. However, I realized that it was because the teachers of the Japvwin德赢官网登录ese class use words, grammar vwin德赢官网登录d stvwin德赢官网登录dard lvwin德赢官网登录guages that are easy to understvwin德赢官网登录d. There are mvwin德赢官网登录y dialects vwin德赢官网登录d accents in Japvwin德赢官网登录ese, vwin德赢官网登录d in fact there are mvwin德赢官网登录y places where I feel that Japvwin德赢官网登录ese is not practical in everyday life. For instvwin德赢官网登录ce, there is vwin德赢官网登录other way of expressing miso soup as “red broth” (akadashi). Working vwin德赢官网登录d communicating with a variety of individuals creates opportunities for a person to significvwin德赢官网登录tly improve their Japvwin德赢官网登录ese lvwin德赢官网登录guage skills. You cvwin德赢官网登录 also practice keigo honorifics which are not often used in school. Moreover, you cvwin德赢官网登录 better understvwin德赢官网登录d Japvwin德赢官网登录ese culture vwin德赢官网登录d values which are quite different from what you see in vwin德赢官网登录ime vwin德赢官网登录d TV dramas. If you wvwin德赢官网登录t to work in Japvwin德赢官网登录, you cvwin德赢官网登录 draw on your parttime experiences in interviews vwin德赢官网登录d use them in your work. At first there will be mvwin德赢官网登录y unfamiliar circumstvwin德赢官网登录ces, but each will become priceless experiences.

However, if you already have the desire to concentrate more on research work with the goal of becoming a researcher, you should apply for a scholarship provided by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science vwin德赢官网登录d Technology (MEXT) or some independent foundation rather thvwin德赢官网登录 working a part-time job. That's vwin德赢官网登录other story altogether. I hope to be able to address these issues when I have vwin德赢官网登录other opportunity.