Looking for resources on Business Japanese (and other 'specialized' vocabulary!)

[auruille]

As the title says, I’m looking for resources (vocabulary lists, books, listening, videos, pretty much anything!) that could help me study business Japanese vocabulary and phrases that are common in a business setting.

In the Philippines, demand for Japanese-speaking Filipinos has gone up due to more and more Japanese businesses coming over to my side of the world. I’m hoping to someday land a job in the BPO industry as a multilingual agent/interpreter. I’m already aiming for the minimum requirements in the JLPT and have resources for grammar, but I feel like my vocabulary is greatly lacking. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated!

[Belthazar]

Japanese for Busy People might be a good place to start - the grammar is certainly geared towards the sort of things you might use in the workplace.

[auruille]

Thanks! I’ll look into it.

[VictorLino]

This one might be worth a look too Basic Japanese for Expats: A Practical Course in Business Japanese.

I can’t comment much on the material since I haven’t used it myself, but it’s from the Japan Times (the Genki people), so it can’t be bad !

[Time]

Wikipedia. No seriously. Look up things related to topics you are trying to learn about and you can get a lot of nifty specialized vocabulary with example sentences written by natives, which can help your writing.

[LucasDesu]

I’m taking lessons at my local community center and requested to learn more about keigo. The teacher had been working with me on a book that is specifically for business use. In essence, what level of speech you use with coworkers and superiors, people who are customers, people who are business associates from other companies, and so forth. Unfortunately, I don’t know the name of the text off hand, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who doesn’t already have a firm foundation in Japanese. There are no grammar explanations; it simply introduces specific situations, has the student emulate the conversations, and do role playing.

I’ll check when I return to the class next week and bring the name of the text.

[auruille]

@VictorLino

This one might be worth a look too Basic Japanese for Expats : A Practical Course in Business Japanese.

I’ll look into it! Thanks for the suggestion.

@Time

Wikipedia

Good idea! I’m still learning my kanji so reading Wikipedia feels daunting at my current level, but I will try to read as much as possible as I progress. Thanks!

@LucasDesu

I’ll check when I return to the class next week and bring the name of the text.

Please and thank you! Even if it is outside of my current level, it’ll be something I can move onto as I get better.

[QuackingShoe]

I just picked this up in a used book store in the US, which I consider a pretty lucky find. Anyway, thought of this thread, since it’s really all about what the right thing to say in different situations is.

[Belthazar]

@QuackingShoe

it’s really all about what the right thing to say in different situations is.

Considering it’s appears to be a book about keigo, surely it’s about what the right thing to say in formal situations is.

[QuackingShoe]

I sorta thought that went without saying, being about keigo in a topic about business language, but…
Yes. Formal situations.

[LucasDesu]

@LucasDesu

I’ll check when I return to the class next week and bring the name of the text.

So that book is called 新装版ビジネスのための日本語. Though it says lower intermediate, it is often used with students with a firm understanding of Japanese because there are no explanations about the grammar or language used in the text. At least in the copies of the book that have been given to me.