The Japanese Language and How It Is Relevant To Us In The World Today

The Japanese Language

An estimated 125 million speak this language in the world today, they are mainly found in the islands of Japan, as well as small communities of expatriates in the US, Brazil, South Korea, Taiwan and Hawaii.
Japanese people from opposite ends of the islands may not be able to converse with each other using their local dialects. All Japanese do know a standard language that is taught in schools and used in the media so whatever Japanese you learn, you will be understood throughout Japan. Comprehending a local dialect response however, will be altogether more difficult.

Its relevance to our world today

Economically, Japan is the fourth largest economy in the world (2009), specializing in shipping exports of high quality goods such as cars and electronics. To be able to speak the language is most definitely an asset in this aspect. However, now, most Japanese business people are fluent in English, therefore there is no real need to learn it unless of course for recreation.
There is not much political advantage one would attain after learning this language, as compared to being able to communicate in English. However, the language remains one that is popular to learn amongst people, especially youths due to its relation to the entertainment industry. In a social aspect, many youths who are into the Japanese scene will inevitably learn simple phrases. This is most apparent to those who avidly listen to J-pop or read Japanese Manga and Anime.

How Japan is supporting the spread of the Japanese language

Due to its popularity, the language is easily found as an option to learn in language schools around the world. According to 2006 Survey of Overseas Organizations Involved in Japanese-Language Education by the Japan Foundation, there are about 2.98 million Japanese-language learners. As the number of people studying Japanese is rapidly increasing worldwide, so are the opportunities to put their skills to use in a wide variety of careers. This has led to the demand among the students of Japanese for the establishment of a venue by which their language proficiency can be certified.

The Japanese-Language Proficiency Test was devised to respond to this growing demand in 1984. This is especially important for those seeking to study in a Japanese university.
It is also easy to attain information on how to learn it. Japanese-Language Education Information by Countries provides information on Japanese-language education in about 150 countries and districts in the world, major syllabus/guidelines related to Japanese-language education in each country, and teachers associations and academic conferences. They also dispatch people to other nations to teach the language. These are efforts of The Japan Foundation to aid the education of the Japanese language worldwide.
The Japanese language is the most popular foreign language to learn in Singapore, with 12,076 learners in 2007 from MOE Language School, Polytechnics, universities, JCS and other language schools and community centres. 4,166 sat for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) among them, up 12.3% from the previous year.