We work exclusively in English, and of course any Japanese scientist who wants to be known outside of the country has to write and speak it too (though it is rare to find anyone who approaches the European norm for fluency, even among those who have lived abroad). For more private meetings, Japanese is sometimes used, but not when there are invited foreign guests! Yes, there is a big difference between being able to cope with daily life like shopping and ordering in restaurants, and having a technical discussion, and we've never got close to the latter.
Vinny, I've never seen any evidence that the world-famous Mat Collins (for it is he) smokes.
6 comments:
The red haired guy at the bottom yes. The guy to his right looks like he is throwing up tho.
You are quite wrong. The default mode for a Japanese is sleep, so if they aren't asleep they are highly diverted!
Jules, I have always been curious. Is all yours and James' work done in Japanese? Or in a field like this, do all Japanese work in English?
Mastering Japanese in a technical field would be very difficult, I imagine.
Sorry, I see the post was by James...
Is that Martin Amis with his hand up? If so, was he asking if he could smoke?
Steve,
We work exclusively in English, and of course any Japanese scientist who wants to be known outside of the country has to write and speak it too (though it is rare to find anyone who approaches the European norm for fluency, even among those who have lived abroad). For more private meetings, Japanese is sometimes used, but not when there are invited foreign guests! Yes, there is a big difference between being able to cope with daily life like shopping and ordering in restaurants, and having a technical discussion, and we've never got close to the latter.
Vinny, I've never seen any evidence that the world-famous Mat Collins (for it is he) smokes.
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