Learn Japanese?

I am very interested in almost everything about Japan, and I really like the language.

I would love to learn Japanese, to be fluent, and I am aware that this will take several years to do so.
I also would really love to live in Japan, but it's not realistic, atleast for me it isnt.

If I did start to learn Japanese, I would use it for when I take trips to Japan, listening to music, playing video games ect... But I wouldnt want to put 5-6 years of learning strictly for those purposes. So I was wondering, are there jobs available outside of Japan,(Canada) for someone who has no degree, but is fluent in both English and Japanese?

Thanks.

Places that immediately come to my mind where those two language skills might be appreciated are: tour operators in Canada (for communicating with Japanese tourists and also for communicating with travel agencies from Japan), or Japanese companies or Japanese-Canadian joint venture companies that have production sites in Canada.

For your own traveling purposes to Japan, you don't need to be fluent before you come; maybe you might want to consider attending a Japanese language school in Japan for a while? to see the country and to learn the langauge at the same time :)

I don�t know the particular situation in Canada but I believe it is pretty the same everywhere � if you have 1st level of Japanese proficiency you can work as a translator, interpreter, 1st level outside Japan is sometimes considered as a degree, though not equal officially. If you are in Canada try to find how many branches of Japanese companies are there and what are relationship on governmental level. It all depends on your level, if you put your effort into it, study Japanese with the private teacher or go to some courses, than your opportunities wouldn�t be limited by Canadian interpreter�s market, and you can find yourself a nice place to earn money.

The problems I see is, is there a high demand for Japanese interpretation jobs to begin with in Canada? If you want to break into the business world, the truth is you're going to need somesort of degree to at least compete. Yes I know experience counts to, but if you want to make the extra money having a degree is going to bring one's application and money up notches.

Well, I guess this is something more so for personal enjoyment, before a work related situation. I think I would really have fun, and enjoy myself if I studied Japanese.

Im not really interested in getting into the whole business world. I felt more like, if i'm going to study for years, I might has well get a job, if possible.

So if I took out the whole work part of my question, do you think it would be a bad decision to learn Japanese, simply for personal enjoyment, since it takes so much time?

It's completely up to you, whether you enjoy the whole "learning process" as well :) I think a whole lot in life would be lost if everyone decided on doing or not doing things solely depending on whether that leads to job or not. If you like it, go ahead and try your hand at it, and enjoy!

If you want to learn Japanese just learn it. you never know... I started learning English at 10 in Europe because I had to(it was compulsory in school). by 14 I could read novels. As a result in college and right after I got chances to travel and study in Finland, Germany, and the USA using English (my third language)and French (my second language). Eventually I moved to North America, Something that I never dreamed of when I was 20...
so, go ahead,learn Japanese, you never know...
by the way Canadian buddy, Montreal was the only place in the world where people couldn't understand my French and me theirs!(I did all my schooling in a school in a French speaking country in Europe and yes people in Paris understand me perfectly). I love Japan and feel at home there and wish that I could live there. YOU GO FOR IT GUY!

To learn Japanese was a dream for me since I was a kid... I finally were able to study it in college and go for a year to Tokyo. I had no idea if it will help me find a job or not, but I just loved it.
Now I'm working in a Japanese company in my own country. I know I'm really lucky because in my country there are not so many chances to use Japanese ...
But I think that when we have a dream we should try to fulfil it!

Do what you want and be who you dream to be! You know it is the only right way, no matter what other people or society tells you. Only one thing - Japanese is a hard thing to learn, at least from my point of view, I myself can�ft remember kanji as good as I want to, my little advice would be to give it a try definitely, see if you like and can study it every day, but if you come to the idea that you can and want to do it, do the best you can as with Japanese it is very hard to learn it just as a hobby. You will really have to give some part for your life and dedicate it to the language, ever if it is not for work, just to master it.

what does this japanese word mean in English?

It means "far and away" , "by far", "by a long way" and so on.

It is a compound word, which comes from
Japanese "danzen"(definitely) + English "top"

I would want to learn japanese 5-6years no matter how strict it is

i learn Japanese. it differs from my native language so much! but though this liittle problem :) Japanese still be interesting for me!:)
what do you think would Japanese penpal help me with the lessons? :)