Japanese is pretty much the only thing that interests me academically but the job prospects after uni don't seem very solid/stable, is it a bad idea to do it at uni?
Japanese is pretty much the only thing that interests me academically but the job prospects after uni don't seem very solid/stable, is it a bad idea to do it at uni?
Most graduate jobs these days don't require a specific subject so it doesn't really matter what you do. Languages are well sought after especially the ''uncommon'' ones such as Japanese (there's even been studies that show language graduates earn more than those with law, business and English degrees). You could be a translator, interpreter, an English teacher in Japan, work in the British Embassy in Japan, go into the Civil Service, journalism, or even do a law conversion course after your degree.
I don't think it's that bad tbh. If you were doing a European language, you may end up just becoming a language teacher at school and have a miserable life. Japanese isn't really relevant for teachers atleast you won't have to get involved in, that. What I suggest is maybe you see if you can do Japanese with another language (e.g. Uni of Sheffield does a Korean and Japanese joint degree) as in my opinion just one language by itself may not make you AS employable. Another option is to search degrees that end in "with a modern language". Some common ones (most common in bold) being: Biology, Law, Business, History, International Relations - loads of stuff. If you don't mind me asking, what A levels are you doing? My advice, just make sure you don't become a teacher or translator because neither pay well and neither sound like fun to me. Also check this pdf out: https://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/languages-for-the-future-report.pdf
Also, I must add more to this topic. I'd personally say that languages have very obvious real world application (unlike most other humanities/arts which are always labelled as "academic"). I suggest you have a gander at this site: http://www.toplanguagejobs.co.uk/search/languages-13/ See what sort of careers Japanese typically you can get.
I personally think its a great idea, I have personally seen jobs that request for people to speak international languages (as well as being fluent in english) for translation between clients elsewhere, they also paid more to staff that were in a position to do so as at least one of the companies I saw were struggling to find people to do it.
So no not at all do I think its a "Mickey Mouse Degree" or pointless. If you have an interest, do it as I am sure you will find some use for it as others have said and no doubt an employer would snatch the opportunity to employ someone who can speak a non european language as theres less people learning them.
I don't think it's that bad tbh. If you were doing a European language, you may end up just becoming a language teacher at school and have a miserable life. Japanese isn't really relevant for teachers atleast you won't have to get involved in, that. What I suggest is maybe you see if you can do Japanese with another language (e.g. Uni of Sheffield does a Korean and Japanese joint degree) as in my opinion just one language by itself may not make you AS employable. Another option is to search degrees that end in "with a modern language". Some common ones (most common in bold) being: Biology, Law, Business, History, International Relations - loads of stuff. If you don't mind me asking, what A levels are you doing? My advice, just make sure you don't become a teacher or translator because neither pay well and neither sound like fun to me. Also check this pdf out: https://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/languages-for-the-future-report.pdf
Korean and Japanese at Sheffield is a major/minor degree, so you don't actually get to a very high standard of Japanese. If the OP's main interest is Japanese then not the best degree to do imo. Japanese and Korean at SOAS is the other way around however, so you'd be fluent in Japanese by the end of the course.
If OP is taking a European language a level, then Japanese and that language is a good option. There are also more obscure European languages OP could take like Russian. There's also the option to take Chinese and Japanese at Manchester or Leeds or Arabic and Japanese at Leeds where you'd reach a high level of proficiency in both languages.
Alternatively, as you said, there are many other joint honours OP could consider. Japanese and linguistics is a common combination. There's also options such as: Japanese and international relations, Japanese and business management, Japanese and history, Japanese and economics etc.
If OP wants to reach a very high standard of Japanese, I recommend the following universities: Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, SOAS, Edinburgh. There's also Oxford and Cambridge but with no scope to do joint honours. Other good universities such as Cardiff, Birmingham, Newcastle are available as well, and with hard work OP could probably reach the level of students at the above universities. I do not recommend UCLan for Japanese.
Also as other people have said OP could do a Japanese degree and a postgraduate/conversion course. There are many career options for Japanese language graduates, so it's definitely not a 'Mickey Mouse' degree.