Japanese staff

Press, 3 May 1984, Page 20

Japanese staff

Sir,—The South Island Promotion Association strongly supports tuition of the Japanese language and plans to hold a nation-ally-based “Speak Japanese” contest in October. Reasonable fluency in the language can lead to employment and other things as shown in the following letter to the association received from Helen Crabb, winner of the open section of S.I.P.A.’s 1983 “Speak Japanese" contest. “I learned the next day that I was chosen as the Christchurch Polytechnic’s exchange student with Kyoto Sangyoo Daigaku, in Kyoto, for a year ... in the meantime I have been extremely fortunate to have been offered a job with Mount Cook Tours, Ltd, as a Japanesespeaking tour guide, so I have been leading groups of Japanese from Invercargill to Te Anau, Milford, Queenstown, Mount Cook and back to Christchurch ... Thank you for running the contest. I certainly hope that the study of Japanese continues to grow in popularity.” — Yours, etc T. J. MAINS, Chief Executive, S.I.P.A. April 30, 1984. Sir,—All the correspondence on the employment of Japanese staff

has not clarified the situation to your readers. The Japanese tourist is a demanding individual, who expects service the way he or she wants it. It is correct to state that Japanese tourists are far happier when dealing with their fellow countrymen. This is because they know they will immediately be understood and also because it is considered impolite for a Japanese person to complain to or question a foreigner. As Mr Black wrote, Japanese tour guides are extremely dedicated and hard-working and instinctively know how to deal with problems. New Zealanders will never attain such high standards without years of studying both the language and culture of Japanese. A year’s course at the polytechnic is nowhere near good enough to equip them with the necessary skills. It would possibly enable them to cope with tourists in souvenir shops, but not as tour guides. — Yours, etc., (Mrs) P. A. SEAY. May 1, 1984.