The figures in the previous post were embedded in an article from The Daily Yomiuri on the critical need for Japanese teachers here in Japan. The number of primary and secondary students whose native language is not Japanese went over 20,000 for the first time. It should be noted that the vast majority of these students do not speak English as their first language either. The jobs are clearly out there; the challenge will be to train teachers who can teach Japanese to speakers of any language in addition to preparing speakers of these languages to teach Japanese. The breakdown of students in need of Japanese skills by language is somewhat different from the numbers of foreigners living here:
| Rank | Language | Number | Percentage |
| One | Portuguese | 7,562 | 36.5 |
| Two | Chinese | 4,460 | 21.6 |
| Three | Spanish | 3,156 | 15.3 |
| Four | Filipino | 2,176 | 10.1 |
| Five | Korean | 859 | 4.2 |
| Six | Vietnamese | 754 | 3.6 |
| Seven | English | 487 | 2.4 |
| Eight+ | Others | 1,238 | 6.0 |
So, any students out there who are still thinking about what they would like to do for a living may want to consider a career in teaching Japanese. Keep in mind that you might need to make a move to a location where there are higher concentrations of students in need. These seem to include the Kanto and Kansai areas.
Tags: careers, Culture, Japan, people, statistics