Filipinos face language barrier in Japan
It was hard enough being transplanted into a new culture. Being hobbled by a completely alien language was another burden on Joyce Paulino and hundreds of nurses and care workers sent from the Philippines to Japan under an economic agreement between the t
The language barrier has played a key role in dashing the dreams of many nurses and care-givers seeking permanent jobs in Japan, since the challenging national exam for them to be certified is given mostly in Japanese. As a result, very few have passed the exam.
But unlike many fellow workers sent to the Land of the Rising Sun under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (Jpepa), Paulino, 34, is one of a handful who not only mastered the language but passed the exam for care workers on her first try early this year.
Her accomplishment ensures that she can continue staying, working and earning a decent living in Japan for as long she likes.
Paulino’s earnings at a nursing facility in Tokyo have been a big help to her parents and three siblings back home. She shoulders some of the household expenses, sends her youngest sibling to school, and pays for the tuition and other needs of her nieces and nephews.
Paulino is happy where she is, and doesn’t plan on returning home soon.
But all this did not come easy for Paulino. Learning the language while working and studying Japanese practices for the national test required skillful juggling and time management from her and many other foreign workers.
So it was not a surprise that many Filipino and Indonesian nurses and care workers who are in Japan under their countries’ economic partnership agreements have failed to pass the national exam.
High failure rate
In the most recent exam for the foreign workers early this year, only 9.6 per cent of nursing candidates passed, and for care worker candidates, 39.8 per cent, according to Yuko Ogino, deputy director for the Foreign Workers’ Affairs Division of the Employment Security Bureau.
The figure did not differ significantly from test results a year ago, Ogino said.
The Japanese government has known from the start that language proficiency would be a key part of the workers’ success in Japan, she said, and it is for language training from the start.
“One key element in deciding whether to accept [a candidate] or not depends on language ability in Japanese,” Ogino said in a briefing with participants of the 34th Nihon Shinbun Kyokai-Confederation of Asean Journalists fellowship programme.
“And learning Japanese is quite a task,” she added.
But since the initial language training requirement proved inadequate, this was increased in succeeding years with the agreement of the participating countries, Ogino said.
