I work in quality assurance for oak technologies in woburn MA. They create printer software and whatnot to interpret PDLs (Printer Description Languages) and turn them into printed output. Since I have some Japanese skills (enough to work a Japanese computer and know what to look for with Japanese characters to see differences in fonts and whatnot) they have me working on lots of Kanji testing.
This means that I get to (unfortunately) learn all this stuff about Japanese fonts and whatnot. Such a pain in my butt at times. The fact that my co-worker who got hired recently speaks fluent Japanese but not-so-fluent English and insists on speaking Japanese to me isn’t making things any easier. She has trouble with my English, I have trouble with her Japanese, and neither of us really have the vocabulary or capability of explaining what we need to each other in our non-native language that the other speaks.
So it can be kinda fun trying to decipher what exactly she’s rapidly ranting to me about when she plops down 200 pages on my desk. Though on the plus side I know the drill from working there for longer than she has, so I can usually figure it out despite the lacking instructions. Of course, I could be doing everything the exact opposite of the way she wants me to, and I’d have little idea. Language barriers, god bless ‘em. At least I’m forced to interact in japanese.
A Random Comment from June 18, 2002
I work in quality assurance for oak technologies in woburn MA. They create printer software and whatnot to interpret PDLs (Printer Description Languages) and turn them into printed output. Since I have some Japanese skills (enough to work a Japanese computer and know what to look for with Japanese characters to see differences in fonts and whatnot) they have me working on lots of Kanji testing.
This means that I get to (unfortunately) learn all this stuff about Japanese fonts and whatnot. Such a pain in my butt at times. The fact that my co-worker who got hired recently speaks fluent Japanese but not-so-fluent English and insists on speaking Japanese to me isn’t making things any easier. She has trouble with my English, I have trouble with her Japanese, and neither of us really have the vocabulary or capability of explaining what we need to each other in our non-native language that the other speaks.
So it can be kinda fun trying to decipher what exactly she’s rapidly ranting to me about when she plops down 200 pages on my desk. Though on the plus side I know the drill from working there for longer than she has, so I can usually figure it out despite the lacking instructions. Of course, I could be doing everything the exact opposite of the way she wants me to, and I’d have little idea. Language barriers, god bless ‘em. At least I’m forced to interact in japanese.