Future aspirations, study and work

This topic explores how to discuss your future aspirations, study plans, and career ambitions in Japanese. It covers vocabulary and grammar for talking about university courses, job preferences, work experience, and the skills needed for different professions. You'll learn to express hopes, plans, and conditional outcomes using structures like ～たい (want to), ～つもり (intend to), and ～たらいいな (it would be nice if). This is essential for the Edexcel GCSE speaking and writing exams, where you'll be asked to describe your future goals and justify your choices.

Understanding this topic allows you to engage in meaningful conversations about life after school, which is a common theme in the GCSE exam. You'll need to compare different career paths, explain why you're interested in certain subjects, and discuss the importance of languages for your future. The topic also links to broader cultural understanding, such as the Japanese education system and work culture, including concepts like 終身雇用 (lifetime employment) and 就職活動 (job hunting). Mastering this will help you achieve higher marks in the 'Identity and culture' and 'Future aspirations, study and work' sections of the exam.

This topic builds on earlier learning about school subjects, daily routines, and personal descriptions. You'll use a range of tenses (present, past, future) and conditional forms to express certainty and possibility. For example, you might say '大学で経済を勉強したいです。将来は銀行で働くつもりです' (I want to study economics at university. I intend to work in a bank in the future). Practising these structures will improve your fluency and accuracy, which are key to scoring well in the speaking and writing exams.