A basic introduction to the Japanese language will greatly facilitate communication with your Japanese colleagues. The usefulness of learning even a few greetings cannot be overestimated in terms of how you will be perceived in Japan. Cross-cultural Directions offers you the opportunity to take language lessons at any level, designed according to your particular needs.

These are provided by Karen Ruddock, who has taught Japanese to business people and in Trinity College Dublin for many years. She particularly enjoys teaching beginners and believes passionately that it is possible to achieve basic proficiency (vastly increasing success with Japanese people) with a small amount of effort. Karen will provide you with every resource you need in order to do this.

Karen can also introduce you to Japanese culture. By participating in Japanese culture workshops, you can learn how cultural differences affect attitudes, behaviour and values, and can understand more easily the subtleties and nuances of Japanese expression, patterns of communication, and behaviour.