First Impressions

At the company where I work, we manufacture automotive parts.
One year, we accepted our first group of 10 Vietnamese technical intern trainees.
When mid-career hires or new graduates join our company, we hold an all-hands morning assembly attended by all employees.

At the all-hands morning assembly, each person introduces themselves one by one.
When called, the technical intern trainees responded energetically and gave careful self-introductions, even if their Japanese was limited.
After the assembly and internal training, the technical intern trainees were assigned to my department.
My first impression was that they all looked nervous, but a strong determination to work hard shone in their eyes.

They Study Language and Japan Before Entering the Country

Technical intern trainees study Japanese culture and customs thoroughly before entering Japan, so they are polite.
They have also passed the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), which is used for Specified Skilled Worker status of residence examinations, so even if their Japanese is limited, they can speak using polite forms.
To be honest, they made a better impression and were more polite than the new graduates who joined at the same time.

Technical Intern Trainees Are Proactive at Work

One point that especially differed from Japanese employees was how readily they agreed to overtime.
When I taught them how to make work racks and product supply racks used in improvement activities outside production line work, they were able to make them right away. *We assemble these ourselves using industrial pipes at our company.
When I asked why they work so proactively, they told me they send the money they earn to their families in their home country every month.
I believe many Vietnamese technical intern trainees want to save the money they earn in Japan and build a prosperous household.
Because they work proactively and it is easy to ask them for overtime, we were able to create a positive workplace atmosphere without trouble.

They Never Neglect Self-Study

When I spoke with one technical intern trainee, he said he never skips studying every day.
After work, once he returns home, he always studies Japanese for about an hour.
There was also another technical intern trainee who studied languages other than Japanese (English and Chinese).

He said this was so he would not struggle if he took a job outside Japan.

Work Manuals at the Time Were All in Japanese

Because the technical intern trainees I was responsible for were the first at our company, we had no employees who could interpret Vietnamese—only an interpreter who visited once a month for counseling.

So the work manuals were all in Japanese and, naturally, did not work.

In on-the-job training for actual work, I explained the general methods orally, but it took time for them to understand.

Because verbal explanations alone were not enough for full understanding, I taught them with gestures.

Simple Japanese got through, but I struggled when teaching specialized terms used at the company.

Concerns in Training and Solutions

I think the main concern during training is language, as expected.

When we first accepted technical intern trainees, I did not know how to speak with them, so I personally bought a basic Vietnamese phrasebook (a book with essential phrases such as “good morning” and “thank you for your hard work”) and studied.

However, once I actually started training, I remember that the Vietnamese I had prepared did not get through at all. (I later learned that my pronunciation was off.)

Because the interpreter only visited once a month, I had no choice but to manage on my own.

One day, while searching for a way to resolve this, one of the technical intern trainees tried to tell me something using a translation app on his smartphone.

At that moment I thought, “This works!” and installed Google Translate on my own smartphone.

After installing the app, I rephrased specialized terms into simpler Japanese, voice-input them, converted them to Vietnamese, and communicated that way.

Thanks to the translation app, progress in job training changed dramatically, and we successfully completed the training within the deadline.

The app also made communication with the technical intern trainees smoother, and I felt as if we had overcome the barrier of national borders.

An Episode from Training

As an episode from the training period, I will introduce the “aojiru incident.”

One day, I decided to treat one of the more humorous male technical intern trainees to Japanese “aojiru” (green juice). *When I offered to treat him, he hesitated, but I insisted on buying it; perhaps treating others is not a common custom in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese trainee grimaced when he drank the aojiru, but I was surprised that he drank it fairly normally.

When I asked for his impression, he said “oishii” (delicious), which defied my expectations—but he definitely got laughs from everyone around.

And this incident became a chance for him to become friends with the new graduates who had joined at the same time.

I am proud to say it was a good incident that sparked communication.

Summary

What I gained from the experience of training Vietnamese technical intern trainees is:

・Studying Vietnamese is essentially unnecessary for communication

・Technical intern trainees are more earnest than Japanese employees

・They work proactively for their families in their home country

・Translation apps speed up training progress

We now have a system in place for accepting technical intern trainees, including hiring Vietnamese-speaking staff for translation and organizing work manuals.

As a result, we can carry out a smooth flow from training through to actual work.

Going forward, we will further strengthen acceptance and continue striving for better talent development.