Introducing Rakuten's Englishnization

1. Englishnization and I
イングリッシュナイゼーション
と私
Eiji Shinohara
2012.10.20 1

2. Introduction
Eiji Shinohara – Software Engineer
Educational Background
 HighSchool: Attached to University( 附属
校)
Never experienced Univ entrance exam…
 University: Bachelor of Law( 文系 )
Japanese universities are easy to
graduate…
I didn’t study English so hard… 2

3. Introduction
In 2006
Internet! Google! Open source!!
Touched something to me.
From SIer To Rakuten 3

4. Before E13N
In 2007
DevOps
 Rakuten ID
 Rakuten SuperPoint
 Providing APIs for Taiwan Ichiba
As a platform, our target was
not only Taiwan but Global
4

5. Before E13N
In 2008
 Collaborate with LinkShare
Rakuten bought LinkShare in 2005
 LinkShare opportunity in NY!!
Applied for that open position….
5

6. Before E13N
In 2008
I couldn’t make it due to my
poor English… But,,,
“Global opportunities
were already existed”
6

7. Before E13N
In 2009
Got used to read tech things in English
Now a days, that is normal, isn’t it?
There are NOT enough Japanese Documents…
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8. E13N
In 2010
Study hard with iKnow
Date Listening Reading Total
Jan ’10 380 310 690
May ’10 395 265 660
Sep ’10 395 365 760
May ’11 450 380 830
• Business trip to NY for 2 weeks
 Made me highly motivated
 Using English became realistic
8

9. E13N & Opportunities
In 2011 & 2012
In Japan
 Working with International Employees
 My mentee is from India
 Communicating in English
 Email, Yammer, Agenda,,,
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10. E13N & Opportunities
In 2011 & 2012
In Abroad
 San Francisco
Smartphone, Agile/Scrum, Meetup
 Toronto
Kobo, Search, QA, Trouble Shoot
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11. I think,,,
Just between us… ( ココだけの話 … )
We engineers can communicate…
“Proper English” might not be so important…
# Skype chat after fixing bugs… 11

12. How to study English
Any Special?
Vocabulary Conversation
12

13. Finally
 Rakuten has been proceeding Globalization
Not only English
I don’t feel we’re crazy
 Being an Engineer is beneficial to ride the
Global wave
Japanese Engineers are skilled enough
 Becoming like a native English is not so easy…
Nervous about discussion after this…lol
But,, need to have fun!!
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