Hello. My name is Liam Glasgow, and I live in a small town called Tuakau located just out of Auckland City, in the North Island of New Zealand. Tuakau's claim to fame is being the hometown of the late Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to ever climb Mt Everest.



Academic History

For my tertiary education I attended The University of Auckland where I obtained a Bachelor of Arts, with my major being Geography, and my minor being Japanese.
While living in Japan I studied on my own and successfully passed level 1 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test with a passing grade of 80%.



Work History

After graduating from university in 2005 I traveled to Japan and took up a position as an English teacher at a small school in Shimanto City (formerly known as Nakamura City), located in Kochi Prefecture on the island of Shikoku.

I was responsible for teaching classes of students from three years old all the way to retired individuals. Preparing for lessons, evaluating students progress, and creating new teaching materials were also key tasks I was charged with, along with responding directly to inquiries from potential students (in Japanese) and coordinating annual school events, such as Halloween and Christmas parties.


In 2010 I made the decision to return to New Zealand, and in December of this year I began work as the Trade and Investment Promotion Coordinator at the New Zealand office of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO).

This position saw me take on a wide range of responsibilities, including responding to trade inquiries from New Zealand and Japan (in both English and Japanese), researching trade and investment trends and preparing reports in Japanese for the Managing Director and for publication on the JETRO website, responding to requests from head office in Japan for industry and sector profiles, and coordinator trade and investment promotion events with the aim of raising Japan's profile as an attractive investment destination. Dealing with high-ranking Japanese business and Government figures in my day to day work was a challenge, but I believe my ability to communicate successfully with people from all different positions and cultures served me well.



Current Goals

I am now focusing on becoming a professional translator and making as much use as I can of my Japanese language skills and knowledge of Japan. I am also interested in using my knowledge to help companies with market entry and their marketing within Japan.
Establishing my own import business is also something I giving a lot of though to at present, and I look forward to the possibility of making this a reality.



About Me

I have a strong work ethic, am easy to get along with, and am really motivated to produce work that exceeds clients expectations. My eye for detail, strong Japanese language skills, and experience working for a Government trade promotion organization are some of my strongest assets.
My interests include reading, cooking, gardening, fashion, travel, studying Japanese, and making furniture.

Japanese to English is my strongest language pair, but I am also confident I can produce quality work going from English to Japanese.

My rates are negotiable, so please feel free to contact me, and I am sure we can work something out that is satisfactory for all parties.


Thank you for taking the time to visit and ready my profile page. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.