general questions about FFXIV

[Absintheminded]

I recently picked FFXIV back up, like many other people I played at release and put it down rather quickly. Seeing a lot the changes and the changes yet to come gives me some hope about this game.
So, having said that, can some people who have been playing kind of comment on how they see the game now, how they see it in the future, and perhaps some tips to help playing and getting used to the UI?

Also, I have always gravitated towards the heavier armored and magic, tank, or support oriented roles and plan on gladiator > paladin. I've seen all the hooplah and was hoping some people could give some advice as to whether I shouldn't be worried or maybe I need to think about another discipline.

I think my final concern is regarding the NA client in Japanese. My wife is Japanese and I bought the game for her to have something to play together. So far the only thing I can tell that might be different is the spoken language is English. Does anybody know if there will be issues at some point playing in Japanese, or even us playing together?

Thanks for any and all help, and sorry for the wall de text.