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Another language alongside Japanese | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| theallstar Groupie United Kingdom Joined 5744 days ago 81 posts - 85 votes  Studies: Japanese, Esperanto | Message 1 of 7 07 April 2009 at 9:41pm | IP Logged |
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I've been self studying Japanese for a year now and whilst it's going well I think it's time to start something else. I've had the idea of learning another language in parallel before and as soon as I started to dabble in them I remembered why I loved Japanese so much and decided to devote all my time to it again. It was too early to start something else. I only started learning Japanese in the first place for the fun of it, the love of kanji and Japanese music / TV. I have no real practical application for it besides entertainment (which is enough for me :)). I'm coming to a point where I'll end the whole series of grammar workbooks I've been using soon. After that I want to speed up my Heisig study so I can really start reading and learning the language. I'm hoping to pick up more grammar from context and reference rather than study.
Anyway, because I only be doing the Heisig stuff in terms of formal study I think it also gives a great opportunity for starting something new. I think I need the excitement of starting a new language whilst keeping my Japanese going (which feels like it's just going to be a steady uphill climb from this point). I have a few ideas as to what to learn, and differing reasons as to why I want to learn them. I'd like to try and draw on peoples experience as to what might be my best choice given my reasons. Mandarin: It probably is no great surprise to find this first on the list. For one I love kanji. I also love the sound of the language with its tones. What puts me off is that I'm half way through my kanji study in Japanese and don't want that to be interfered with. I'd probably be using Pinyin for a fairly long time if I started Mandarin now which may not be the best thing in the long run. Russian: I love the idea of being able to read cyrillic text and Russia as a country probably seems more foreign to me than East Asian countries. An insight into the country would be great, especially as it's important on the global stage. I've heard that Russian grammar is pretty hard though and the one thing I love about Japanese is just how regular and logical the grammar is. French: I learned French in school for four years though I don't remember too much now. I was better at German but I have no desire to study that now. France is very close to home (UK) and I'm sure a lot of the French I knew would come back to me (as it does when I read signs etc). I wonder if it might provide me with the "quick fix" that I think I'm after given than I have previous knowledge. Korean: I'd try Korean given people say it's grammatically similar to Japanese, at least at first, but I've heard so many horror stories about how hard it can get. I also love Hangul and I've made attempts at learning it before. Indonesian: This is a language I have almost no use for either (much like Japanese), but I love the way it sounds. I've heard it's not too hard either so it might provide the excitement of something a bit more exotic for less effort than other exotic languages. Whilst I know no language is easy I guess I'm looking for something which won't be too hard for me so that I can feel like I'm making progress. I study language purely for fun (hence the random choices of what I'd like to learn) so any comments are welcome, as well as suggestions as to what else I may find interesting. Edited by theallstar on 16 April 2009 at 11:35am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| leonidus Triglot Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 6268 days ago 113 posts - 123 votes Speaks: Russian*, English, French Studies: German, Mandarin | Message 2 of 7 07 April 2009 at 10:00pm | IP Logged |
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French is the easiest of all and could be the quick fix.
Russian grammar is hard, yes, but even if you don't learn all the exceptions to the rules and use all the cases right, you would still be understood. And if you read literature in Russian, you'll learn exceptions too. If you know a lot of kanji already, this will help learning Mandarin, but can also be confusing, because not all kanji meanings coincide with their respective hanzi meanings. I am in a similar situation as you are, except I am learning Mandarin and when I get bored with it I study French, which serves as sort of relaxation after Mandarin. Edited by leonidus on 07 April 2009 at 10:01pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| sprachefin Triglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5688 days ago 300 posts - 317 votes Speaks: German*, English, Spanish Studies: French, Turkish, Mandarin, Bulgarian, Persian, Dutch | Message 3 of 7 08 April 2009 at 5:06am | IP Logged |
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You might want to start something that is a little less hard than the languages you mentioned, but something still
interesting. I think either Farsi or Turkish would be a spot on choice. Go for something doable. Another option would be Hindi or Urdu. Although hard, it would be an interesting choice and give you great work options in Asia. Trust me, you would be a true Asian polyglot. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| cameroncrc Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6459 days ago 195 posts - 185 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: Ukrainian | Message 4 of 7 15 April 2009 at 9:26pm | IP Logged |
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Choose the language that is most interesting to you. Although a language like Russian or Korean may be
difficult, if it's something you truly enjoy you will see past the gruesome grammatical structure and just have fun! After all, you've been studying Japanese for a year, and I'm sure I needn't point out that (although logical) Japanese has one of the most backwards grammar and most irregular writing system of any language. Yet you love it, so you have come to not just tolerate those differences, but actually appreciate and enjoy them. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| theallstar Groupie United Kingdom Joined 5744 days ago 81 posts - 85 votes Studies: Japanese, Esperanto | Message 5 of 7 16 April 2009 at 4:48pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks for the advice everyone. I think I probably need to stop worrying about what I choose so much, pick one and get started on it. If I don't like it or I don't feel I'm going to get out of it what I want then I can just pick another and move on. Like cameroncrc says, if I like a language then I'll see past any complexities it might have. Edited by theallstar on 16 April 2009 at 4:48pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| qklilx Moderator United States Joined 6128 days ago 459 posts - 477 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Korean Personal Language Map | Message 6 of 7 17 April 2009 at 9:14am | IP Logged |
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Personally I would recommend any Chinese language or Korean to study "alongside" Japanese due to the number of loanwords and the fact that your kanji studies can aid you in either of the languages for vocabulary memorization. Yes, Korean is hard, but you won't see too many of the difficulties until you really get into the language. The more Japanese you know the longer it will take to experience what makes Korean tough, but you will eventually come across it. It took me about 3-4 semesters' worth of Korean studies before i was forced to study the grammar through English, and by then I knew about 5-6 semesters' worth of Japanese.
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| theallstar Groupie United Kingdom Joined 5744 days ago 81 posts - 85 votes Studies: Japanese, Esperanto | Message 7 of 7 20 April 2009 at 9:34pm | IP Logged |
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Just to update, even though I do love the idea of learning a European language, it's clear to me after some thought (and your post qklilx) that East Asian languages are the ones that really excite me. Even though I actually already have what is supposed to be a great Korean textbook I've decided to let that sit on the bookshelf a little longer and have ordered a beginners Mandarin book instead. Edited by theallstar on 20 April 2009 at 9:35pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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