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Will Korean catch up to Japanese? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| TixhiiDon Tetraglot Senior Member Japan Joined 5465 days ago 772 posts - 1474 votes  Speaks: English*, Japanese, German, Russian Studies: Georgian | Message 9 of 54 27 February 2010 at 1:55pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I've heard it said many times that a combined Korea would be far more likely to spell
the end of the South's economic success, and that the government of the South, while voicing the official line that reunification is the ultimate goal, is in reality desperate to avoid economic and/or political collapse in the North. Germany still struggles with the costs of reunification, and the old GDR was incomparably more developed in 1989 than North Korea is in 2010. Taking on a country with almost non-existent infrastructure, very little economic activity, and a traumatized, indoctrinated population would be a huge burden on the South for generations. On the other hand, Japan seems to be heading blindly toward backwater status. The country has never had any real political power, relying solely on its economy for global influence. Japanese people are extremely proud of the country's status as Asia's No. 1, but China will overtake Japan in a few years (it already has by some measures). Meanwhile, the government are incapable of encouraging its people to reproduce while refusing to increase immigration quotas, leading to a population that is already in decline. So really, I think the question is kind of pointless as neither country seems to have a bright future. In Asia, that privilege belongs to the PRC, and to a lesser extent India. Edited by TixhiiDon on 27 February 2010 at 1:55pm 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| aquablue Senior Member United States Joined 6383 days ago 150 posts - 172 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 10 of 54 27 February 2010 at 5:06pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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The problem with Chinese, is that the country has huge enviornmental problems which turn me off learning a language of a country I'd rather not reside in at this time. It seems rather a language for the future, as I don't know if I'd want to live in one of China's large cities until they have respectable environmental quality.
Do you think its worth learning Mandarin even if one doesn't want to live in China? Or would it be better learning the language of one of the more developed Asian countries like Japan or Korea? Won't China take decades to catch up? Edited by aquablue on 27 February 2010 at 5:10pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| canada38 Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5496 days ago 304 posts - 417 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: Portuguese, Japanese | Message 11 of 54 27 February 2010 at 5:06pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Well said, TixhiiDon. But to answer the original question, I don't think Korean will surpass Japanese by any measure. Perhaps it will shorten the gap both in terms of popularity and utility, but it will not pass Japanese. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| lichtrausch Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5961 days ago 525 posts - 1072 votes Speaks: English*, German, Japanese Studies: Korean, Mandarin | Message 12 of 54 27 February 2010 at 5:42pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
And yet in polls the Germans still widely support the decision to reunify. The decision to reunify goes far beyond the question "will we benefit economically from a reunification?"
Political power is largely a byproduct of economic power. Japan has enormous economic power (second largest economy in the world) ergo Japan has a lot of political power.
If you consider that Japan's main contender China has 1.4 billion people, does it make much of a difference whether Japan has 110 million or 130 million people? Japan and Korea (united or not) can't possibly contend with China for hegemony of East Asia, but they certainly can prosper in the niche they have carved out for themselves. As for the OP: barring a catastrophe in Japan, Korea (united or not) will not overtake it in the foreseeable future. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| ericspinelli Diglot Senior Member Japan Joined 5784 days ago 249 posts - 493 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: Korean, Italian | Message 13 of 54 27 February 2010 at 7:00pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
You're correct that in comparison to China 20 million is insignificant, but a 15% loss in population will severely limit Japan's ability to maintain or grow its economy in any sector. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| aquablue Senior Member United States Joined 6383 days ago 150 posts - 172 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 14 of 54 27 February 2010 at 7:22pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Is there any point in learning Chinese, if you do not intend to live in China's major cities given the low enviornnmental quality? It may take years before this changes.
Is it really worth learning for a potential future business language if one does probably only would visit for short periods? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| lichtrausch Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5961 days ago 525 posts - 1072 votes Speaks: English*, German, Japanese Studies: Korean, Mandarin | Message 15 of 54 27 February 2010 at 7:47pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Generally speaking, yes, but it doesn't apply to all sectors. Sectors which specialise in services and products for elderly people will still grow robustly. Also, the robot industry is expected to grow robustly since it is part of the proposed solution for how to take care of all the old people.
It all depends what you want to do with the language. If you are living in America and the only thing you can imagine using Chinese for is a business trip once a year to China, then no, it's probably not worth it. But there are many other uses for the language besides that. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| aquablue Senior Member United States Joined 6383 days ago 150 posts - 172 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 16 of 54 27 February 2010 at 8:58pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Like what? If you didn't want to live in China right now b/c it has a low quality of life standard, what is the point of learning the language? A future hope that China will someday be a better place to live or what?
1 person has voted this message useful |
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