|
 |
Learn first Japanese or Chinese? | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| Euphorion Hexaglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5135 days ago 106 posts - 147 votes  Speaks: Slovak*, Czech, EnglishC2, GermanC1, SpanishC2, French | Message 1 of 13 15 May 2010 at 12:59pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Please anyone who speaks the two languages - I would like to start learning Chinese or Japanese this year and then start with the other one in a couple of years. My question is -
Is it better (or easier) to learn first Chinese and then Japanese or is it the other way round? In terms of pronounciation, characters, etc. Thank you very much for your advice! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| furrykef Senior Member United States furrykef.com/ Joined 6267 days ago 681 posts - 862 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Japanese, Latin, Italian | Message 2 of 13 16 May 2010 at 12:13am | IP Logged | ||
I don't speak both languages (and you'll probably find that very few people do!), but I'll go ahead and post my response to a similar question in another thread:
As for which is easier to learn first, that's a difficult question, and even people who have learned both are quite likely to disagree, because the challenges that the two languages present are so different. For example, Japanese pronunciation is far, far easier than Mandarin, since Japanese doesn't use tones and it doesn't have many sounds that are completely alien to English speakers. Chinese grammar is certainly more similar to English grammar, at least at first, but as your studies progress, it'll probably seem less and less like English. Some people think the Japanese writing system is harder because the characters tend to be used with a wide variety of pronunciations. For instance, the character 上 can be read "ue", "jou", "shou", the verbs "ageru", "agaru", and "noboru"... and, occasionally, other ways. In Mandarin Chinese, as far as I know, it's read "shàng", and only "shàng". However, Chinese probably tends to use a wider variety of characters than Japanese does. You will probably also find that the two languages have completely different difficulty curves. You might find Chinese to be quite difficult at first, but get easier as you go on, and you might find Japanese to be easy at first and become harder as you go on. Or you might find the reverse... who knows? Different people likely have different experiences here, so it's probably difficult to judge. Edited by furrykef on 17 May 2010 at 12:55am 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Euphorion Hexaglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5135 days ago 106 posts - 147 votes Speaks: Slovak*, Czech, EnglishC2, GermanC1, SpanishC2, French | Message 3 of 13 16 May 2010 at 11:20am | IP Logged | ||
|
Thanks a lot furrykef! Thats very useful, thank you for your remarks.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| longwood Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6206 days ago 9 posts - 11 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese | Message 4 of 13 16 May 2010 at 4:34pm | IP Logged | ||
|
As a learner of Japanese for 6 years now, I would recommend working on Chinese first and then Japanese. While
the pronunciation may be easier in Japanese the grammar is much more difficult. As far as the written language is concerned - I would say Chinese is easier. Japanese has three written languages and even though they use similar characters to Chinese, they have multiple readings. If you have equal feelings towards the countries and their languages then I would go with Chinese first. Although, if you have a stronger interest in a particular country, then I would study that language. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Euphorion Hexaglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5135 days ago 106 posts - 147 votes Speaks: Slovak*, Czech, EnglishC2, GermanC1, SpanishC2, French | Message 5 of 13 16 May 2010 at 4:59pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Thank you!
Well I have another doubt - it seems to me (but I dont know the resources well yet) that there are more and better resources for learning Japanese, is that true? For example when one wants to learn the characters (kanji or hanzi) there are books like this http://www.kanji.koohii.com/ which look quite good. Is it maybe because Chinese became popular only very recently? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| longwood Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6206 days ago 9 posts - 11 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese | Message 6 of 13 16 May 2010 at 5:20pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I'm sure the popularity of Japanese in the 1980s sparked the production of various language programs/materials.
For Chinese they also have similar books: Remembering the Hanzi. While there may be more choices for Japanese, it doesn't mean that they are necessarily better than the ones available for Chinese. I think either language will have enough material to keep you busy. Edited by longwood on 16 May 2010 at 5:22pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Akalabeth Groupie Canada Joined 5314 days ago 83 posts - 112 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Japanese | Message 7 of 13 16 May 2010 at 5:22pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I've found that a lot of Japanese learning materials are fairly top notch. I can't say
why specifically that is, but my guess is that a lot of nerdy-type people like Japanese, and they're also the types of people who tend to try to optimize/share they're learning materials/techniques. Anki was made by a Japanese learner. Just speculating though, but they're a lot of high quality commercial/free resources for Japanese. But like you said, there is stuff for Hanzi (Chinese) as well as Kanji (Japanese). I've read the Hanzi version of Heisig's book isn't as good as the Kanji one, but I know these Meanings/dp/0982232403">two Characters-Revolutionary/dp/080483816X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s= books&qid=1274022913&sr=1- 1">books have been recommended. As to the initial question, I would also say go for whichever one you are most interested in, for similar reasons as furrykef. Learning a language is a lot of work, especially for your first foreign language, and motivation is very important. Long term efficiency only matters if you make it to the long term. You'll be more motivated if you pick the language that interests you more regardless of difficulty, and then the second language will be easier once you've already gotten the first under your belt. That's what I've been experiencing anyway. EDIT: Links look broken to me, here are the full URLs http://www.amazon.com/Chinese-Characters-Learn-Remember-Mean ings/dp/0982232403 http://www.amazon.com/Tuttle-Learning-Chinese-Characters- Revolutionary/dp/080483816X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s= books&qid=1274022913&sr=1-1 Edited by Akalabeth on 16 May 2010 at 5:35pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Euphorion Hexaglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5135 days ago 106 posts - 147 votes Speaks: Slovak*, Czech, EnglishC2, GermanC1, SpanishC2, French | Message 8 of 13 16 May 2010 at 6:58pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Thanks a lot! Those links look very useful. It seems its gonna be Chinese first :)
Btw. it would be my 6th foreign language, even though it has nothing to do with the previous ones. Its gonna be a great adventure, thank you 1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
