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What language should I learn? | ||
Tags: Choosing a Language | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| reddd Newbie United Kingdom Joined 4074 days ago 4 posts - 4 votes | Message 1 of 17 03 May 2013 at 12:59am | IP Logged | |||||
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I couldn't see a thread for this anywhere really but I'm sure there is one somewhere. So I'm asking this in the 'advice' section because I need some. I don't know which language I want to learn. Even typing this it sounds absolutely ridiculous. haahaa.. so anyway when I first found this site I thought I wanted to learn German but after studying it for a bit I decided I didn't like it as much as I thought I did. I learnt it at school for a bit and decided to carry it on afterwards but I'm not really motivated to learn it now. Weird. But my motivation and obsession to learn a language is still here, stronger than ever if anything. So I have spent a lot of time over the last couple of weeks looking in to different languages and two in particular have caught my eye. Mandarin and Japanese. The characters look pretty cool. So obviously these are going to be insanely difficult for someone who is native to English. But these are the two that have stuck for some reason. So I need some advise from people who have studied either . Plus if I couldn't get the pronunciation right who would be more likely to understand what I had said. I CANT MAKE UP MY MIND! I know if I choose one language and get past the beginner stage it will be fine. Edited by reddd on 03 May 2013 at 1:07am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4820 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes  Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 2 of 17 03 May 2013 at 2:04am | IP Logged | |||||
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Actually, there have been many and many threads like yours. And usual conclusion was
something like "learn what you are the most interested in. as you are an English native speaker, you don't need to care about obvious usefulness that much". Both Japanese and Mandarin require extreme dedication and much more time than learning a language closer to your native one. Especially if you are pondering your first trully learned foreign language. If you are really motivated to learn one of these, go for it. But if all that leads you there is "it looks cool" than I'm afraid you could burn out fast. German is not a bad choice at all. It gives access to a huge book market, music, movies, travel opportunities. And it is much easier for an English native than Manadarin or Japanese. But if you don't want to learn it anymore, than there is quite no point. As you aren't pressed to learn a specific language and don't have any time limit (or at least you don't mention it), I'd recommend you to keep searching. Find something that you like, that would open opportunities and culture you want, something with enough learning sources, especially if you are learning your first foreign language. I'd say nice options for a first foreign language for you could be as well: 1.a larger romance language (French, Spanish, Italian), there are tons of resources, a lot of culture and travel opportunities, a lot of native speakers looking for language exchange etc. 2.Polish or Russian, as they are as well not that hard when it comes to finding resources, they both have great literature, some good movies, nice travel opportunities and you might find quite a lot of immigrants in your area to practice speaking with (depends on where in UK do you live probably) 3.a Scandinavian language. your experience with German could be helpful, there is a lot to learn from (at least for Swedish and Norwegian), great countries for travelling 4.Mandarin or Japanese, if you are determined enough to tackle one of these challenges. After all, there is no point in learning something else if you are sure nothing else interests you. Good luck with choosing. Take your time, look at logs of people learning the languages, listen to some music or vlogs on youtube in the language etc. After all, you are not choosing fun for a weekend. You're choosing a regular companion for the years to come. 10 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Paco Senior Member Hong Kong Joined 4088 days ago 145 posts - 251 votes Speaks: Cantonese* | Message 3 of 17 03 May 2013 at 2:08am | IP Logged | |||||
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Welcome to the forum reddd!
Why do you want to learn a particular language? Only because the scripts look awesome? I am glad to know someone finds Chinese characters and Japanese scripts fascinating, but I am afraid this reason alone is unlikely to sustain the motivation you will need to master these exotic East Asian languages unless you are either philological, artistic or really passionate about the scripts. If you are going to learn a language for the language itself, you might just dive into it; time will direct you, as in the case of your German. Or, aside from the language itself, will you want to learn because of the cultural heritage and literary tradition behind and inside it? Will you see a particular language, rather than simply as a construct some peoples speak, as a key to a whole new world? If this idea appeals to you, I think before commencing any form of studies of the language of your choice, you will want to read not just about the language, but also the people who speak it, their culture and history. In fact, I think you have a good start already as you find the scripts awesome, for you seems to be open and interested in foreign elements. Open-mindedness and curiosity are what make language learning possible. Still, studying a language is a life-long commitment. The statement is more true for you (I suppose you are British?) to learn Chinese and/or Japanese. So you will want to make sure you are not trying to challenge your pride, but you really like the language and the marvelous things it represents and carries. I shall add a few more words on choosing between the two. The two languages you are interested in are actually quite different. Though both languages are in the Chinese- cultural circle, Japanese is still not easy for Chinese people to learn, and Japanese culture is considered a bit exotic. So it needs investigation. I hope this helps. Good luck to you in your studies. Paco P.S. I have just found out that Cavesa left a comment a few minutes earlier than me. My comment might be little complement to that detailed advice. Edited by Paco on 03 May 2013 at 2:19am 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 6967 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish | Message 4 of 17 03 May 2013 at 3:28am | IP Logged | |||||
Try the following on for size: How did you choose your target language? How to Choose Which Language to Learn Need guidance in choosing a language Help! I can’t decide on a language!
Two words: NORTHERN SAAMI Now get to work! I'm bettin' on ya. 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Kartof Bilingual Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 4877 days ago 391 posts - 550 votes Speaks: English*, Bulgarian*, Spanish Studies: Danish | Message 5 of 17 03 May 2013 at 3:38am | IP Logged | |||||
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Bulgarian might help if you're with UKIP in expecting a huge influx of migrants next year. (Not trying to inject
politics into this thread, just a quip!) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| vogue Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 4065 days ago 109 posts - 181 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish Studies: Ukrainian | Message 6 of 17 03 May 2013 at 4:25am | IP Logged | |||||
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I don't know where you are in the UK, but one could feasibly learn French, Italian, Spanish, or Polish with a
tremendous amount of ease (really any European language if you're in London). I hear the first three languages almost daily here. All this being said, it ultimately boils down to what will make you happy and suit your purposes. However, jumping into tough languages for reasons that appear shaky (cool script), may lead to burn out and lack of interest in language learning as a whole. I.E 'this is useless,I will never learn a foreign language!' Whatever you choose, you want to avoid that. I'm not attempting to talk you out of the languages, more just consider your motivations before you begin, and decide if they're good enough reasons to pursue a language. And, yes, cool characters might be a good enough reason for you! (All this being said, I think Japanese sounds pretty cool). 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6408 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 7 of 17 03 May 2013 at 11:44am | IP Logged | |||||
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To satisfy your curiosity, I recommend "Read Japanese Today" by Len Walsh. It's an entertaining book that presents the various characters and explain how they developed from pictograms that had a more obvious meaning but took much longer to write/draw. A fascinating read even for someone who has no plans to learn Japanese (like me).
Don't try to learn everything the book tells you, just enjoy. When you've gone through it you'll know if your interest is strong enough to actually study Japanese, and you'll have a more realistic idea of what it takes. (if you want to look inside the book on Amazon, go to page 31) also, why is it that you don't like German? Have you discovered that you can't stand listening to it? Are you tired of the grammar? Maybe it's a genuine loss of interest but perhaps it's just the methods? Take a break now and have a look at lyricstraining.com and deutsche-welle.de when you've read the Japanese book :) Edited by Serpent on 03 May 2013 at 11:51am 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| eggcluck Senior Member China Joined 4512 days ago 168 posts - 278 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin, Japanese | Message 8 of 17 03 May 2013 at 12:23pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I studied both Japanese and Mandarin. I concur with the others that liking the script is simply not enough, do not forget that as cool as they may seem to you you need to remember the reading, meaning and how to write and then repeat several thousand times.
I would recommend Japanese because there are less characters and extensive reading is easier thanks to hiragana, though Chinese children's books sometimes have pin yin in the same format. I feel Japanese resources are also much easier to come by online though most UK towns have a Chinese community where they do their shopping so Chinese language can be found there and I am sure they would be happy to tell you where they get their Chinese stuff. Japanese would ease you into the characters in a more gentle fashion and when you are ready to add Chinese thanks to Japanese you will already have some character writing remembered and just need to plug in the Chinese meaning and reading, this will decrease your work load A LOT. Japanese pronunciation is also much more English speaker friendly and comes with a number of English loan words. While Chinese does have some English loan words, Japanese has a considerable larger amount of them. Japan is also a much more accessible destination for travel, with more open visa rules and less paranoia. Hope this helps. Edited by eggcluck on 03 May 2013 at 12:28pm 4 persons have voted this message useful |
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