Learning Japanese, Chinese and Korean compared
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- čas přidán 10. 02. 2013
- Transcript:
Hi there, Steve Kaufmann here. I was asked to do a video, today in fact, about the differences between learning Japanese and Chinese. I appreciate getting specific requests. It’s always nice to respond to listeners/viewers who are interested in a particular subject, so I thought I would look try to look at these differences, both in terms of how I study the two languages -- I’m going to throw Korean in, as well, three Asian languages -- and what I think are general differences in terms of difficulty and so forth...
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I find Chinese easier to read as well, mostly because there is only one writing system.
For me the biggest struggle when I was learn a language is acquiring enough vocabulary to understand and eventually speak. Japanese and Koreans have a major advantage over Europeans when they study Chinese, because they know a lot of the vocabulary.
Whatever you find interesting certainly works as long as you listen to the words.
I lived in Japan for nine years. My wife was born in Macau. I lived in Hong Kong for 2 1/2 years. I have Chinese Japanese and Korean friends. I am no academic but I form my own opinions.
As Korean who can speak both Japanese and Chinese, Knowing chinese character really helps you to understand and flourish words you use. Of course writing or pronouncing is quite different between countries but it's true that they share some similarities in language.
As a Korean person who is familiar with Japaneses and Chinese while fluent in Korean, I recommend learning Korean first. I make this recommendation because Korean would be the easiest learn to read and write among the three languages.
I am a working as a translator in Osaka Japan. I studied Japanese at university in England and have been living here in Japan for about 10 years. I wish everyone all the best in their studies. Its not easy going at first but just stick at it.
Yes, small world. I am actually still working on my Slavic languages. I don't have anyone to practice Korean with. You could get on our forum at LingQ and ask that question. Alex, of LingQ, is a fluent Korean speaker and may have contacts here in Vancouver.
hanzi = chinese han language (literally means Han words)
hanja = korean version of the Han Chinese words
kanji = Japanese version of Han Chinese Words
Influence spread during Han, Tang & Ming dynasties. Thus the inter-relation and similarities.
First learn the kanji and Japanese, Then I would go to Marndarin and simplified script. If you have the time, do both concurrently.
This was such a great video, I totally agree with you on so many points. I’m 6 months into learning Korean. It’s completely different than the two languages, Greek and English, I’m fluent in. I agree with what you said about reading, writing and listening to music. Bigger bonus is to be exposed to the language, i try to visit the little Korea-town spots in the city. Other than speaking English at work, the rest of the time it’s been non stop Korean in whichever way I can hear, read , or write it. I’ll be visiting South Korea in September, I look forward just be totally surrounded by the whole language.
I'd love to hear more on Cantonese, Steve! In particular, how to approach learning given the lack of texts. How about a video? :) (PS I know I've asked this before - sorry!)
Check out our Japanese library at LingQ and you can also ask on the Forum there.
OMG!!! I realized it is you!!! I bought u books years before!!! Linguist
你好！Mr. Kaufmann
This video still stands so strong after 8 years
Thank you for posting this video. I have been trying to decide which language to learn first. I have one Mandarin speaking person at work to talk to as well as the lady who takes my order at the Chinese takeout. I have nobody who speaks Japanese or Korean but I have an interest in all three languages.
Whilst it is true that Japanese has 2 extra writing systems, it's not right to say that you require more Kanji to read a Japanese newspaper than Hanzi to read a Chinese newspaper. Chinese has tons upon tons of different characters (around 3000-5000 to be considered fluent in Chinese; not 1000)
For me Korean came rather naturally. It felt very natural to speak and learn, so far I have had very little issues. Chinese and Japanese are very confusing to me. I do like doth those languages, especially the Chinese character system. But they aren't coming as naturally as Korean does. But your response to this question was very interesting!