Ok, so I'm about to complete my foreign language requirement at my university, but I would like to pick up another language. I've had a very strong interest in East Asian culture and history all my life, so I would love to learn Chinese or Japanese. However, I have no clue which to choose. Anyone here who learned/knows either or both languages and could tell me the pros and cons of each? Which is more difficult, which has probably more use later on, etc. etc.?

neither are real easy..

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Chinese is much harder (due to the fact that it's tonal and has you memorizing a ton of Chinese characters). Then again, you'll be memorizing those same Chinese characters in Japanese, as well.

However, I find Japanese to be overall more fun. I also think it sounds cooler.

Muahahhaa.


Thread title reminds me of this one time i was with this one asian chick i just met. She was riding with me and i go so are you Chinese or Japanese. She got really offended and asked me to take her home.


It turned out she was actually vietnamese.

/true story

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with chinese you have two dialects
cantonese - spoken mainly around hong kong
mandarin - spoken mainly around mainland china

do you have any interest in traveling overseas, i know japan has the exchange teaching programs (JET), so if you had any interest in doing that then obviously the chinese is going to come in handy

but which is easier to learn, chinese or japanese...neither, they both are bitches

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japanese is pretty easy because it's straight forward. it sounds how it's written for the most part...


chinese dunno anything about it, but i'd take that just for the fact that china is entering the world economy in a major way in the next decade and so i think knowing chinese would be a great advantage in that respect perhaps in terms of jobs or what not. learning chinese today would be like learning japanese back in the 80's...

haha this thread reminds of the time I bought a toaster & on the box it said "made in China", but the label on the actual toaster said it was "made in Japan". It kept burning my toast so I thought that it was either going through an identity crisis or that it was racist (I put in white bread)!

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Confusious Says... Man who run behind car get exhausted.

Thing is, I'm not a business major. In fact I'm pre-med, so the argument for Chinese in that case doesn't help. I guess a lot of it will be determined when I see what times they are offered next year (to avoid scheduling conflicts), but if both are offered at good times I have no idea where I should go. Right now Chinese (they teach Mandarin) seems interesting to me, but how difficult is it?

lol @ foreign Language requirement. What a waste of time. GET A JOB YOU BUM!

jk. seriously though, if you are aiming for a professional career after University & there isnt a need to learn a foreign language in this type of occupation, then what is the point of taking the class? You don't even have clue what language you want to learn, and you are willing to pick up anything that will fit into your schedual!! What does pre-med have anything to do with foreign languages?? Pick a worthwhile subject instead of wasting everyones time!

jk. do Chinese. Chinese is the way to go!

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I'd learn chinese... just because. You should have made this a poll

quote:

Originally posted by Sunsnail I'd learn chinese... just because. You should have made this a poll

I know a poll would be nice but I wanted to get some pros and cons as well. I know this has nothing to do with me being pre-med, hence why I said I am doing it out of my own interest. I'm already ahead of the game with pre-med courses since I took two required sciences freshman year and I'm taking two this year as well.