Will it be hard to learn both Chinese and Japanese at the same time?
I am born in china so I already know how to speak chinese fluently. I just need to learn how to write. I'm currently going to take Chinese 101 in college and I was thinking about taking Japanese aswell my second semester.
I heard that the hardest part of learning Chinese is pronunciation (easy part for me) and the hardest part of learning Japanese is grammar.
I'm pretty devoted to learning both languages. Do you think its possible to learn both languages at once under my circumstances?
Tags: china, circumstances, grammar, languages, learning chinese, learning japanese, pronunciation, second semester
November 14th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
As a Vietnamese American, I am currently taking Chinese and Japanese at the same time in college. So definitely if you are as devoted as you say, you should have no problem (having that huge advantage in Chinese). Unlike what many people perceive, the Chinese and Japanese language are VERY different. The only overlap there is sometimes is the usage of kanji (Chinese characters). However, Japanese, in my opinion, is a lot harder than learning Chinese because they have so many different readings for one character.
For example, the character 人 (generally meaning person) :
Japanese pronunciation: -nin, -jin, hito, -ri, -to
…whereas,
Chinese pronunciation: ren (second tone)
The grammar is difficult as well…at least when compared to Chinese (in which there’s hardly no grammar at all); but it’s nothing compared to the ridiculousness of English.
In the end, no matter how difficult or simple it may seem, you have to WANT to learn something to fully get it; that’s the measure of possibility. To learn a language, you should be interested in its culture as well.
Well, that’s my two cents…
Good luck! 加油 (Jia you)! がんばってね (Ganbatte ne)!
November 14th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
a little because of the writing
November 14th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
yeh i think it would be because they are connected a bit , so u might get confused in what each thing was in each language
November 14th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
i would think so
November 14th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
i think it will be hard because you will get 2 languages messed up. thats what i think.
November 14th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
I would say that it’s fairly easy for me, and if you are pretty good at languages, you’ll be okay. The only problem is that some people get mixed up, but usually not all that badly. Go for it, you should be fine.
November 14th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
There are alot of shared characters in the two languages. Some have different meanings, so it may be hard, but there are alot that have the same meaning, I suppose it’s possible but it might be trouble.
November 14th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
You’ll do fine.
chinese and japanese have similar grammar anyway. I don’t know for sure since I only know a little of chinese and japanese. but one of my childhood friends speaks, Cantonese, Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean and Japanese (she was the tour guide for her college — they loved her!!)
November 14th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Really it depends on the person, some people are naturally gifted at languages and would have no trouble, others would struggle.
I would say give it a go, and if you’re really devoted you’ll manage.
November 14th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Yes it will be difficult because you also have to consider written script that differs for both languages, not to mention grammar. I suggest you start with Chinese and then move on to Japanese since some Chinese words are also found in Japanese script
November 14th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
absolutely. it might be even easier for you if you do this: when you learn something in Chinese, bypass English altogether and translate it directly into Japanese (and vice versa), and learn them both at the same time. i think that’s the best way from getting confused at all.
my mother grew up in Japan learning Japanese and Chinese at the same time, and of course has no problem in going back and forth between the Chinese and Japanese pronunciations of Kanji and languages within the same conversation…
November 14th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Linguist suggests: Do not learn 2 or more languages at the same time.
November 14th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Yes,Chinese and Japanese have similar place.They are easily confused.