If i learn Chinese is it easyer than german to learn?

Question

I learned german and that wasnt that bad. Would Chinese be easyer or harder? I heard there is two kinds of chinese is that true?

Answer 1

It may depend on your native language, but for most people the Asian languages are much harder than European languages. There are particles instead of inflections for grammar, which is different from both English and German, and you generally can't guess at vocabulary you don't know because it's all character-based. There are some difficult grammar points (like verb tenses, noun genders) that don't exist in Chinese, but on the whole I'd say it's harder.

There are actually several dialects of Chinese, of which Mandarin is the most common.

Answer 2

Chinese is much more difficult. Although Chinese has much simpler grammar than German (no inflections, no gender, no cases, no tenses):
(1) Chinese pronunciation is more difficult because Chinese is tonal;
(2) Chinese is not related to English as is German, so there are only a few loanwords that resemble their English counterparts. For example, the word 'was' is the same in English and German, and 'is' and 'ist' are almost the same; and
(3) German uses the roman alphabet, while for Chinese, you have to learn thousands of characters.

Mandarin is the official form of Chinese. But there are other Chinese languages such as Cantonese, Hakka, Fukienese, Wu and Min. These are spoken in regions of China. But most speakers of these languages in China have learned at least some Mandarin.

Answer 3

Chinese is definitely harder. If you understand English, you will find it easier to learn German, since they both use alphabets. Some terms are almost similar except for the spelling, whereas Chinese is a different animal altogether. You simply can't associate it with English. I should know. My second language is Chinese, my Mother tongue is English, I learnt 6 modules of basic German, and I'm actually more comfortable seeing German words than Chinese. Of course, when it comes to writing in Chinese, I'm totally hopeless.

Answer 4

apples and pears.... chalk and cheese...

German is easier in the sense that it involves the greek alphabet (as opposed to the characters and pinyin (pronunciation) in Chinese)

Chinese, on the other hand, has one of the simplest grammatical systems around, meaning that it will be easier in that sense... Once you have learnt the characters it is just a matter of slotting them in and out of sentences....

There's probably not a lot you could take from German and apply to Chinese (Mandarin or Cantonese), but I guess if you have experience learning other languages that will always help. It is a very rewarding language to learn, however, and it would be very useful in this divergent society we live in...

ps. hopflower, re:alphabet, D'oh! I had thought it was roman, or at least not greek, but when I saw someone else say it I thought I must be wrong! Kinda screws my credentials.... but hey, I stand by my advice, with the appropraite correction!!

Answer 5

harder. yes there are two "types" of chinese, madarin and cantonese. according to my mother, who speaks cantonese, they are similar enough that she can mostly follow a conversation.
chinese is A LOT harder than german because you have to learn and ENTIRE new alphabet. actually, its not really even an alphabet. the chinese characters represent sounds and there are over two hundred. it can be a hard language to pick up if you really arent all that dedicated.
although if you just want to learn the langauge and not the writing it would still be slightly harder. chinese, like most asians languages is a tonal based language. it depends on your pitch. a word can have a completly different meaning based on your pitch. for instance the word for "four" can also mean "death.
for westerners, any asian language can be very difficult to pick up as there is very little in common. but it would be very rewarding in the end, especially as china will be an incredibly powerful force in the world and particularly in world business.

Answer 6

Chinese is definately harder to learn. I studied German for 7 years, and am quite fluent in speaking and writing. Now I'm working in Taiwan, and learning Chinese. Believe me, I wish it was as easy as German!
Firstly, yes, there are a few different Chinese versions out there. Speaking wise, a PRC Chinese, a Hong Kong Chinese and a Taiwan Chinese speaker would all sound very different. Accents, grammar and vocabulary differ. There are two different writing styles as well. In China (PRC) they write simplified Chinese characters, while in Taiwan they use traditional characters. Some characters overlap, but they are few and far between.
And now I've only touched the more commonly used versions of Chinese. There are so many dialects that even a Chinese speaker sometimes gets dizzy!
If you're really interested in learning Chinese, you'll first have to decide which version you'll want to learn - PRC or Taiwanese Chinese. This decision will be influenced by where you stay, and what kind of Chinese you'll be hearing on the streets. It's quite silly to learn the one you're never going to be hearing, because you'll just never get a chance to practice your skills.
Secondly, I suggest enrolling in a good Chinese course. There are many people out everywhere who try to take advantage of all the people suddenly interested in learning Chinese. Unfortunately they might be Chinese speakers who haven't set food in China or Taiwan for years, and who might have lost their mother tongue skills. First check out who you'll be studying with.
Thirdly, try to make a few Chinese speaking friends. After your first month or so of lessons, browse your local Chinese markets and listen for words you recognize. Also start to greet the people in Chinese, and try to make friends with people who pronounce the words as closely as to what you are learning in school. This way, you'll probably be able to practice your listening skills without hampering your own pronunciation skills.
Good luck with your decision and your ultimate studies. Chinese is a very interesting language to learn, and I've learned so much about the wonderful interesting culture of the Chinese people while learning the language. It's really worth the effort.
Go for it!

Answer 7

Chinese is a harder language to learn because its not based off the greek alphabet. There is more than two kinds of languages in chinese, but the two major kinds is mandarin and cantonese.

Answer 8

There are more than 2 kinds of Chinese. I believe that Mandarin is the most widely spoken Chinese dialect, and it is rather difficult to learn. There are not verb tenses, and many words are pronounced and spelled exactly the same... the only way to tell the difference is the level of intonation.

Answer 9

There are several kinds of Chinese languages spoken as the main language or in part.
Chinese
Cantonese Chinese;
Mandarin Chinese
Hakka Chinese
There are seven languges making up the Chinese language groups, see;
www.chinalanguage.com/Language/chinese.html . this ist ewill aid you in researching them.

These all make up the Chinese languages, and dialects.

Answer 10

Chinese is surely harder than German.
It may be one of the hardest languages in the world
There are too many dialects from area to area.But the Mandarin(putonghua)is the most widely used.Everyone can understand Mandarin even they can't speak it well.
I am Chinese.so if you want to ,I can help you.