Should I take Chinese instead of Spanish(I'm taking Japanese too)?

Question

Okay, so I love languages. I'm a freshman in college, and I'm currently taking Japanese 101. Next semester I'm continuing Japanese but also starting Spanish 201. I'm majoring in International Business(even though I'm not entirely sure that's the kind of field I want to go into, but I wanted to do something involving other cultures and languages). But yeah so I've been contemplating whether or not I should skip Spanish and switch to Japanese. I'd probably take Spanish next semester, but should I try starting Chinese afterwards? I don't really know. I just wanted some suggestions.

Answer 1

You'll definitely find chinese (I'd recommend mandarin) a challenge...A lot because of the tones....I think that china is the next up and coming country in the world..and mandarin is already the most widely spoken. I've been learning it for years.

Answer 2

If you've just started taking Japanese, then you should definitely wait a few more terms before you attempt to take Chinese. The characters, it's true are really very different, but the syllables and language style are close enough that if you don't have a firm grasp on one, you are likely to find yourself making more mistakes than necessary. Certainly, both Chinese and Japanese are both good languages to have in International Business, but if you give yourself a while to settle into one of the two, you'll feel much better about progress in both of them. Taking Spanish is a good idea, although I'm not sure I entirely understand your plan as far as "contemplating whether or not I should skip Spanish and switch to Japanese. I'd probably take Spanish next semester" Spanish is a language commonly used in the Western Hemisphere and to some extent, the Eastern as well. You may find that being able to speak a Romance language is useful, if nothing else.
Best of luck in your decision making.

Answer 3

i want to say something because this is very much like my situation. I took 3 semesters of Japanese to get credit for knowing it and at the same time I took Chinese 101, 2 and 3. I would like to learn Spanish and I have been studying it on my own. I have the feeling that you are just taking languages because you like to learn them. I don't think knowing any of these languages can hurt you in the business world.
To me Spanish is easier because it is the closest to English. Chinese grammar is not so different from English. But, there are many things like it being a tonal language and the ideographic writing that make it difficult. And, then Chinese is Chinese. And, not the same as western thinking.
And, Japanese may even be harder in that respect to understand. It is sure not English nor even close. But, I like all three and think you cannot go wrong with them. Good luck

Answer 4

I can give you my own example when I took up Spanish (five-year course). As an optional subject, I chose French. So I started learning both the languages simultaneouly. But soon I realized that I was totally confused between the two languages. I was using french words in Spanish classes and vice-versa.So I had to abandon French.

Since Japanese and Chinese are more or less similar in character writings (or atlease I assume so), it can be confusing to take both the languages. My suggestion is take up a language which is completely different from Japanese like Spanish, French, Italian etc.

Answer 5

Chinese and Japanese are not the same but they are astonishingly similar. I would think you would just confuse yourself far too much. Wait till your knowledge of Janpanese is solid (like a year after you've started living there, because college knowledge and real life knowledge are far from the same), and then get into Chinese. Spanish you can learn at college here in the states and then go to a neighborhood and discover the real-life version, so, don't skip Spanish!

Answer 6

Take spanish, its mostly spoken all over, especially in US right now, when u take Chinese, take Mandarin because its now the main chinese dialect, Cantonese is beautiful my family speaks a dialect off of cantonese but there arent as many now that speak it.. its very hard and very harsh sounding but its great to know. then take up Japanese, they really arent the same like spanish to italian but they are hard as well. Stick with the most used languages in business, u could make a lot of money and get paid to travel just to translate!!

Answer 7

Yes, take Chinese. It's really easy, I took it last year and now I'm taking Japanese. I also speak Spanish and Chinese grammar is very easy.
Japanese is more difficult than Chinese so take it before (if you decide to learn both).

Answer 8

Since you already know Japanese, it's very much easier for you to learn Chinese as they both have many similiar characters...

I think Chinese is more important than Spanish. You can always take chinese first befroe taking spanish

Answer 9

As a person in business, know any of the three will be a great help to you in any number of endeavors that you might get into. The idea of trying to live in an area where you can actually use the language skills and experience the culture would be a great assest to you as well.

Go for all that you can.

Good Luck

Answer 10

Only study Mandarin. I speak both Cantonese and Mandarin but they are very different (though written the same), however there are many dialects. The company I work for employs many people from around China and sometimes communication is difficult but Mandarin is the best.