Which Asian language would be easier to learn?

Question

I'd like to learn either Japanese, Korean, Mandarin or Cantonese

Answer 1

They're all pretty difficult. But there are some things about each language that are just a tad bit easier than others. I've studied all four languages, and here are my impressions of each:

1. Writing System:
Mandarin: Uses hanzi (Chinese characters). Not really difficult, but if you want to be literate, you have to know at least three thousand of them. So there are a lot to remember.

Cantonese: No written standard, but there are Cantonese characters that people use but it's not used in schools.

Japanese: Japanese uses a combination of kanji (Chinese characters) and two sets of syllables that represent 46 sounds each called hiragana and katakana. Hiragana and katakana are easy to learn. However, knowing kanji is essential but you have to know fewer than the Chinese have to. Also, unlike Chinese (Most of the time), each kanji can have different pronunciations depending on how it's used.

Korean: Koreans rely less on hanja (Chinese characters), but it's still encountered. Koreans have their own unique writing system called han'geul. It's very easy to learn and quite logical, as they say. Korean is definitely easy in this respect.

2. Pronunciation:

Mandarin: Uses tones. Each vowel can be pronounced in one of 5 tones. For example there is a high tone or a dipping tone. Mandarin also makes use of retroflex consonants which involve curling the tongue back. This is not found in English.

Cantonese: There are no retroflex consonants in Cantonese, but there are more tones - 9 of them.

Japanese: Japanese probably has the easiest pronunciation out of the four. However, it does have its difficulties. There are no tones, but there is pitch accent.

Korean: Easier pronunciations. No tones. But there are more vowels that English speakers may have difficulty with. So it's a bit harder than Japanese.

3. Grammar:

Mandarin & Cantonese: word order is usually SUBJECT VERB OBJECT (like English). You don't have to worry about conjugations or inflections. In fact, the structure is remotely similar to English.

Japanese & Korean: Conjugation is involved. Use of pronouns is discouraged. Honorifics are present. There are also different verbs depending on politeness. Word order is SUBJECT OBJECT VERB. English speakers will have more difficulty in these two languages than they will in the two Chinese languages above.

In any case, don't let the difficulties scare you. In the end, they are all equally hard. Choose whatever you think will be of most use to you in whatever you do. Good luck!

Answer 2

i would say probably japanese. it has the easiest sound productions of any of those languages. i'm actually full blooded chinese and speak mandarin and cantonese (although neither fluently) and am currently studying Linguistics at my state university. japanese is phonetic (sounds like how it is written if you write the sounds using the English Alphabet) and the sounds produced are very similar to english-- therefore, it wouldn't be hard for you to adjust and produce those sounds. if you want a challenge, try either mandarin, cantonese, or korean. i dont know all that much about korean except i have a lot of friends who are korean, and the sound production is pretty difficult. mandarin + cantonese, from experience, have a lot of tones. saying the sound "ma" (if u heard my voice, it would be easier to explain) can mean 4 different things in mandarin, depending on the tone you use. -- horse, mom, [end of sentence sound] and scold.

Answer 3

Assuming your mother tongue is based on the roman alphabets or the likes. Japanese would be your doorway to an asian lanaguage. It's phonetics and you can actually get by well without learning to write Japanese style characters.
One of their writing methods is to use straight phonetics spelling for the spoken sentence. Mandarine would be the next in terms of spoken language. Both Korean and Cantonese involve sounds and pronounciations without vowel which is challenging at times for some Latin originated speakers.

Answer 4

I have studied both Mandarin and Japanese and found Japanese to be waaaay easier. Mandarin and Cantonese are both tonal languages. Mandarin has 4 tones, and Cantonese has 7, I believe. Which means in Manadarin the word 'ma' could be pronounced 4 different ways and each mean something different, and it Cantonese it could be pronounced 7 different ways!! Yikes. I have lots of respect for people who can learn Chinese! Also Chinese words are generally only one syllible long and therefore harder to remember. Japanese is way easier... there aren't different tones and the words are a lot easier to remember. I think its a very beautiful language. Good luck!

Answer 5

Korean would be the easiest to learn to read and write. Korean has a full alphabet (Hangeul), whereas Chinese has its ideograms, and Japanese has two syllabaries and ideograms.

Either Japanese or Korean would be the easiest to learn to hear and speak. Mandarin and Cantonese with their tones are likely to be the hardest to learn to speak. Korean has some interesting parts with aspirating and doubling letters. Japanese is probably the easiest to pronounce.

Answer 6

A friend of mine taught herself to speak fluent Mandarin in two years. The difficulty she had was distinguishing between like sounds. I would at least give each a short try, and see which seems to suit your expectations best. I applaud you for wanting to broaden your horizons and learn something from another culture. Good luck in your venture!

Answer 7

To learn these languages means you also have to learn the characters also. I tried once and I gave up, it's easier to learn English or French.

Answer 8

I like Christopher S's approach to the question. All languages have some things that are easy and some that are hard. Do you really want to choose a language based only on difficulty?

Answer 9

Filipinos

Answer 10

I've got a Japanese-English Dictionary and it's so easy to remember,pronounce and understand...ASAGOHAN is BREAKFAST!!!AKUMA is EVIL SPIRIT or DEVIL,AKUNIN is VILLAIN!!!Hope I helped you decide!!!