Japanese or Korean?

Question

I heard that Korean is easier to learn for an english speaker than Japanese. Is this true I have been studying japanese for about a year now and planned to study Korean in the near future.

Answer 1

Here are some things to think about:

Grammar: Korean and Japanese grammatical structures are the same. I have heard that Korean has a few more politeness levels, so it may be slightly more difficult, but they are basically even.

Pronounciation: Japanese is very easy to pronounce. Korean is slightly more difficult, because some of the sounds are not found in the English language.

Writing: Many people do not realize it, but Korean is actually famous for being the easiest writing system to learn. It is even easier than the English alphabet. Japanese katakana and hiragana are not difficult to learn however, kanji takes more time to master.


Knowing Japanese will make Korean easier, because the structure is similar: both are SOV (subject-object-verb) languages. One year of Japanese may not be that helpful with Korean. Studying both at the same time tends to make learning both more difficult. It is better to learn one well and then study the other, rather than to learn both at once. It takes longer to learn both at once than it does to learn one and then the other.

Just things to consider. Good luck!

Answer 2

I believe Japanese might be easier to pronounce, but in terms of reading and writing, Korean is much easier since in Japanese, you have to deal with hiragana, katakana, and kanji. However, Asian languages in general may be difficult for an English (or other romanized) language speaker to learn because of the grammar differences.

Answer 3

Yes Yes. I am learniing BOTH languages and I find Korean has an easier language base and alphabet, which I know ALL of the Han-gul alphabet. I suggest you start with Korean, and build up to Japanese because quite frankly, Korean is easier and the Korean shows are REALLY REALLY REALLY good and funny. ^.^