Should I learn Japanese?

Question

I've been hearing as of late that the Chinese economy will be taking off soon, becoming a very dominant force in the future. With this happening do you think that it will still be relevant to learn the Japanese language? I really like their culture. Do you think that it is possible to learn both languages fluently?

Answer 1

first I would like to say that yes it is possible, but highly improbable due to the extreme difficulty of the languages. A friend of mine got his Bachelors in Chinese and even now while studying for his masters he cannot read through a chinese newspaper article without having to look up characters. So chinese is extremely difficult only because the writing system is so illogical -ie. they have no alphabet only hundreds of thousands of symbols for everything. I am studying Japanese and though it is hard and not very practical I decided on it because the culture is so rich and has so much to offer. Still, knowing Japanese will make chinese easier - for example I was able to read some signs in a Chinese restaurant the other day because I knew the kanji (Japanese), My advice is to pick the culture you like the best. Chinese is probably the most practical for the future decades, but Japan is still the #2 market in the world and so they're not going to just drop off the map anytime soon. Good luck and I hope this helps you!!!

Answer 2

I'm a native Japanese and I don't think the country will even exist in a couple hundred years, thanks to the Chinese. Anyway, I think you should learn whatever language you want, for whatever reason. It's been said that it takes the average Westerner (native English speaker) seven years to learn Japanese, but the advantage is, once you learn Kan'ji you'll be able to read some Chinese writings. I think it's possible to learn both, but very time-intensive. Good luck.

Answer 3

If you choose to learn both, I suggest you take Chinese first (make sure you learn traditional characters as well as the symplified)
Start Japanese once you are upper intermediate/advanced in Chinese, It will be a lot easier.

I don't think it is efficient to take 2 languages at beginner level at the same time.

Answer 4

I studied Japanese, Chinese, French and German in colleges. China and Japan are quite different. Japanese Kanji writing is basically copying Chinese symbols, but some are different, and they are pronounced differently. A Japanese kanji symbol can be pronounced 2 or 3 ways, e.g. my lover's surname is Komatsu. The Ko means small or young. In the name Oyama the symbol is O. In religion and martial arts the symbol is Sho. Shorin is Japanese Shaolin.

Answer 5

No. After English, Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese, etc,) will be the language of the future. Condensate on doing the most important.

Answer 6

The Chinese have hundreds of languages or dialects, so it depends on which one you want to learn. I think Cantonese is popular.

Answer 7

yeah it would be pretty cool to learn japenese but i know it would be hard to learn