Japanese vs Chinese

[Akutabai_Gamma]

Which is harder/easier to learn in your opinion


I took my first class of Chinese today and so far, i find Japanese much easier and interesting to learn, but then again it could just be biased talking and me just not allowing my self to be interested in Chinese since, i love Japanese...yup, differently biased

so whats your opinion?

[colind]

I started doing chinese at the begining of this year, and I've got to tell you, its 100 times harder than Japanese for me.
The tones just kill me hey!!! I can never say them right and when I'm listening i always get them mixed up.
The funny thing is though, because I already knew a fair bit of kanji from learning Japanese for a year, it has really made the writing side of chinese much easier. Writing/Reading Chinese is much better than Speaking/Listening hehe.
But yeh... I love Japanese too! And after I finish this Chinese course I think I will just stick with Japanese for a while till I feel I'm at a pretty decent level.

[funix]

gramar wise, chinese is much easier ^^;
writing wise, chinese is much harder >_<
speaking/prononciation wise... chinese is much much harder, the 4 tones is just a killer T_T ( "mai" -> buy/sell anyone? )

well... chinese still follow the S-V-O pattern like english. and there is no need to add sufix (eg. add like -te at the end) to change tenses, politeness and all. The grammar rules just felt more intuitive. Japanese grammer confuses me soo bad >_<

but i can't complain too much i guess. To me chinese is a much more natural language ( grow up speaking a little of it, although I can't read/write ).
and japs... only start learning like 2 days ago ^^;
I already got the hiragana part down though XD and pick up some really2 simple grammer.

this site is a HUGE help btw ~o( ^ - ^ )o~

[Akeru]

Well I'm chinese ethnically, but i only learn it until i moved to Australia when I was about 8. I only started to learn Japanese these last few years and find japanese really easy to pick up... I've realised that speaking japanese is easier than chinese. Like Funix said, chinese is harder to pronounce...:p

[AaRoN]

Best friend is chinese so its weird that im learning japanese...and he can speak chinese lol....he said he would slap me if i spoke to him in japaneseB)

[Akutabai_Gamma]

I've mastered the tones so far, it seems i have a knack for learning the proper pronunciation for asian languages...i've even been complimanted on my accent before, the funny thing about that is, i seem to butcher my own native language so badly(my own mother has forbidden me from speaking it in her presence's ) and yet i have a near native Japanese and Chinese accent according to some people:|

[Gaijinian]

我说中文,说得不很好...
Chinese is harder:|

[rottenapples]

I grew up speaking Chinese (Cantonese)so its not a problem for me. But i have to say, for a non native speaker the pronunciation will get a little difficult. Words like 'sei' can either mean 'die' or the number '4' depending on pronunciation. But to think of it, 'shi' in Japanese can be 'die' or '4' too (is it??). Thank god most of the time 4 is said as yon. Something I find difficult about Japanese is pronouncing 'fu' and 'tsu'. My teacher who is a Japanese says it in a way I cant... its fustrating..

[zengargoyle]

a question for the Chinese speakers:

do you think that it is easier to learn Japanese when you already know the basic meaning of the kanji? you can recognize and write them and know the Chinese meaning and just have to learn the pronounciations and flavors that they have in Japanese.

i'm studying the kanji using Heisig's Remembering the Kanji which just teaches one core-meaning and the kanji itself. so far it seems to be going well, i'm up to 600+ kanji after a couple of months. i just wanted to ask some Chinese speakers if the idea seemed sound based on their experience learning Japanese.

[wakuiz]

心很空 天很大 云很重 我恨孤独
却?不走 捧着她的名字
她喜怒哀乐 往前走 多久了

一个人心中只有一个宝贝
久了之后 她变成了眼泪
泪一滴在左手 凝固成为寂寞
往回看 有什么 那女孩对我说
(说我)保护她的梦
说这个世界 对她这样的不多
她渐渐忘了我 但是她并不晓得
遍体麟伤的我 一天也没再爱过
那女孩对我说 说我是一个小偷
偷她的回忆 塞进我的脑海中
我不需要自由 只想背着她的梦
一步步向前走 她给的永远 不重
A new cool song...

yoyoyo... lol i am chinese ha..but i am sux at reading chinese; too many word nid to remenber...actually japan is quite similar as chinese. i.e 爱人 japan is aijin and chinses is ai ren ha....am i right ? >.<

[Mariya]

I would find it far too difficult to learn two languages at once. With my Japanese, it has come to a major halt due to college pressure, and I feel as if I'm forgetting...that's a very depressing feeling.

I've resolved to dedicate my weekends more. I'm only touching on Chinese after a good few years of Japanese.

[funix]

wakuiz: yeah, some are really similar.
another example might be shonen -> shao nan , and shojo -> shau ni

I agree it is easier to understand kanji when you know chinese, but remembering 2 spelling for the same word might be a bit hard. At least for me it is

[roosh]

i'm a chinese too...but to me..japanese comes easier..when someone takes these language at a time. yea well it's kindda hard on the pronounsations...that always confuses people everyway...anyway it's easier to relate some chinese to japanese or the other way round...just what some of you guys said...this makes some of the kanji's can be pick up faster..and easier.

besides that...the chinese also have various dialect...it's like rottenapples is a cantonese and i'm a hokkien...there's also hainam...hakka..teow chew...well..there's too many.especially their pronounsations...whew..that kills...wakuiz:yeayea...那女孩对我说rite?...do you think most of the people will get what it means in that song..hehe...

[Apollo]

I like all asian cultures, but I enjoy Japanese a lot more.;)

[kosan]

chinese is very easy..because i am hong kong people...hehe.. :)