Mandarin vs Japanese

[Logan Driver]

Hi guys,

I know a few European languages, but I'd like to learn an Asian language. I already speak a South Asian language.

I want to learn either Mandarin or Japanese, to challenge myself, explore one of the cultures through their literature, and learn the language at a conversational and written level too. And I suppose from a business perspective one of the above may become useful also.

Which would you suggest? Mandarin or Japanese?

I know we can't answer this question in totality or even adequately but I have to ask also: which is a bit easier to learn?

Thanks

[Tofuu]

i would say Mandarin is hard considering the range of characters
Japanese also isn't easy but then again it doesn't have as many [kanji, hiragana...] characters you need to learn compared to Mandarin

for business perspectives, in Australia, mandarin might be a better choice
but if your going overseas [China, Japan...], obviously learn the respective languages

i would recommend placing your decison on which culture interests you more

[Logan Driver]

Hi Tofuu,

You've made some really good points, thanks for the tips mate!

I'll have to do a toss up, like you said, based on which culture I'm more interested in

thanks again

[biopia]

I am currently learning Mandarin. It's a lot of fun =] The hardest thing about it though, is that it's a tonal language. Potentially, one sound can have four different meanings depending on how you say it. I agree with the previous post though. I find it quite easy to remember. The characters are hard though :/ I have a passion for China though, so it's always fun.

If I ever truly feel fluent in Mandarin, I'd also love to learn Japanese. I'd probably learn French first though.

Good luck =]

[seremify007]

I'd say Japanese is really only useful if you really want to either a) travel to Japan or b) watch anime/play japanese games (before they are translated into english)/listen to Jpop/etc...

Mandarin on the other hand would be infinitely more useful in both business/career and you'll probably get more opportunities to use it in Australia (e.g. Chinatown). There's also plenty of Chinese tv shows, movies, music, etc.. you can also get into (as an alternative to Japanese).

[Logan Driver]

Awesome! Keep your thoughts coming, it is helping me form a decision

So far, Mandarin seems to be winning - based on what everyone has said. Seems to have much more scope..

[kyokaku92]

Japanese ftw!! I can't wait to re-learn the language after HSC. Not fluently but understand enough to communicate and watch anime/dramas unsubbed
I've found Mandarin hard to learn but simple to speak.

[Logan Driver]

Ideally I'd love to learn both really well, but that would be unrealistic for a guy who's only learnt Latin based languages(Italian & Spanish). So, am still weighing it up

Japanese looks cooler for some reason..3 alphabets..travel in Japan..Japanese culture..

But then similar can be said about Mandarin Chinese I'm guessing? Have done some research on it, I think Mandarin would definitely challenge me too.

[darkcounty]

Mandarin is way more useful business/career wise as China's global influence spreads. Also, its grammar/ sentence structure is really similar to english which makes it easier to speak and write. Japanese is for weabos lol lol.

[Logan Driver]

Okay, I've made a decision. Mandarin. I think it's going to be fucking hard, but I'm up for the challenge!

Hmm...I think I'm going to have to find a community college or language school for it..or a private tutor perhaps?

gumtree.com.au here I come!

[Logan Driver]

Lol, just depends if you prefer Japanese or Chinese girls in the end

LMAO!! Well put, brother.

[biopia]

Rosetta Stone is a useful program that is working wonders for me. Just something to consider for learning the basics which will help you when you get into actual lessons. =]

[danal353]

I would like to learn how to read and write mandarin... it's the most spoken language in the world

[yayati]

I would like to learn how to read and write mandarin... it's the most spoken language in the world

You don't "read and write" Mandarin. Mandarin is the official dialect of China.

I think you mean simplified Chinese.

Personally Chinese is far easier than Japanese and you're more likely to speak it.

Japanese is too complicated and is like a bastardized hybrid language, I mean if you enjoy Japanese culture then great.

[Crestwood's_G]

mandarin...more people speak it...its sort of the equivalent to english in that a few countries have it as their main language

[Hagaren]

I'm studying both, I always was more a Japanese fan but i think that is largely because of the people... as far as the languages go Chinese is pretty fun

[Logan Driver]

Cheers for all your thoughts so far.

I'm still mulling it over. Both sound like good options.

And I'm equally interested in both. In terms of ease, I think Japanese would be a good choice, at least it has set alphabets? Unlike Chinese...

[the-derivative]

Cheers for all your thoughts so far.

I'm still mulling it over. Both sound like good options.

And I'm equally interested in both. In terms of ease, I think Japanese would be a good choice, at least it has set alphabets? Unlike Chinese...

For practicality - Mandarin would be a better choice. Firstly, it is spoken around the world, and yes there are a lot more Mandarin speakers in Australia (so again it'd be more useful, however note that although Mandarin is gaining popularity - Cantonese is still the main lingua franca of a lot of the Chinese communities).

However it also depends what culture you like, and why you're learning. I personally want to learn Mandarin because I'm chinese. Also note, there's pinyin for mandarin, which is pretty much like our alphabet.

[darkcounty]

Cheers for all your thoughts so far.

I'm still mulling it over. Both sound like good options.

And I'm equally interested in both. In terms of ease, I think Japanese would be a good choice, at least it has set alphabets? Unlike Chinese...

Lol, ask any language expert and the answer will be, 'jap is much much harder'. It has atrocious grammar like Polish or russian.

[Logan Driver]

Lol, ask any language expert and the answer will be, 'jap is much much harder'. It has atrocious grammar like Polish or russian.

Oh god... *runs*

Mandarin then..? lol

I reckon I will decide by mid march and start learning..so I have til then to decide. And really it's for no particular reason other than pure interest, and maybe practicality with careers in future.

China's history and culture is something I have always wanted to explore..really interesting stuff! Knowing the language would be of help, and fun..

Also how about learning practicalities? I'm guessing both self-learn packages would be available..but what about availability of teachers/courses?

[darkcounty]

Oh god... *runs*

Mandarin then..? lol

I reckon I will decide by mid march and start learning..so I have til then to decide. And really it's for no particular reason other than pure interest, and maybe practicality with careers in future.

China's history and culture is something I have always wanted to explore..really interesting stuff! Knowing the language would be of help, and fun..

Also how about learning practicalities? I'm guessing both self-learn packages would be available..but what about availability of teachers/courses?

Mandarin has grammar/sentence structure similar to english. If you use Bing translator to translate a passage from English to Mandarin, you would almost be able to fool someone into thinking you're a native speaker. Except you'd sound a bit too formal.

Idk about learning practicalities but both languages should have quite a lot of resources around. When I was learning Dutch, I managed to find many courses for it so there should be no problem finding courses. There's plenty of courses at Tafe and open universities around AUS.

[Malfoy-Sama]

neither is more "useful" -- depends who you want to mix with

in terms of culture eg. dramas, anime, music, jap is better, more fun

in terms of culture, all decent TV, pop culture, music in chinese language comes from either Taiwan or Hong Kong, so dont even bother with the simplified characters which were created by communists 50 yrs ago and are looked down upon by chinese everywhere outside of mainland china as extremely unsophisticated.

so depends, chinese is also easier. but if you learn it, stick to traditional characters.

[katykiddx]

I am currently learning japanese.
And its quite frustrating.

But i deffo prefer learning japanese over mandarin

[William kamel]

I am currently learning japanese.
And its quite frustrating.

But i deffo prefer learning japanese over mandarin

oh please, Japanese is outa fashion now, no body even speaks it now or uses it, unless you watch alot of anime, it's not really that much good of a use.

[mangadrawer]

Depends what you want to use the language for. If you want better career prospects, Mandarin would be the way to go.
Both languages overlap with Kanji, same/similar +meanings.

But considering you put this thread in the 'Hobbies' section, would you be more interested in Japanese or Chinese entertainment(music,tv etc)? Because you aren't simply going to be learning from textbooks and native speakers. And you want to enjoy while you learn.