Which to learn in college: Japanese or Chinese?

I'm going to most likely minor in one of them and take all the classes for the language in 4 years with a summer or semester abroad inthe respective country. I really would be happy in learning an asian language but do not know which one and want to hear your opinions, especially those who have studied either or both.

The reasons I came up for learning Japanese is mainly because of it's culture, which I find it more unique than China's. It's where many of my favoriteanime and videogames were produced. It's also where many quirky fads and other eccentricities can be found. I also like the fact that the society is cleaner and there is more technological sophistication. Lastly, Tokyo is one of the most urban and environment friendly cities in the world. I also do like the way Japanese sounds and linguistically looks interesting with verb conjugations and particles. The negatives however is that I may not be able to use Japanese as much in the future. The number of japanese speakers isn't as great as chinese speakers, and not that many live in the United States.

The reasons for learning Chinese is that it has much much more speakers. I would be able to use it more, especially in the United States.I also do find Chinese history and culture interesting but not as interesting as Japans. China also is becoming stronger and stronger economically and may become really powerful in the future. Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong are becoming more and more urbanized. Chinese does sound pleasant to me at some times and I do find the tones of the language to be a cool part of it however it may be difficult. The bad thing is China is third world country and communist. The place has many polluted and poor regions. Also, I have a feeling more Chinese people speak English than the Japanese. I'm also not sure who are generally nicer, Japanese or Chinese people?

Appreciate any input!

Spanish. Hop off of the "I'm so fascinated with Japanese culture" bandwagon.

Easy - the one which has the best-looking women.

chinese isnt a language weezyfb

If you see yourself using either of the two languages in a professional setting later on, then I would pick Mandarin. If it is just for fun, then go with Japanese, since you seem to like it more.

French - for the ladies

Chinese - for the usefulness (going to become important as China continues to gain economic influence)

China isn't a 3rd world country.

Forget Japanese, Learn Chinese, it will prepare you for your future chinese overlords haha :P

[QUOTE="weezyfb"]chinese isnt a language Perd1t1on

German

Spanish. Hop off of the "I'm so fascinated with Japanese culture" bandwagon.

SilentSoprano

German

depend3ncy

In that case, dont learn any other language. Chinese is the most chaotic mess i've ever

encountered, japanese is a bunch of fail on princicple..im just gonna gtfo of this thread now.

German

[QUOTE="depend3ncy"]

German

sieg6529

[QUOTE="weezyfb"]chinese isnt a language Perd1t1on

Mandarin, as it's the most widely spoken. Cantonese is mostly a local dialect that's only spoken in certain parts of China.

I took two years of Japanese in high school and I'm currently studying Mandarin, and between the two, Mandarin is more of a chore, but I know it'll pay off way more in the long run. Mandarin's also hard to speak... it's like the Eastern French (took French for a year, also).Japanese was fun for a while, but the weaboos always made it hard to take seriously. If I hadn't been required to take two consecutive years of a foreign language to graduate, I wouldn't have taken that second year.

If you want to learn Japanese, don't do it because of anime or some fascination with Japanese culture because from what I hear, it's just a phase most people go through - same goes for any language, really.

[QUOTE="sieg6529"][QUOTE="depend3ncy"]

German

Xx_Hopeless_xX

I used to date a girl majoring in German, she liked to randomly say things in it sometimes. Most unattractive habit ever.

I have experience seriously learning both Chinese and german, and i can tell you that german is a lot more useful, unless you are a failure with no

taste and understanding of value of a particular nation. China has none. Yeah.

Unless if you have many Japanese friends or friends who are fascinated with Japanese culture, I would recommend Mandarin.

German

I learned Japanese ok but Chinese is a different monster all together. If you are considering Chinese then make sure you are capable of learning it. It will take much longer to "nail" over Japanese. Also if you personally like Japanese over Chinese don't let haters steer you away. Chances are they can barely speak English correctly anyway.

Take whichever you find more interesting. If you just go off of the more "useful" one you'll probably get tired of it eventually. I can tell you that both are breathtakingly difficult to learn, and I admire you for trying to tackle them. I'm learning French and Russian.

If you take Japanese, you could always do fansubing of TV/movies on the side.

That and play Japanese games months early, before international release:P

As a Russia, i can tell you Russian is obsolete. Honestly, every language except english should be eliminated. I also had 2 years of french,which is just eggs on the pavement...

I minored in japanese and did it at hiroshima university, so its obvious which one I would recommend. Japan is a beautiful country with a lot of pros and a few cons. Overall it was the best experience of my life, and I met my fiance there ^_^ Otherwise, Japanese probably isnt as hard as mandarin/cantonese simple due to the writing structure. Japanese uses 3 alphabets, Hiragana, katagana and kanji. the most difficult to learn, and what I struggle with the most is Kanji, as its all characters derived from china, and theres 3,000+ to learn. However, i believe in china they have to learn about twice as many, so thus I believe japanese would be easier to learn.

Japan is a dumbass country, only mudkipz dont realize it

[QUOTE="Xx_Hopeless_xX"][QUOTE="sieg6529"] I've had Germans tell me not to bother learning German. I would advise against it. Perd1t1on

For use in the future, Chinese. I can bet you'll land yourself a good job knowing the language.

[QUOTE="Xx_Hopeless_xX"][QUOTE="sieg6529"] I've had Germans tell me not to bother learning German. I would advise against it. topgunmv

I used to date a girl majoring in German, she liked to randomly say things in it sometimes. Most unattractive habit ever.

Japan is a dumbass country, only mudkipz dont realize it

depend3ncy

:?

Your name is Dependency.

Who? What? Where?

Cantonese.

Supposedly, the most common form of Chinese spoken is Mandarin. A big difference between English and Chinese is that English words can be spoken with different vocal tones and have the same meaning. Besides subliminal messages, anyway. Mandarin has 4 specific tones, so for example if "ma" is said one way it can mean hemp, while in another it can mean horse, and so on. The writing between Mandarin and Cantonese is how people can understand each other if each person speaks only one form.There are many thousands of characters (words), but reading a newspaper only requires a few thousand or so. Mandarin's okay to learn.

Japanese is alright. In most cases, I prefer the way the Japanese language sounds rather than English. If I had a choice, I'd pick Rosetta Stone or some program that teaches me quickly and completely, rather than months in a school.

Learning one usually makes learning the other much easier. I knew people who were studying both back in college.

Japanese is recommended if you plan on working in the game industry.

Mandarin is recommended if you plan on working in the non-videogame business world (products, finance, economic stuff, etc).

German

Whichever you like best. Interest and motivation is very important in learning a language.

Spanish. Hop off of the "I'm so fascinated with Japanese culture" bandwagon.

SilentSoprano

this

not to mention the majority of Japanese I encountered in Japan speak english, and damn good enlish, to begin with.

Hispanics living in the US...not so good at speaking English.

Spanish. Hop off of the "I'm so fascinated with Japanese culture" bandwagon.

SilentSoprano

Mandarin.. even though I'm Japanese descendant :P

Chinese....being an otaku is outdated.