Mandarin or Japanese? Which to learn?

Hello all,

I've decided that during my gap year I will try and learn a new language as best as I can - already fluent in 3 (Romanian, English and German(well, 90% I think )).

Asia is a continent I haven't visited yet, but definitely planning to in the near future. So anyways, I'm looking for your opinions, which one you think is easier or more valuable?

I know Mandarin is the most spoken language in the world, with over 1 billion people speaking it but I don't really want to get into something that's impossible to learn; yes I know both are hard, but one must be easier, taking into account tenses and synonyms than the other .

 

For me maybe considering jap =)

 

I dunno... if I were in Romania I might choose Russian.

That may not be the most politically correct suggestion.

 

I would recommend Japanese, its not that hard. Kanji is hard.

 

And if you do choose Mandarin, you have to choose which character set to learn -- Traditional Chinese or Simplified (Communist) Chinese.

 

I love both because I'm part Chinese but I like nihongo more! weeee

 

I'd choose Mandarin, it's spoken by more pepole in the world.

 

I also choose Mandarin... Kanjis is hard to write..

 

I choose Mandarin, It's the second after English

 

I would chose Mandarin, their economy is growing at a super rate and it won't be long before they need more fluent English speakers to help with building trade/relationships.

I'm currently learning Thai and hear Mandarin is very similar - i.e it's a tonal language.

Good luck with what ever language you decide to learn

 

Japanese for sure...

 

Japanese.. Yui is kawai...

 

Japanese <3

 

I hear that Japanese is a lot easier to learn so I would have to chose Japanese then.

 

Not only its easier, it sounds much better

 

Even though Kanji is difficult, Japanese grammar isn't (as some friends have told me). Plus, the Japanese market has it all, and it's always a useful language to know.
About Mandarin, sure, it's great to be able to say you speak Chinese, and China is a growing power (ergo a growing market), but it's not a safe bet.

If you want to learn one of them just for the kicks, I say both are just as cool.
Mult succes!

 

Decide about the kind of language you are going to learn depending on the country you are planning to visit. It seems mandarin is the most popular language but Japanese is relative less difficult to learn.

 

I see, well thanks for the replies, it looks like Japanese might be easier apart from the Kanji characters but I doubt the Simplified Chinese characters would be much easier to learn.

Yeah, thing is that China is grown in the world market at a staggering at the moment and even though Japanese market is strong, I personally think it will be overtaken in the next 50 years.

I haven't got planned any visits or business over the next years as I'm still 18 but being able to learn a new language is always nice. Therefore it's hard to say which country I'm planning on visiting.

 

Maybe it would be better and much easier for you to learn let's say French or Spanish.

 

i would like to learn mandarine.. its easier to learn i think,