Chinese of Japanese?

[Celegorm]

Yeah, i've heard of Rosetta stone. havn't used it myself, but a friend did. Seems to work pretty well.

 

[alvino]

Right now I'm thinking about starting out with a software program, has anyone used or heard of Rosetta Stone? Anyone know of any good or better ones out there I should look into? I'm still undecided of which to take, but I'm trying to look more into it.

Yeah, I've heard of Rosetta Stone. Looks a bit pricey, but I've heard great reviews about it.

 

[UK31337]

Thats what I'm leaning towards but I also realized there was Japanese and I know they're related so it crossed my mind.

Does Japanese come more with Chinese or do neither come with each other? Like if you learn one of them does any or more of the other language come as a side with it?

Japanese has three alphabets, and one of them is made 100% of stolen characters from Chinese but with the tonality removed. Chinese has no alphabet and is all a mix of about 30 000 different characters.

Chinese is a tonal language, that is to say if you make the wrong sound or use the wrong tone of voice it totally changes the meaning of what you're saying. My friend learnt how to say "I stepped on a landmine" from one Chinese friend, repeated it to another but used the wrong tone so it said "Can you give me the pineapple?". It can cause embarrassment or offence.

You're better off with Japanese, if you have to learn either. Bear in mind that there are native speakers of Chinese and Japanese who aren't actually fluent in them...

If anything, you should give Korean a bash. Simple alphabet, you just take two or three characters and snap them together to form a character.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_language

 

[crazyjoe16]

Japanese is a much simpler language than Chinese. There are a lot of different tones in Chinese, whereas Japanese is basically comprised of two.

I'm currently learning Japanese, and in my opinion, Rosetta Stone is horrible. I would say start out with Pimsleur's Japanese audio lessons.

 

[BGates14]

Japanese is a much simpler language than Chinese. There are a lot of different tones in Chinese, whereas Japanese is basically comprised of two.

I'm currently learning Japanese, and in my opinion, Rosetta Stone is horrible. I would say start out with Pimsleur's Japanese audio lessons.

I'm looking at the audio lessons and I don't think it'd be too easy to learn from the tapes, esp having to go back and rewinding all the time, wouldn't the Rosetta's method be better? or does the audio work well?

 

[crazyjoe16]

I felt like Rosetta Stone was just teaching me phrases, Pimsleur however, gives you a little more info on what each part of a phrase means, and at the end of every lesson there is a sort of simulated conversation where you'll have to use the things you've learned to basically have a conversation. Doing that will give you good experience and build basic skills very quickly.

...in my opinion.

I would suggest that you don't do the following:
1. Download a bittorrent client
2. Go to isohunt and type in "Pimsleur Japanese" (or Rosetta Stone Japanese if you'd like)
3. Download the torrent with all the Pimsleur Japanese audio lessons

 

[BGates14]

I will definitely not be doing that

 

[ownage]

anime....thats what drove me to learn japanese. Japanese itself if a very difficult language to learn. Take it only if you have the time and determination to actually learn it. You need to build a good foundation or once you move higher and higher...you will struggle. But don't let my words scare you away....chinese is just as hard. The languages are very easy to learn if you are young and exposed to a lot of it...as you grow, it is very difficult to learn. If I may ask, how old are you?

 

[kchi55]

anime....thats what drove me to learn japanese. Japanese itself if a very difficult language to learn. Take it only if you have the time and determination to actually learn it. You need to build a good foundation or once you move higher and higher...you will struggle. But don't let my words scare you away....chinese is just as hard. The languages are very easy to learn if you are young and exposed to a lot of it...as you grow, it is very difficult to learn. If I may ask, how old are you?

Haha, anime, I picked up a few phrases from watching subs, I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing, I like the way the Japanese language sounds alot more than the way the Chinese language sounds though.

 

[ownage]

good good...subs are the best...dubs well....they are horrible Japanese does sound very good. Its very smooth flowing. Chinese....has a couple bumps here and there. But Vietnamese (sorry if anybody reading is Vietnamese, I do not mean offense at all) is kinda annoying to listen to, just a personal opinion.