• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 14:52
CEST 20:52
KST 03:52
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Code S RO8 Preview: Rogue, GuMiho, Solar, Maru0BGE Stara Zagora 2025: Info & Preview27Code S RO12 Preview: GuMiho, Bunny, SHIN, ByuN3The Memories We Share - Facing the Final(?) GSL47Code S RO12 Preview: Cure, Zoun, Solar, Creator4
Community News
BGE Stara Zagora 2025 - Replay Pack0Weekly Cups (June 2-8): herO doubles down1[BSL20] ProLeague: Bracket Stage & Dates9GSL Ro4 and Finals moved to Sunday June 15th13Weekly Cups (May 27-June 1): ByuN goes back-to-back0
StarCraft 2
General
BGE Stara Zagora 2025 - Replay Pack Code S RO8 Preview: Rogue, GuMiho, Solar, Maru Jim claims he and Firefly were involved in match-fixing The SCII GOAT: A statistical Evaluation StarCraft 1 & 2 Added to Xbox Game Pass
Tourneys
Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond) Bellum Gens Elite: Stara Zagora 2025 $3,500 WardiTV European League 2025 Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament SOOPer7s Showmatches 2025
Strategy
[G] Darkgrid Layout Simple Questions Simple Answers [G] PvT Cheese: 13 Gate Proxy Robo
Custom Maps
[UMS] Zillion Zerglings
External Content
Mutation # 477 Slow and Steady Mutation # 476 Charnel House Mutation # 475 Hard Target Mutation # 474 Futile Resistance
Brood War
General
BGH auto balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ FlaSh Witnesses SCV Pull Off the Impossible vs Shu BW General Discussion StarCraft & BroodWar Campaign Speedrun Quest Will foreigners ever be able to challenge Koreans?
Tourneys
[BSL20] GosuLeague RO16 - Tue & Wed 20:00+CET [ASL19] Grand Finals NA Team League 6/8/2025 [Megathread] Daily Proleagues
Strategy
I am doing this better than progamers do. [G] How to get started on ladder as a new Z player
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread What do you want from future RTS games? Armies of Exigo - YesYes? Nintendo Switch Thread Path of Exile
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
LiquidLegends to reintegrate into TL.net
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Vape Nation Thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
Maru Fan Club Serral Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Korean Music Discussion [Manga] One Piece
Sports
2024 - 2025 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion NHL Playoffs 2024
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
A Better Routine For Progame…
TrAiDoS
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Heero Yuy & the Tax…
KrillinFromwales
I was completely wrong ab…
jameswatts
Need Your Help/Advice
Glider
Trip to the Zoo
micronesia
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 36863 users

Learning a language: Korean vs. Mandarin - Page 2

Blogs > DNB
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 All
NonFactor
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Sweden698 Posts
June 07 2011 18:10 GMT
#21
On June 08 2011 01:45 Vinnesta wrote:
Show nested quote +
On June 08 2011 01:28 DNB wrote:
On June 08 2011 01:21 IamBach wrote:
Korean is crazy difficult. If you can read in one you can basically read in the other(with some work of course). I would go with Korean because Mandarin is actually not that difficult of a language and if you think you can pick up Korean, Mandarin will come pretty quickly too. Like you said, you know the basics of Korean, but I think you'll be surprised how challenging it is for an English speaker. Also, I think because of the challenge that Korean poses, you'll actually be more likely to find work as a Korean speaker, because Mandarin speakers are more common.


What do you mean? I think Mandarin and Korean are both equally difficult but in different aspects. Korean is crazy hard because of the grammar and all forms of politeness, but is easy in the alphabet. Mandarin on the other hand has a relatively simple grammar, but the writing system and pronouncing make it also super difficult.

It's actually funny when you said that Korean is hard for English-speakers, but I find pronouncing it very easy and slightly similar to Finnish, some Koreans have even said my accent sounds like a native. But again, the grammar is super complicated, if that is what you mean.


I would think that Mandarin pronunciation is actually easier, since the sounds are very standard, whereas Korean syllables require a lot of practice to be articulated correctly. But like you said, reading and writing Mandarin is going to be a lot tougher than Korean. With thousands of characters in use, Mandarin characters take years to remember (and lots of patience with a dictionary...)

Learning a language is a challenging process which requires huge commitment. Thus you should choose whichever culture you prefer, as constant exposure to the language is the only way you'll ever master the language.


Do they really take YEARS to remember? I picked up Remembering the Kanji 2 months ago, I already know 600 kanjis with 90% accuracy and I've barely been studying the past 3 weeks because of last months in highschool. (Priorities!) I reckon I will be done with the 2000 kanjis in a few months. And then go over to the compounds and such which take less time. (From what I've heard.)

Now I know there is more characters in chinese, but is it really that different that it would take years? I know some people who mastered the art of writing in Japanese. (Most likely easier then Chinese) in less then a year. Their biggest problem was actually knowing how to pronounce the words. They did spend many months in Japan though which certainly boosted their learning.

I'm also extremely interested in Asian languages. Which is why I'm studying Japanese. I'll also be leaving for Japan early next year, just to spend some time there and hopefully learn the language as much as possible. If my learning goes well, I'll most likely pick up Mandarin aswell. I find learning Chinese characters (Kanji or Hanzi) being extremely fun tbh. So I have that thing going for me. (It seems that the general idea that people have is that WRITING both Japanese and Chinese is the hardest part of these two languages mainly due to the massive amount of characters they use?) In that case, I have a good thing going for me if it's the hardest obstacle. Though I don't expect fluency anytime soon nor to be easy.

I'm myself thinking about volunteering as a English teacher in China after Japan trip. Sadly I don't think thats possible in Korea. Nor in Japan. >=[

LosingID8
Profile Blog Joined December 2006
CA10825 Posts
June 07 2011 18:47 GMT
#22
^ how many strokes are the characters you're learning? they get much harder later on...
ModeratorResident K-POP Elitist
Vinnesta
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Singapore285 Posts
June 07 2011 18:54 GMT
#23
On June 08 2011 03:10 NonFactor wrote:
Show nested quote +
On June 08 2011 01:45 Vinnesta wrote:
On June 08 2011 01:28 DNB wrote:
On June 08 2011 01:21 IamBach wrote:
Korean is crazy difficult. If you can read in one you can basically read in the other(with some work of course). I would go with Korean because Mandarin is actually not that difficult of a language and if you think you can pick up Korean, Mandarin will come pretty quickly too. Like you said, you know the basics of Korean, but I think you'll be surprised how challenging it is for an English speaker. Also, I think because of the challenge that Korean poses, you'll actually be more likely to find work as a Korean speaker, because Mandarin speakers are more common.


What do you mean? I think Mandarin and Korean are both equally difficult but in different aspects. Korean is crazy hard because of the grammar and all forms of politeness, but is easy in the alphabet. Mandarin on the other hand has a relatively simple grammar, but the writing system and pronouncing make it also super difficult.

It's actually funny when you said that Korean is hard for English-speakers, but I find pronouncing it very easy and slightly similar to Finnish, some Koreans have even said my accent sounds like a native. But again, the grammar is super complicated, if that is what you mean.


I would think that Mandarin pronunciation is actually easier, since the sounds are very standard, whereas Korean syllables require a lot of practice to be articulated correctly. But like you said, reading and writing Mandarin is going to be a lot tougher than Korean. With thousands of characters in use, Mandarin characters take years to remember (and lots of patience with a dictionary...)

Learning a language is a challenging process which requires huge commitment. Thus you should choose whichever culture you prefer, as constant exposure to the language is the only way you'll ever master the language.


Do they really take YEARS to remember? I picked up Remembering the Kanji 2 months ago, I already know 600 kanjis with 90% accuracy and I've barely been studying the past 3 weeks because of last months in highschool. (Priorities!) I reckon I will be done with the 2000 kanjis in a few months. And then go over to the compounds and such which take less time. (From what I've heard.)

Now I know there is more characters in chinese, but is it really that different that it would take years? I know some people who mastered the art of writing in Japanese. (Most likely easier then Chinese) in less then a year. Their biggest problem was actually knowing how to pronounce the words. They did spend many months in Japan though which certainly boosted their learning.


Yes, just remembering the all characters can take years, unless one is living in a Chinese speaking country and learning the language full-time. To be considered fully literate in Mandarin, one is required to know about 3000 to 4000 characters. Because of the unique pronunciation and meaning of each character, it is difficult to passively learn the language without constant reference to a guide or dictionary.

And really,
+ Show Spoiler +
你真的懂得怎麼讀六百個漢字嗎?在不到兩個月,你已經能記得這麼多字... 我很難相信
Same difference is not an oxymoron!
kainzero
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
United States5211 Posts
June 07 2011 19:24 GMT
#24
On June 08 2011 03:47 LosingID8 wrote:
^ how many strokes are the characters you're learning? they get much harder later on...

the point of RTK is to learn radicals so that it doesn't look so difficult, you can identify parts of kanji and see what they're made of.

there's also differences in reading vs. writing. if i see a character, i can re-write it properly. but writing it from memory is completely different. and even reading it is a problem. having done RTK myself, i can say that it really doesn't teach you as much as you think... all it gives you is the ability to distinguish between kanji and how to break it down. it doesn't teach you how to write from memory or read at all.

also in japanese, "difficult" kanji is rare kanji, not necessarily high stroke order kanji. 丹 is considered difficult whereas 曜 is like kindergarten level and 龍 is still fairly easy.
NonFactor
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Sweden698 Posts
June 07 2011 19:58 GMT
#25
On June 08 2011 03:47 LosingID8 wrote:
^ how many strokes are the characters you're learning? they get much harder later on...


Like someone said, you focus on the radicals first. Basically some Kanji that I've learned are incredibly simple yet some are up to like 20 strokes already. RTK goes through the characters radical to radical meaning it isn't exactly ''easier to harder'', but rather it goes through them per radicals. Lesson 1 you might learn Kanji with radical nr 1. And lesson 2 you might learn Kanji with radical nr 2. In lesson 3 you might learn Kanji that contain both of the radicals from 1 and 2, and so on.

On top of that, he uses your imagination as a tool to remember these Kanjis and radicals, you are prompted to create your own stories for every character. And the order of how the kanji are represented are usually made so that you have a easier time coming up with stories.

Imo makes it very easy to learn, and so far has worked like a charm. Since you constantly use the radicals you JUST learned. And slowly but surely move to new radicals while still using the old ones.

I'm steamrolling the characters by like 25-30 a day while I sit in the bus, then I use the internet to test myself. My overall accruacy is like 91%. I do it everyday. 10 days = 250 characters. Sounds hardcore but I spend around 45-60 minutes a day for this. Most of it while I sit in the bus. The most important part is to test yourself. And I don't expect myself to get 90% correct from the first time I test myself in a new batch of characters. (Usually 50 characters or so.) But second or third time I always get up to 90%.

He recently released Remembering the Hanzi aswell, I will most likely use it aswell if I seriously decide to chase Mandarin.

I also realize that not everyone can learn 25 characters a day, not because it's hard, but because it might get monotone and boring. But to me honestly, it's a lot of fun. Which is probably why I can push myself.
Kutsuki
Profile Joined April 2010
United States29 Posts
June 07 2011 21:49 GMT
#26
I recommend you learn Korean because it is just as useful as learning Mandarin. It is true that more people in the world know Mandarin. However, if you are looking for a job, Chinese jobs will not pay as well as Korean ones.
My better is better than your better
ecaesar
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Canada106 Posts
June 08 2011 00:53 GMT
#27
On June 08 2011 06:49 Kutsuki wrote:
I recommend you learn Korean because it is just as useful as learning Mandarin. It is true that more people in the world know Mandarin. However, if you are looking for a job, Chinese jobs will not pay as well as Korean ones.

Are we talking Chinese jobs in China? You realize the Chinese economy is a lot stronger than Korea's right now.

Back to OP. If you planning for usage, I would probably learn Chinese, you get more "mileage" out of it. But between the two, I like korean a lot more. Just so I can follow starcraft more!
Sorook
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
31 Posts
June 08 2011 00:57 GMT
#28
Having graduated from DLI in Mandarin. It was widely known at DLI that Korean was the toughest language there.
Rasun
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
United States787 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-06-08 01:00:15
June 08 2011 00:58 GMT
#29
Mandarin is very very hard to master, so if you already have the basics of Korean, id go for Korean. You could do translation writeups from Korean gaming sites for TL, which are always a huge hit. Thats purely from a selfish standpoint though.

I understand what you mean about Asian languages being interesting, I'm a third year Japanese student and really like the culture and language. Kanji can go die in a ditch though.
"People need to just settle the fuck down!"- Djwheat <3
Nitrogen
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
United States5345 Posts
June 08 2011 01:22 GMT
#30
On June 08 2011 09:57 Sorook wrote:
Having graduated from DLI in Mandarin. It was widely known at DLI that Korean was the toughest language there.


i dunno about that, i'm pretty sure it's a toss up between mandarin and korean.
UNFUCK YOURSELF
Caphe
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
Vietnam10817 Posts
June 08 2011 02:30 GMT
#31
As you said OP, learning Mandarin will be much more benificial for you in later life. Mandarin is not only used in mainland China but also Taiwan, Singapore and a very large number of Chinese community outside China. Before Cantonese was the dominance dialect for Chinese community outside China but Mandarin is gaining ground as we speak.

I learnt Mandarin 5 years ago, and now I can speak as good as a native, my writing, reading skill is somewhat below that level. So If you work hard enough, learning Chinese is very doable, esp if you can come to China to learnt it. And the night life, girls etc in any big China city is very good as well.

One problem is you are a westerner which will make your learning curve much more harder than me. As an Asian with a very similar culture with Chinese and Korean culture, I can learnt the language faster in sense of understanding the whole language itself.

Vietnam also use alphabet system so Chinese characters are as difficult for as everyone else, hard work is required. So don't be discourage because of Chinese characters. Even well educated Chinese can't write some very common characters from time to time.

One more thing, if you pick up Chinese, learnt it at least to intermidiate level, you can learn Korean later on, since out of 3 East Asia languages(Chinese, Japanese, Korean) if you master one of them, it makes learning the 2 others much more easier.

So, in conclusion, I think you should pick up Chinese, give it a few years, then you can, if you want to, pick up Korean. :D
Terran
WormBeard
Profile Joined May 2011
United States46 Posts
June 08 2011 03:11 GMT
#32
Follow your heart and go with Korean. It will be more enjoyable. Don't put yourself through torture learning chinese. You will have no drive.
Prev 1 2 All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 5h 9m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
mouzHeroMarine 739
BRAT_OK 97
UpATreeSC 80
MindelVK 48
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 5563
Sea 2518
Mini 646
Dewaltoss 170
Aegong 52
sSak 30
yabsab 19
Sacsri 19
Backho 18
Counter-Strike
fl0m6491
olofmeister3243
rGuardiaN82
Heroes of the Storm
Liquid`Hasu362
Khaldor164
Other Games
tarik_tv39888
gofns13318
Grubby886
FrodaN801
Beastyqt613
ceh9357
shahzam248
Mew2King84
TKL 64
Trikslyr56
QueenE54
ZombieGrub45
Organizations
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream1313
Other Games
BasetradeTV84
StarCraft 2
angryscii 50
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 21 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• davetesta29
• Reevou 4
• Kozan
• sooper7s
• Migwel
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• intothetv
• IndyKCrew
StarCraft: Brood War
• Michael_bg 3
• FirePhoenix2
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota21313
League of Legends
• Nemesis5420
• Jankos1688
• TFBlade1333
Other Games
• imaqtpie900
• Shiphtur311
• WagamamaTV147
Upcoming Events
PiGosaur Monday
5h 9m
GSL Code S
14h 39m
Rogue vs GuMiho
Maru vs Solar
Online Event
1d 5h
Replay Cast
1d 7h
GSL Code S
1d 14h
herO vs Zoun
Classic vs Bunny
The PondCast
1d 15h
Replay Cast
2 days
WardiTV Invitational
2 days
OSC
2 days
Korean StarCraft League
3 days
[ Show More ]
SOOP
3 days
CranKy Ducklings
3 days
WardiTV Invitational
3 days
Cheesadelphia
3 days
CSO Cup
3 days
GSL Code S
4 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
4 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Wardi Open
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
RSL Revival
6 days
Cure vs Percival
ByuN vs Spirit
Liquipedia Results

Completed

CSL Season 17: Qualifier 2
BGE Stara Zagora 2025
Heroes 10 EU

Ongoing

JPL Season 2
BSL 2v2 Season 3
BSL Season 20
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 2
NPSL S3
Rose Open S1
CSL 17: 2025 SUMMER
2025 GSL S2
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 7
IEM Dallas 2025
PGL Astana 2025
Asian Champions League '25
BLAST Rivals Spring 2025
MESA Nomadic Masters
CCT Season 2 Global Finals
IEM Melbourne 2025
YaLLa Compass Qatar 2025
PGL Bucharest 2025
BLAST Open Spring 2025

Upcoming

Copa Latinoamericana 4
CSLPRO Last Chance 2025
CSLPRO Chat StarLAN 3
K-Championship
SEL Season 2 Championship
Esports World Cup 2025
HSC XXVII
Championship of Russia 2025
Murky Cup #2
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
FISSURE Playground #1
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.