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 Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 10:37 pm
OK, so this is what's going on. This semester, I was considering taking French or German. The former was so I could certify my knowledge of the language, which I already know because I lived in France when I was a little kid; the latter, because I've always wanted to go on school exchange to Germany.
However, there's a problem. The German classes at college overlap with my current class schedule, classes at Berlitz cost $300 and we can't afford to them, and classes at Goethe start until 2008 (they're remodeling the place). The French classes at the French Alliance also overlap with my school schedule. So, that leaves me unable to take these two languages this semester. stressed
Since I'm studying an engineering major, I thought Japanese was an option too. There's a lot of technological research going on in Japan around my field (networks and telecomms); last time I heard, they actually developed a 400 GB/s data link! And besides, it also matches with my professional career, because though I'm from Guadalajara, Mexico, I'd like to work at San José (USA), Norway, France, Germany, or Japan.
So, considering all of that, could Japanese be a good choice?
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 1:12 pm
I'm currently working on Japanese, Portuguese, and Russian, and I'm most fluent in Japanese (though even after three or so years of self-teaching, I still wouldn't call myself at all fluent- I don't think I take in words very well, so it takes me a long time to learn anyway, and I don't study EVERY day). It's definitely one of my favorite languages. Since it's not at all similar to English or other European languages, it's really fun to learn. You learn all sorts of expressions and ways of talking that you can't translate directly to English. I sometimes find myself thinking in Japanese when an English word just doesn't fit my thoughts. ^^
It is a difficult language, though. I've learned more Portuguese in a few weeks than I did spending much longer learning Japanese. You have to learn three different writing systems, a different sentence structure, and all sorts of things.
However, I think it's a surprisingly easy language to gain access to. Considering how popular anime and manga are these days, it's easy to find movies/shows to watch or books to read in Japanese (if you get manga from Japan, and the same book in English- I did that once, and it helped my reading, even with only one book), and it's becoming big in internet culture, so it's not that difficult to find someone to talk to or somewhere you can practice.
I dunno what it's like taking a class since I'm mostly self-teaching, but I really enjoy learning it. It's entirely different from European languages, so if you already know one (or two or three...), I say go for Japanese. Even when you've already learned a language, when you start on Japanese, it's just like you're starting for the first time (in the nice way, of course!). I think it'd be a fun experience, but in the end it's up to you.
Hope I could help! Bai-bai ne! ^^
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Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2007 10:40 am
japanese is a really worthwhile language to learn at first its kinda difficult but as you progress it gets easy!
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Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 11:48 am
Japanese is a language that you really want to learn. Else it will be really diffucult for you to learn.
You will have to learn new writing systems (3 in total) and a whole different sentence structure.
In the end it will al be worth it. But you really need to want it.
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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:54 pm
Learn Japanese. I really don't know why people say it's difficult. It takes a LONG TIME to learn, but that doesn't mean its HARD. It just means you can't learn it quickly. I've been teaching myself for about 3 years, I'm a lower-intermediate student. I definitely recomend taking it, seeing as it's important for some jobs and like as previously stated it's not hard to find recources on it. Learn Japanese you won't regret it- plus, it's fun!
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