French or Japanese?

[jamesbonner]

Well for me, I really suggest you learn French, it's not well used but it quit interesting language and easy to learn ! also it's a romantic language lol you'll never regret if you learn it

[BonClay]

Hello , I am 16 and  fluent in Croatian (native) and semi-fluent in English (I'm studying it in HS so I think I should spend my free time learning something else).

Now , as the title says, I can't decide whether I should study Japanese or whether I should study French.

I studied Japanese last summer. I only learned the kana and stopped learning because of school. The thing is : my brain says French and my heart says Japanese. I love anime and overall Japanese seems really cool , but those 2000 kanji (at least) really grinds my gears! I don't have that great of a memory ,at least for details, and I'm afraid that I will just never be able to really learn enough kanji , or that it will take too much time which could be used for getting really good at both speaking and reading some other language such as French. But then again one of my flaws is that I mumble really, really a lot. And French pronunciation is so hard! I don't think I could ever cope with that.

 

What should I do?

I'm in the same boat as you my friend. French and Japanese are the only two languages that I really want to become fluent in. I have taken Spanish classes for a couple years and while French might be an easier transition for me, I would rather learn Japanese. I know it's hard, but don't give up! Hiragana and katakana can be learned in a couple of days if you put some time into it. There are also helpful ways to remember each character such as mnemonics. Like you mentioned earlier, the hard part is remembering over 2000 kanji. However, there is a way to memorize all of them using primitive elements or building blocks together in order to read the kanji. I believe the book was called "Remembering the Kanji". If you can get through all the kanji, then you can finally move onto grammar. It's a long process but don't let the kanji overwhelm you. Just learn a little bit at a time and practice afterwards.

[KimmyMarkks]

What do you think you will get more use out of?  I personally think Japanese is much more difficult to learn.  However, it is also great to know for the business world.  On the other hand French is a beautiful language and would be great to know if you ever traveled there!  Would it be possible to learn both over time?  I always recommend starting with the easier tasks to get them done then moving on to the more difficult ones... this could go true for learning languages. 

[agentzero]

I'm going to get a lot of hate, but don't go for French. I personally have a dislike for the language, mainly because there appear  to be no rules (this is the part where I get the hate). 

Follow your heart man, if you really like Japanese culture so much, chances are you'll probably want to move there one day or at least visit it, maybe live for few months, who knows. 

[Wanda Kaishin]

I'm going to get a lot of hate, but don't go for French. I personally have a dislike for the language, mainly because there appear  to be no rules (this is the part where I get the hate). 

When people disagree with you, that isn't "hate". It's ok to disagree, discuss and even argue your point on a forum.

[anna3101]

I'm going to get a lot of hate, but don't go for French. I personally have a dislike for the language, mainly because there appear  to be no rules (this is the part where I get the hate). 

Follow your heart man, if you really like Japanese culture so much, chances are you'll probably want to move there one day or at least visit it, maybe live for few months, who knows. 

I'm a big fan of French and no, it's not true that there are no rules. There are rules in every language, as well as numerous exceptions.

Personally, I think that deciding which language to learn should be entirely your own decision. Only you can judge what's better for you, what fascinates you more, what you really need. Whatever other people say is, well, just other people's opinion, and there will always be people who say "Go for Japanese" and those who say "Go for French". I'm not sure how that can help with the decision

[sillylucy]

I would learn the easier of the two now and then the harder one later. You can study French later on that way you can be more confident in your pronunciation. I hope this info helps and happy learning!

[agentzero]

When people disagree with you, that isn't "hate". It's ok to disagree, discuss and even argue your point on a forum.

You're right, you're right. I went a little over the top because my girlfriend majored in French and I took it one year in college as well (she gave me lessons on the side) and I never thought fondly of that language. 

[Wanda Kaishin]

You're right, you're right. I went a little over the top because my girlfriend majored in French and I took it one year in college as well (she gave me lessons on the side) and I never thought fondly of that language. 

Learning languages from significant others can be a dangerous proposition, that's for sure.

[LanguageFan]

I have studied both French and Japanese. I studied Japanese for many years (including 2 years at University) but I never seemed to make any progress beyond basic/intermediate. French is easier and I can speak and read reasonably well but struggle with listening skills. I adore both languages. A quick Benjamin Franklin - French provides more ways to practise I believe. Most films have French audio or subtitles. There are not so many for Japanese. Japanese - There are many Japanese tourists in the world and I think there are more opportunities to work in hospitality, tour guide, events - when you can assist Japanese tourists. Most French tourists have excellent English and need less assistance with language. In a nutshell, I couldn't decide which language to push on with so I decided to learn both (with more emphasis on Japanese). I use programs/apps where I set the "learning from" language to French and the "language to be learned" to Japanese and eliminate English. I watch NHK World every day and immerse myself in their language programs. I accept that I may never be fluent or even understand very much of what I hear, so I focus on learning the basics extremely well in both formal and polite speech. Keep it simple and master it. As for kanji, that is a lifetime commitment and to be studied for its beauty. I don't expect to be able to read a newspaper, so I stick to children's books and magazines.

[linguaholic]

4 hours ago, LanguageFan said:

I have studied both French and Japanese. I studied Japanese for many years (including 2 years at University) but I never seemed to make any progress beyond basic/intermediate. French is easier and I can speak and read reasonably well but struggle with listening skills. I adore both languages. A quick Benjamin Franklin - French provides more ways to practise I believe. Most films have French audio or subtitles. There are not so many for Japanese. Japanese - There are many Japanese tourists in the world and I think there are more opportunities to work in hospitality, tour guide, events - when you can assist Japanese tourists. Most French tourists have excellent English and need less assistance with language. In a nutshell, I couldn't decide which language to push on with so I decided to learn both (with more emphasis on Japanese). I use programs/apps where I set the "learning from" language to French and the "language to be learned" to Japanese and eliminate English. I watch NHK World every day and immerse myself in their language programs. I accept that I may never be fluent or even understand very much of what I hear, so I focus on learning the basics extremely well in both formal and polite speech. Keep it simple and master it. As for kanji, that is a lifetime commitment and to be studied for its beauty. I don't expect to be able to read a newspaper, so I stick to children's books and magazines.

Hey and welcome! So nice to have you here on Linguaholic.com!

Yes, studying Japanese is really hard and takes a looooong time. Same as with Chinese. But it's sooo much fun, isn't it?

I just studied Japanese at university for two semesters and also did not get anywhere. but I was able to get Chinese to a pretty decent level. But that took me many many years. 

Kanji are so beautiful. And luckily they are borrowed from Chinese, so I can at least understand the general meaning of some Japanese sentences :=)

With films, studying french is maybe easier, yes. However, as far as Japanese goes, there are many good learning resources out there. You will find lots of great resources in the Linguaholic Blog.

 

Best,

Lingua