I have the opportunity to study abroad for one year in college. I have a passion for Korea, and have been learning the language for over a year or so. Initially, I decided that I wanted to study abroad in Korea. However, I also have a great interest in Japan (I became interested in Japan prior to Korea). Moreover, I would rather live in Japan than Korea (living costs are less expensive, foreigners are more welcome, etc). I would also like to learn Japanese, but I am aware that it is much more difficult to learn than Korean.
I have been struggling with this decision for quite a while, and would really like to hear others’ opinions, recommendations, or advice. Thanks.
Is this Seoul vs Tokyo? I’m familiar with Tokyo and it is generally very friendly to foreigners as you say. Train system is great for travel within the city and out to small towns or to other cities. What do you want to do beyond graduation? Does one language or the other offer an advantage? Are you just doing this for the experience? Nothing wrong with that but makes decision easier because you can just pick the place you want to live for a year.
This is something I’m struggling with as well. My advice would be to study abroad to the place that you are MOST interested in. For example, I have just gotten into K-dramas and Kpop and I LOVE it, BUT I have such a love with EVERYTHING Japanese, from the food to the buildings, from anime to technology.
I’m learning Japanese right now and it can be a tiny bit difficult, but I love Japnese so much that it’s worth it and hardly feels like work. Try learning Japanese and Korean simultaneously? I’m learning more than one language and it’s fun (stressful at times, but I love it).
All in all, learn what you LOVE. If you don’t like the language your learning, it will be awful.
Go to the place you most want to go to, which sounds like Japan. Both languages are extremely difficult, both cultures are somewhat closed and parochial. Be ready for disillusionment as well - it is very interesting and at first you see what you expect, but the longer you stay the less you will recognize. That is when you really start learning what living in a truly different culture means.
I worked in Japan for nearly 2 years, starting in 1990 - right at the end of the long economic boom. At that time, everyone thought Japan represented the future and there was all manner of ridiculous things being written about it (e.g. Japan as Number One). Though I wound up not liking the culture enough to make a life there, I grew a lot, met my wife in Tokyo, and made very good money.
If you’ve been learning Korean, Japanese might not be too difficult. You probably understand stroke order and might have some hanji under your belt. In my own anecdotal experience it’s not too bad after the first month or so. I was able to understand a good amount of what I read after a year or two and I’m not exactly a beacon of intelligence.
That said, there are some bad things about studying Japanese. This is what I wish I knew when I started out as a high school freshman, intrigued by Japanese literature and wanting to study at Toudai.
Japan has a strange problem in that a disproportionate amount of the foreigners with some interest in the country are legitimately perverts or weirdos. Once people found out I was learning Japanese, I was associated with these people by default. I got really sick of being introduced to anime-lovers who have been “learning Japanese for the past four years,” but who literally could not read kana or answer the most basic questions. One random creep emailed me a bunch of shotacon (please do not look this up on Google).
Also, the deeper you go into the Japanese rabbit hole the more disillusioned you might get. Japan was founded on a militant and bloody culture and has a unique sort of racism to it. I have come across major Japanese websites that use images of text instead of actual HTML text to dissuade foreigners. Reading stuff catered to natives often makes me sad or disturbed.
Anyway, at this point my primary focus is on studying Chinese. I still love the Japanese language and the beautiful works of art written in it, but I rarely mention Japanese if someone asks what languages I know.
Despite all my complaints, Japanese has brought me a lot of joy in studying it for its own sake. I don’t regret any of it. If you do it, please just have more reasonable expectations than I did when I got into it.
@forests, I know exactly what you mean, but people don’t want to hear it. When trying to explain Japan to the unbelieving (who have no experience of it, I might add), I often think of Timothy Leary at Harvard: his colleagues wouldn’t believe him, so he said “well, you just have to try it.” Few of them did.
@alcibiade Yeah. I just couldn’t take it anymore. Learning Chinese in its stead has been pretty great. There’s a lot more people to talk to, and it’s really nice having only one reading per character, with almost no exceptions. I can still understand Japanese, but I’ve forgotten a lot of the kanji readings and probably lost any spoken fluency I had.
I still find it really sad that so many people I know just like Japan for such superficial reasons, anime being a prime example. I had my own anime phase, but there’s a lot more to a country with a proud literary and artistic tradition than cartoons glorifying pedophilia.
@FluffyKitty984 Now that I think about it, one regret I do have is spreading my attention too thinly. If Korean is easy for you, you might find it more rewarding to become proficient in that rather than to effectively cut your progress in half.
@FluffyKitty984 If you’ve been previously studying Korean, you should go to Korea to solidify your language skills. Its much more useful to be fluent in one language than just “know” two.
Would you consider studying in Korea, since you’ve been studying the language, and going on vacation to Japan - since you’re interested in the culture but don’t know the language, and would have fun as a tourist?
Having been to both I would pick Japan. When I was in Korea it was as if everyone isn’t natural. Everyone I saw had insoles to increase height and face masks. Kind of intimidating to a foreigner tbh.
@forests, I think that China is much more dynamic and open than Japan (I don’t know Korea, but suspect it is like Japan). The Chinese seem much hungrier for contact, more open-minded, and less parochially bound to cultural traditions. I have not lived in China, but worked there quite a lot. Also, the economy offers many more opportunities. Asia is where it is happening now, just less so in Japan.
I recently did a gig in Japan - first time I’d been back since 1991 - and one of my contacts told me that with the long recession, many young Japanese are losing their interest in other countries, preferring to stay at home because they understand the culture. That was the most depressing thing I heard on that trip, but the pessimism and acceptance of their status as a rather obscure place really struck me. But I do have plenty of wonderful friends there, it was nice to see them.
I am also interested in studying abroad in Korea or Japan, but possibly China as well since I will be taking Chinese next year. It is the only asian language my college offers.
good question- Korea and Japan are my favorite two countries on the planet. I would say it depends on the degree. Also look into going to University in Busan or Fukuoka- these are the cities in South Korea and Japan which are closest to the other country respectively- you can take a 2 hour ferry from Busan to Fukuoka or vice versa and enjoy both countries! I would never go to China, way worse than South Korea or Japan in every aspect thinkable.
@matros91, why do you say China is garbage? I can’t say that it is the best place to go for tourism, but my work experiences there (as a reporter) were very, very interesting. Like America in the 20C, it is the world’s premier industrial workshop and is still on the ascendant, perhaps near reaching its apogee. I’ve worked in Taiwan, too - more pleasant in terms of life style, but far less interesting in terms of history and politics. The way that China has transformed itself is nothing short of astonishing. Any student will have opportunities in business or journalism or academia.
