<p>Okay, this is a really tough question for me because I’m biased towards both somewhat evenly. I’ve taken French for six years and plan to continue that in college and wish to also take a second language, probably Japanese or Chinese. Also, reading characters regardless of hanzi / kanji/ hiragana/ katakana/ etc. is of no consequence to me. I see it as a worthwhile challenge for either language regardless of difficulty or time constraint. However, I also tend to pick up language fairly easily. Example: my friend speaks Polish in the house and I picked up enough to get the jist of most of her conversations with family without much translation on her part. I also plan to pursue a double major (if possible) with Computer Science.
Here’s my pros and cons for both and I’d love to hear what else you all would have to say or your opinions. Thank-you!</p>
<p>Chinese Pros: I live in an area with a large amount of native speakers and one of my good friends was adopted from China when she was 12 and speaks fluent Mandarin; it’s a soft, soothing language to the ears; Chinese is fun to try and speak; I’ve heard conjugation is minimal, which is a blessing; Chinese history is awesome and I’ve heard Chinese poetry is amazing; more people speak Chinese than Japanese and are less likely to speak English well off the bat; the tones aren’t a difficult concept, but actual application by natives sounds far different</p>
<p>Japanese Pros: I used to watch Japanese TV shows when I was 11-12 and picked up a good deal just watching TV, so I already know some basic phrases and how to read/ write some simple words; Japanese culture is more “public,” for lack of a better word; I love how Japanese sounds, it’s so beautiful to listen to; the US still does a lot of business with Japan; pronunciation is a piece of cake; Japanese history is also awesome</p>
<p>Chinese Cons: I have poor hearing and tone is the defining point of Chinese (Hell, I had to watch an Irish movie w/ subtitles and watching Sherlock is sometimes pushing it and reading/ hearing Burns is torturous); I know nothing of grammatical structure other than it’s generally SVO; I’d literally be starting from scratch; the softness of the language might aggravate me over time (I find French a rather “ugly” language because it’s so soft); desensitizing myself to using different tones (like in English) to convey sarcasm, etc. would be nearly impossible</p>
<p>Japanese Cons: Fewer native speakers and less business done with Japan than China; the few Japanese people I’ve seen speak English, albeit not very well, but nonetheless English; Japanese grammar is a biotch and everything has a specific address (or so I hear); translating SVO thoughts to SOV and vice versa at first; cultural practices that are difficult to comprehend for an American/ Westerner; Japan is extremely expensive</p>
<p>Okay, well let me know what you think and your opinions on which I should take if I have the opportunity! Thank-you again!</p>
<p>Mandarin. I’m in my 5th year of studying and it’s one of the best decisions I’ve made. It’s much more useful. Almost 1/6 of the people in the world are chinese (More than 1 billion Chinese people in world.</p>
<p>You have obviously given this a great deal of thought. Your pro and con lists are dead on. Think about checking out a beginner book of both from a library. Read those first few chapters. This helped my daughter when deciding between taking Mandarin (offered at our local high school) and Korean (expensive at community college). She ended up taking Korean (ouch$$), as she liked the alphabet concept, and thought that the ending tonal inflections would be too difficult for her.</p>
<p>Before you decide on Mandarin, which as collegebound said is the most logical option for many people, please spend some time listening to your friend who speaks Mandarin giving examples of the tonal endings of words. It can be VERY difficult for someone who hears perfectly to decipher the difference. Have her speak quietly after she has explained the difference to you and you can hear the difference when she speaks more loudly. Realize that many people from Asian cultures (not necessarily people who are of Asian descent who live in America) speak softly. Hearing aids are quite expensive. Please consider this before picking your language, as a person’s hearing does not usually improve with age.</p>
<p>Go with your heart (and ears) on this. We have hosted foereign exchange students for short periods of time from many countries, including Japan and Taiwan. We learned SO much about not assuming anything about people or a particular culture when they stayed with us. The similarity, however, was that they all took many pictures with the “V” fingers by the sides of their faces and brought the largest suitcases that I have ever seen!</p>
<p>If you are able to do so (i.e., you are already a student a/o accepted and have a mybama acct), go and look at the actual course listings at UA. To me, it appears that there are slightly more Japanese classes offered over Chinese. Go back and look at previous semesters, too. There is a Japanese film class and a high-level upper-division speaking Japanese class, whereas there appear to be just 4 semesters of Chinese. Also, 1 semester I looked at, they apparently did not have enough enrolled in the Chinese class, and it was listed as being taught via video/remotely. There have to be bums on seats in order for the program to be continued. Also, why not contact the Foreign Language Depts and ask them your questions, as well? Since you have given this so much thought, you might as well seek more knowledge on the subject! ;)</p>
<p>My kids have been taking Chinese in high school, and I have enjoyed being exposed to a language that is entirely different from any language I studied (I have my degree in English and Linguistics, and took Latin in high school, and French, Spanish, and German in college.) That said, I find myself catching on to at least reading the Chinese even if I don’t have the sounds down. I am fascinated by how ancient the Chinese language is, and the culture, for that matter. My kids are enjoying the challenge and get a kick out of watching Jessica Beinecke teaching American slang to Chinese kids. Her videos are awesome: [OMG</a>! ?? - YouTube](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/user/OMGmeiyu]OMG”>OMG! 美语 - YouTube)</p>
<p>Gather more info, of course, but choose what you would enjoy. I don’t know what you plan to do with your French - would that be your double major along with Computer Science?</p>
<p>Of course, what hits me is that you might find Linguistics to be utterly fascinating, and combining that with Computer Science, could likely get you a dream job out in the Silicon Valley.</p>
<p>Since you’re looking at having a double major with computer science, I’d also suggest considering taking additional programing languages beyond those required for a degree.</p>
<p>On the topic of taking Mandarin or Japanese, which do you feel would be better for what you plan to do after graduation? Japanese can be very useful in the tech field and is commonly used in some parts of the US. For example, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has signage and announcements in English and Japanese. Depending on how many language courses you want to take, Korean may also be an option.</p>
<p>I think you should choose the language of the country you are most interested in. If you like Japan, learn Japanese. If you are interested in China, learn Chinese. To really learn that language you will have to spend an extended period of time in that country and if you do not enjoy being there, you will not learn much.</p>
<p>Looking at the draft Fall 2014 schedule, my S can finally opt to start learning Chinese at UA! This class has previously clashed w/ every single other semester’s eng’g coursework. Chinese is a 5-day-a-week commitment (4 credit hours), so it has been very difficult to fit in. Zhù nǐ hǎo-yùn, Kokomarro!</p>
<p>In our business, we have dealt with several American executives who regularly fly to China for business dealings with their factories. If it’s just for fun, though, do what would be the most fun for you. Always wished I could study several different languages, but I had a hard enough time taking 1 semester of German after 6 years of Spanish! And lucky you - UA would not allow us to double major in anything at the time, even though I only lacked 3 hours having a double minor in Journalism and Spanish.</p>