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Rank: Frosh
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Joined: 6/13/2008
Posts: 10
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Is Japanese hard to learn? I don't want to fail a course and be unable to move onto second year... The only language I've learned is French and I stopped in grade 9. I had 82% in grade 9 French with minimal efforts, but of course my teacher was very lenient.. I won't have anyone to help me with this course if I do decide to take it, so I'm on my own. I'm not sure how fast I learn new languages, but I have people telling me I'm a fast learner especially in math. If anyone ever took another language with no prior background or help, how much effort did you have to put and what did you think about it? Any comments? Oh and the course is: http://registrar.mcmaster.ca/calendar/year2008/crs_1499.htm
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Rank: Student Council
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Joined: 3/24/2008
Posts: 436
Location: mississauga
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japanese isn't as different from english as everyone says, in terms of structure (i speak english and japanese fluently, and my french is alright).
however, the terms are still completely different though, and you just have to get the hang of it, since it isn't germanic/latin based at all, and you do use very different skills for languages and mathematics, although it depends on how you are a fast learner. do you absorb knowledge very quickly in general, are you good at memorizing, or spotting patterns, or etc.
i personally dont think basic japanese is too difficult, but mastering the language is extremely hard.
"My parents live in Ohio; I live in the moment." -himym.
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Rank: Valedictorian
Groups: Member
Joined: 5/20/2008
Posts: 587
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Miss wrote:
i personally dont think basic japanese is too difficult, but mastering the language is extremely hard.
I absolutely agree; beginner Japanese is easy and fun to learn, but once you get to a certain point... It's really like there's a roadblock.
UWO 2012
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Rank: Valedictorian
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Joined: 3/7/2008
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Location: Newmarket
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I always said to people that want to take Japanese "So you are learning Japanese huh? Is that because you want to watch your Japanese anime's without the subtitles?" But some people are actually interested in Japanese other than Anime. I myself am taking German and planning for a Summer Exchange in some future
YORK; Honors Arts - History Major ; Joint Seneca Journalism-Broadcast
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Rank: Student Body President
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 1,482
Location: Ottawa
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The intro language classes are, in my experience, usually not too hard. But Acadia only offered Spanish and German so I can't comment on anything Asian, and of course it could vary by school or professor.
Remember that it often takes just as long to do a search or two on Google to try and find the answer to your question as it takes to type it in a post here, let alone the time waiting for a reply. If your question is "What mark does it take to get into University X", or "What are the requirements to get into University X", it's on their website and/or electronicinfo.ca (for Ontario schools). Particularly for Ontario schools, those ranges are a pretty good picture of what kind of mark will get you into the program, and if you're more than a couple percent higher it's practically guaranteed unless it requires a supplementary form.
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Rank: Senior Student
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Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 161
Location: Scarborough, Ontario
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Asian languages are the hardest to learn. If you really want to speak fluent Jap, you have to go to Japan yourself and stay for at least 10 years.
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Rank: Frosh
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Joined: 5/25/2008
Posts: 38
Location: Greater Vancouver, BC, Canada
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TaintedKane wrote:I always said to people that want to take Japanese "So you are learning Japanese huh? Is that because you want to watch your Japanese anime's without the subtitles?" Ouch, you got me there. =P
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Rank: Frosh
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Joined: 6/13/2008
Posts: 10
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TaintedKane wrote:I always said to people that want to take Japanese "So you are learning Japanese huh? Is that because you want to watch your Japanese anime's without the subtitles?" But some people are actually interested in Japanese other than Anime. I myself am taking German and planning for a Summer Exchange in some future Lol. I don't even like anime  I want to learn Japanese for business reasons
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Rank: Student Council
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Joined: 3/24/2008
Posts: 436
Location: mississauga
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if ur taking it for business, japan is a declining superpower i think, relative to the dominating european powers and india/china so i'd say learn some mandarin/cantonese, or hindi, or even a romance language, that way it'd be much easier to learn the other closely related ones. maybe even russian. who knows.
"My parents live in Ohio; I live in the moment." -himym.
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Rank: Valedictorian
Groups: Member
Joined: 5/20/2008
Posts: 587
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Miss wrote:if ur taking it for business, japan is a declining superpower i think, relative to the dominating european powers and india/china so i'd say learn some mandarin/cantonese, or hindi, or even a romance language, that way it'd be much easier to learn the other closely related ones. maybe even russian. who knows. For sure, if it's for a business reason, learn Mandarin.
UWO 2012
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Rank: Student Council
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Joined: 3/13/2008
Posts: 317
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Yes, Mandarin would be so much more useful if you want an Asian language.
Spanish would be a lot easier and useful too.
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Rank: Senior Student
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Joined: 4/6/2008
Posts: 71
Location: Toronto
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yeah china is a HUGE market. so for business reasons, learn mandarin for sure. i'm planning to take a language first year too ^^". i'm contemplating between mandarin or japanese. i speak fluent cantonese right now and if i were to learn mando my parents can help somewhat, but i wanna take japanese more cuz that seems more fun.
are these fisrt year language courses more oral or textbased? how are you tested on it?
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Rank: Student Body President
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well canto is actually pretty useful too considering hong kong's huge business significance (they speak canto right?)
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Rank: Valedictorian
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Joined: 5/20/2008
Posts: 587
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Redrose27 wrote:well canto is actually pretty useful too considering hong kong's huge business significance (they speak canto right?) Really not as big compared to the mainland Chinese market; with all the nouveau riche springing up here and there the new upper classes are the future's targets. Hong Kong has kinda always been the same for awhile. (Yes they speak Canto) Karyy I would take Mandarin because it's essential to completing your Chinese language education, but if you like Japanese then go for it. It's always interest that drives good results.
UWO 2012
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Rank: Frosh
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Joined: 6/26/2008
Posts: 7
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gosh, why japanese? try mandarin, one fifth of world's population speaks mandarin, plus mainland china is really a great market for business as other people said above. but just pay attetion if you want to get cantonese (the language ppl say in Hong Kong) as well. even though mandarin and cantonese are basically the same thing (the words are nearly the same, just one is simplified, one is traditional), but the way they pronounce the words, or say the accent is really different from mandarin. you may not understand what they are saying in Hong Kong even though you are good with mandarin.
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Rank: Senior Student
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Joined: 7/2/2008
Posts: 176
Location: Goderich, Ont
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Muyuan wrote:gosh, why japanese? try mandarin, one fifth of world's population speaks mandarin, plus mainland china is really a great market for business as other people said above. but just pay attetion if you want to get cantonese (the language ppl say in Hong Kong) as well. even though mandarin and antonese are basically the same thing (the words are the nearly the same, just one is simplified, one is traditional), but the way they pronounce the words, or say accent is really different from mandarin. you may not understand what they are saying in Hong Kong even though you are good with mandarin. This is so true. My problem is I can speak it well enough to get by, but can't write/read it.
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