Should I learn Chinese before Japanese? (Please comment)
Hi, I'm a bit in a predicament right now. I want to learn a new language, but I'm scared that they're all too difficult. I'm already trilingual (Spanish, English, French in that order) and I'm in a language studies program for my highschool with those languages. I want to become a polyglot, and want to learn a language for every continent. All I'm missing is Asia. I don't know if I choose Japanese, Chinese or/and Korean. I have started Japanese last year (I apparently have roots from there and my grandma fully supports me since she loves the culture, as do I besides the historical controversies they've been in) but took a break. I know both alphabets and about to start kanji. I've had resources like Genki and dictionaries. But Chinese has peaked my curiosity due to how many people speak it and because China is basically business (as a highschool student, I need to think about the long run and future education). I learned that Mandarin/Cantonese doesn't really have an alphabet, so that feels a bit nervous. Korean would be for shits n giggles, but I could easily replace it with other Romance languages.
Please help me choose and give me tips/ resources on how to learn them
Posted Sep 22, 2025, 12:14 AM UTC