Quote:
Originally Posted by Amnell
If you want easy... I can only guess, really, but I'd say Korean because if you go into N. Korea, you won't need to know any hanja at all and in S. Korea their usage of it is limited. Hangeul is all you need to survive  . For speaking, I couldn't say. |
Just note that apparently Korean in the south and north is quite a bit different. As South Korean contains some 50-70% (i've seen different figures) of chinese origin vocabulary and the North korean government has apparently gone and removed all foreign origin words from their language. I can't confirm this as I have never met a North Korean or know a South Korean who has either.
As someone who has also tried my hand at all 3 languages and will continue doing so until i reach fluency in 2 if not 3 of them i'll give my 2 cents.
Pronunciation: Japanese is the winner. Almost all sounds in the Japanese language are very easy to get a english language tongue around. There may be difficulties with the Japanese 'r'. Chinese is a tonal language and depending on which dialect you wish to learn there is more complexity. there are many dialects, my favourite is probably Wuhanese (武汉话) because it is a flater language, easier to pronounce. Tones are hard to get around coming from a non-tonal language like English but more than duable ^^ The there is Korean, not as difficult as Chinese but harder than Japanese. There are sounds in Korean not familiar to English speakers and it can be tough to get your tongue around it and pronounce those few sounds but generally much of the sounds in korean are not too difficult.
Gramatically: Chinese is the winner. Korean and Japanese grammar are the most removed in terms of similarity to English grammar but fortunately, as MMM mentioned they are grammatically similar to each other which might be a bonus if you plan to learn both. Chinese does indeed have grammar but it is a lot simpler to learn. Also Japanese and Korean have honourific language which complicates the matter further.
Writing and Reading:, Korean is the winner. Korean consists of 24 characters and a further 27 that are groups of the same character together. e.g. ㄱ and ㄲ which of course form different sounds. so in this way it is similar to the english system. while it may look like their language is very complex to someone who hasn't looked into the language it is really just an arrangement of their alphabet. just like the english words im typing now group together our letters. eg the letters of 한 in 한굴 (han gul) are 한=ㅎ & ㅏ & ㄴ Can you get my meaning?
Yes South Korea uses chinese characters but this is more for things such as certificates, signage etc. The use is not that common. Despite the fact they are taught chinese characters in school having asked korean friends about their personal knowledge of chinese characters, it is very minimal. I guess through lack of regular use you are not going to retain them.
Chinese has two writing systems, simplified and traditional. Basically they are just as they sound, simplified are simplified versions of the traditional characters. eg