Japanese or Chinese

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by masaegu

In English, "steak" and "stake" are pronounced the same regardless of the context, but not 箸 and 橋 or 型 and 肩 or 勝った and 買った, etc. in Japanese. To illustrate the point, I am using musical notes below.

But... You need to be very careful with this as it is different depending on the region. Some areas pronounce them exactly the same, some are opposite, etc.

My husband is from Fukui - where some of the intonations are the complete opposite. A few of the tones are just... different (do do or mi mi instead). My husband himself attended a school for announcers and seiyuu so is a perfect 標準語, but family is definitely not.

If you`re studying outside of Japan, it is good to stick to standard Japanese. But if you`ll be studying in Japan, and not in Tokyo, then it is better to listen to the locals... Or you could end up with some confusion.

[StonerPenguin]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

But... You need to be very careful with this as it is different depending on the region. Some areas pronounce them exactly the same, some are opposite, etc.

My husband is from Fukui - where some of the intonations are the complete opposite. A few of the tones are just... different (do do or mi mi instead). My husband himself attended a school for announcers and seiyuu so is a perfect 標準語, but family is definitely not.

If you`re studying outside of Japan, it is good to stick to standard Japanese. But if you`ll be studying in Japan, and not in Tokyo, then it is better to listen to the locals... Or you could end up with some confusion.

Hmmm, would it be inappropriate to post that clip from South Park when the Chocolate Rain guy says "Ugh... my brains" and his head explodes?

It kinda sucks that I've never taken any Japanese classes and learned Japanese by myself for years before finding this site (and Sashimister's and masaegu's invaluable help). I only know Japanese on paper/in text, my knowledge of spoken Japanese is worse than the average weeaboo's

Just a quick question; If I pronounced things with zero regard to pitch, would people have a hard time understanding me? Or would it just attribute to a terrible American accent?

[RealJames]

I mess up my intonations now and then and everyone gets what I mean.
If you wanna be perfect then yeah you gotta pay attention to how you're saying stuff, but it's not like someone is gonna think "Why the hell did he just start talking about bridges when we were all clearly talkng about chopsticks?! what a freak stupid foreigner!" haha
Context dictates it far more, and especially if it's a foreigner speaking, no one expects them to speak perfectly.

[StonerPenguin]

Originally Posted by RealJames

I mess up my intonations now and then and everyone gets what I mean.
If you wanna be perfect then yeah you gotta pay attention to how you're saying stuff, but it's not like someone is gonna think "Why the hell did he just start talking about bridges when we were all clearly talking about chopsticks?! what a freak stupid foreigner!" haha
Context dictates it far more, and especially if it's a foreigner speaking, no one expects them to speak perfectly.

Haha, thanks James. Good to know, though masaegu is right-- I do need to pay more attention to it and try harder now (Not that it really matters as I have zero opportunity to speak Japanese IRL... D: ) Ffffffffffff....!!

[PockyMePink]

Originally Posted by masaegu

LMAO

As if you knew something about either language.....

I don't recall saying that I knew either Japanese or Chinese.

However as a college student open to the choice of taking various language classes, I too was faced with the issue of what language to take. So while I do not know either Japanese or Chinese, I empathize with the OP when it comes to the matter of choosing a language.

Personally, I feel my ability empathize and give advice to be more useful to the OP than your rudeness.

[Atredies]

i recommend chinese to anyone who wants to pursue in business. it is grammatically easier than english and you would only need to pay a serious attention to the tones for you very first step. happy learning boys.

[StonerPenguin]

Originally Posted by Atredies

happy learning boys.

'Boys'? OP is female, as is a lot of the users in this discussion

[Realism]

Well....if you're learning a language because of "business" opportunities...I doubt you will learn the language well....

It will just get real boring quick.

[evanny]

my friend went for chinese i went for japanese. she says that it is not hard. once you learn the tones then there is not much left to do but to simply memorise kanji.
well...in japanese. like every week i learn some 5 new grammar rules (for a year now) and that is the hard part. like when you speak to someone - first you try to remember what was what - ～かもしれません、なくちゃいけません、たらどうです 、ほうがいいです。。。。。。well you get the point - unless you know the forms you won't understand anything, knowing vocabulary won't help.

[Atredies]

Originally Posted by evanny

my friend went for chinese i went for japanese. she says that it is not hard. once you learn the tones then there is not much left to do but to simply memorise kanji.
well...in japanese. like every week i learn some 5 new grammar rules (for a year now) and that is the hard part. like when you speak to someone - first you try to remember what was what - ～かもしれません、なくちゃいけません、たらどうです 、ほうがいいです。。。。。。well you get the point - unless you know the forms you won't understand anything, knowing vocabulary won't help.

this is according to my chinese professor who told me an important rule of thumb.
"people who natively speak english already understand 25-30% of basic chinese grammar"