Does it take longer to write in Japanese?

[ParaPara]

Keep in mind this post comes from someone with little experience in writing in Japanese. Does it take longer to write using the hiragana, katakana, and kanji then it does to write using the English alphabet.

I have never actually seen someone write kanji before. It just looks like it takes so many strokes just to say somthing simple.

[WingsToDiscovery]

I think you're trying to find information on something with two extremes. Most people who use these two alphabets natively generally only use one or the other.

In my case, I grew up learning English so obviously I can write lightning fast in English (especially with the advent of cursive), whereas my Japanese writing isn't all too fast except for set phrases I use all the time, and I didn't begin studying Japanese until I was around 18.

The same goes for those in Japan. Some Japanese may have an edge over English natives simply because using English in written form is generally compulsary for Japanese students, but it's still probably faster for them to write in Japanese.

The only equal way to test it would be to have someone study both from birth and then try it out.

[diego187]

Is not that hard to write in Japanese, if you know how.
I'm pretty fluent in writing in Hiragana and Katakana.

About Kanji...well, I'm just starting. It's a long way.

edit..

Yeah I forgot, maybe there are Kanjis that have many strokes but In the end they represent a whole word.

[steven]

On a slightly similar note, I think that writing Japanese with cellphones is WAY quicker than writing English. Using a computer, I can write both Japanese and English fairly quickly, but I think it would be impossible for my Japanese to surpass my Engilsh in speed as I've clocked in at 110 WPM a few times. I can't think that fast in Japanese to be able to do that.

I do believe though, this all depends on what kind of Japanese you're using. If you're using really informal Japanese then it's often quicker than English because you don't have to type "I" and "you" and other things over and over again.

Writing wise... I suck at both English and Japanese. If I write fast in English it looks like a mess and it's indecipherable to most people. As far as Japanese goes, I like using a computer because it figures the kanji out for me so I don't have to worry about it.

[RickOShay]

Originally Posted by ParaPara

Keep in mind this post comes from someone with little experience in writing in Japanese. Does it take longer to write using the hiragana, katakana, and kanji then it does to write using the English alphabet.

I have never actually seen someone write kanji before. It just looks like it takes so many strokes just to say somthing simple.

Well speed is all about who is writing as others have pointed out, but I do know that you can almost certainly fit more information into the same amount of space in Japanese than you can in English.

[ParaPara]

Let's say that 100 native English writers and 100 native Japanese writers are sitting in a room. At the same time, they all write the following sentence: I went into the house to grab a soda, but there was no soda in the refrigerator. My guess is is that the English writers would be done with the sentence quicker.

[kirakira]

Originally Posted by ParaPara

Let's say that 100 native English writers and 100 native Japanese writers are sitting in a room. At the same time, they all write the following sentence: I went into the house to grab a soda, but there was no soda in the refrigerator. My guess is is that the English writers would be done with the sentence quicker.

On a PC, Japanese would kill English dead in speed*. If you use the KANA keyboard where there is a key assigned for every kana (and not romaji), then the sentence would consist of 26 keystrokes and a couple of space key strokes for conversion where as the English version, even if shortened requires many many many more keystrokes.

家にソーダを取りにいったが、冷蔵庫になかった。(30 keystrokes using KANA keyboard, around 40+ strokes if it's romaji input)
I went into the house to grab a soda, but there were none in the refrigerator. (70+ key strokes)

* (fine print) assuming Kanji conversion don't screw up.

Either way, Japanese wins because a computer can write Kanji at the same speed as a roman alphabet but Kanji contains a LOT more information than a roman letter. With PCs, you have taken away the disadvantage of the slower speed of writing Kanji so naturally you would expect Japanese to win big time.

As for writing, I think it would take a similar amount of time but it depends whether the English speakers are using short hand and whether the Japanese speakers are writing cursive 草書.

[ephemeria]

I think, like someone mentioned above me, you're asking about two extremes.

I've seen my Japanese friends take notes relatively quickly during our university classes in Japanese. While the kanji have more strokes, they can say more in fewer characters.

I guess it really comes down to which one you are more accustomed to using. When I type in Japanese, I can type almost as fast as I do in English — it's just that I have to pause more often to think about what I'm trying to say.

[JasonTakeshi]

Been learning (Professionally at the university with a native teacher) since first semester. (February)
Can identify every hiragana/katakana and up to ~300 kanjis. Can make basic phrases.

A.1.2 Level.

[steven]

Originally Posted by ParaPara

Let's say that 100 native English writers and 100 native Japanese writers are sitting in a room. At the same time, they all write the following sentence: I went into the house to grab a soda, but there was no soda in the refrigerator. My guess is is that the English writers would be done with the sentence quicker.

I would like to know if you have reasons for that guess.