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Our daughter is spending a year studying in Thailand next year and I was wondering whether it is easier to learn any of Mandarin, Cantonese or Japanese if you learn Thai or are all the languages so unique that there's no transfer of knowledge?
Thai, Cantonese and Mandarin would be closer to each other than Japanese would be to Thai. Also, learning a highly tonal language like Thai would help someone with other tonal languages, like Cantonese and Mandarin.
Thanks so much for the quick response. My daughter is very excited to be studying in Thailand as part of the Rotary Youth Exchange but has been told by numerous other people that "learning Thai is a waste of time". I'm not sure how learning ANYTHING can be a waste of time, but it's also nice to know that learning Thai may make a transition to another language used more in business just a little easier
Thanks so much for the quick response. My daughter is very excited to be studying in Thailand as part of the Rotary Youth Exchange but has been told by numerous other people that "learning Thai is a waste of time". I'm not sure how learning ANYTHING can be a waste of time, but it's also nice to know that learning Thai may make a transition to another language used more in business just a little easier
Learning a foreign language is never a waste of time. It provides a window onto another culture and world view, which is enriching. It helps make the brain more flexible in dealing with grammar, vocabulary and other aspects of language. Has she had a foreign language in school already?
I must say, however, that the written aspect of those languages can be a bit overwhelming. My observation is that people who have an artistic eye pick up the written language more easily. People who have a good ear--talented music students, for example--pick up the spoken language easily. And just to be clear; Thai and Chinese are in two unrelated language families, though there probably are Chinese loanwords in Thai. Still, Japanese is even farther from Thai than Chinese is.
She'll be challenged, that's for sure. But she'll find it exciting, and certainly educational.
I didn't know Rotary had a study-abroad program. That's very cool.
Thai, Cantonese and Mandarin would be closer to each other than Japanese would be to Thai. Also, learning a highly tonal language like Thai would help someone with other tonal languages, like Cantonese and Mandarin.
Learning a second language will always help learning the third one. That being said, Thai and Chinese do not really have too much in common.
Learning Chinese will greatly help learning Japanese though, because of the shared vocabulary.
Pronunciation is a very small part of learning a language (not to imply it is easy to be perfect). To be fluent, 70% of your efforts will be in vocabulary, 20% in grammar, and 10% in pronunciation.
Our daughter is spending a year studying in Thailand next year and I was wondering whether it is easier to learn any of Mandarin, Cantonese or Japanese if you learn Thai or are all the languages so unique that there's no transfer of knowledge?
Thai language is nothing like Mandarin or Japanese. Omitting Cantonese since I consider it one of the many Chinese dialects rather than a language in an international context.
It's great she has this opportunity to study in Thailand for a year. If her 2nd language aim is to learn Mandarin, I suggest she search for a Chinese language school and spend her year learning Mandarin instead of Thai. Unless she plans to continue her stay in Thailand in the immediate future, then learn the Thai Language. Her stay in Thailand will give her a good immersion to Asian culture though personally will say that every country in Asia is quite different and each have their unique national culture.
If one needs to pick up a second language to learn I will not hesitate to suggest Mandarin all the time. It's not exactly the easiest 2nd language to master but probably the most beneficial moving on from this point.
What's the point of learning Cantonese? It is declining, becoming increasingly useless and doesn't even have a written form. Plus, almost all Cantonese speaking people speak at least some Mandarin (except the old population, say over 55). To learn Cantonese instead of Mandarin is like to learn Catalan instead of Spanish.
What's the point of learning Cantonese? It is declining, becoming increasingly useless and doesn't even have a written form. Plus, almost all Cantonese speaking people speak at least some Mandarin (except the old population, say over 55). To learn Cantonese instead of Mandarin is like to learn Catalan instead of Spanish.
First, Cantonese does have a written language which is clearly evident if you go to a magazine store and pick up a copy of New Monday or something. I just read a book, 殘忍的偷戀, which is in written Cantonese. Here is wikipedia in Cantonese.
Second what is the point of learning any language? The vast majority of people will never, ever benefit from knowing a second language (especially if their first language is English). You learn a second language because you want to. Because you have friends or relatives that speak that language. Because you enjoy music or movies in that language (of which there are still tons of in Cantonese). Because you like the sound of the language. Because you want to live in a location where that language is commonly spoken. The OP's daughter is already learning Thai, which is a pretty "pointless" language for about 98% of the people in the world, but is obviously very useful to her.
If your only metric for learning a language is being able to speak to the most number of people, then learn English. Lots of people speak Arabic or Hindi or Punjabi, but if you have no desire or need to visit those places or enjoy entertainment in those languages or interact with those people then learning that language is pointless to you regardless of the fact that many people speak them.
First, Cantonese does have a written language which is clearly evident if you go to a magazine store and pick up a copy of New Monday or something. I just read a book, 殘忍的偷戀, which is in written Cantonese. Here is wikipedia in Cantonese.
poor thing. That's not written Cantonese. That's just traditional Chinese characters. The Taiwanese use it 100% although they don't speak Cantonese. I understand 100% of it (not write it) although I hardly can say a single word in Cantonese.
You probably think Cantonese speaking people write in traditional Chinese while Mandarin speakers write in simplified one? it is wrong. the 100 million Cantonese people in Guangdong province of China all write and read in simplified Chinese.
Cantonese doesn't have a written language. Period.
poor thing. That's not written Cantonese. That's just traditional Chinese characters. The Taiwanese use it 100% although they don't speak Cantonese. I understand 100% of it (not write it) although I hardly can say a single word in Cantonese.
You probably think Cantonese speaking people write in traditional Chinese while Mandarin speakers write in simplified one? it is wrong. the 100 million Cantonese people in Guangdong province of China all write and read in simplified Chinese.
Cantonese doesn't have a written language. Period.
Why are you so willfully ignorant? You know written Cantonese exists (just google search it, it is not hard to verify).
Yes many Cantonese people use traditional characters, thought not all. And yes Cantonese has a written language (I know, I can read and write it). Here is an excerpt from the first chapter of that book? Is this just Traditional Chinese?
Moderator cut: English only
Last edited by Oldhag1; 04-25-2015 at 05:15 AM..
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