[Sportman]

I'm going to uni mid next year, and in Jan/ Feb next year I am going to go overseas for as long as the cash lasts - in Spain or Japan, for the experience and to learn the language. However I don't know whether to do Japanese or Spanish.

I know Spanish will be a LOT easier, and I will pick it up without trouble. However, my heart is with Japanese. I have tried learning it before, and found the grammar and particles too hard to get my head around. I'm afraid if I try learn it again I won't be able to and stuff up my degree. But, I have no real interest in Spain or latin America, and every man and his dog seems to speak english and Spanish...so I really don't know what to do. Is Japanese really that hard? After spending 3 - 6 months there do you think I will have a way better chance of getting my head around the grammar?

[turbozed]

Japanese is actually easier to learn for me (conversational wise). Less conjugational rules and less emphasis on sentence structure. Also, there seems to be less vocabular to learn for general conversation. The only thing that makes it tough is learning how to read kanji. Grammar is as simple as you can get.

Japanese is more helpful if you're into MMA

[Falero]

Do you like spanish/latina women or japaense/asian women? Serious question!
I´d guess japanese from your post though.

Anyway, go with japanese. Don´t even think about spanish if your heart is with japanese. I mean you don´t even want to go to spanishspeaking countries, why should you learn it. Don´t be lazy about your goals in life, you´ll never regret pursuing what you love and you´ll have a much easier time learning japanese because you´d love to study it. You´ll study at times when you´d feel that it´s too much work or too boring with the spanish.


Jus my 2 cents.

[Lubaolong]

Spanish is pretty useless, but don't expect to learn very much Japanese in 3-6 months.

[Maverick34]

Originally Posted by Lubaolong

Spanish is pretty useless, but don't expect to learn very much Japanese in 3-6 months.

If you live in the US, in most areas Spanish is a hell of a lot more useful than Japanese and that will only increase.

On a purely linguistic basis, Spanish is both easier and more useful in daily life in the US.

[golpe_de_efecto]

If you want to learn a language who can open you doors in the future and improve your salary you should learn spanish, spanish is the third most spoken language of world and is growing big time in the USA, plus is the second most demanded (only english is better) in Europe and USA.
But if you dream about learning japanese and you want to travel to Japan then don't be lazy and learn japanese.

[golpe_de_efecto]

Originally Posted by Lubaolong

Spanish is pretty useless, but don't expect to learn very much Japanese in 3-6 months.

Man, you don't have a clue about what you are talking.

[Lubaolong]

Originally Posted by golpe_de_efecto

Man, you don't have a clue about what you are talking.

Lol ok. I work in the translation business. Every guy and his dog speaks Spanish. The US is so heavily populated by people that speak both English and Spanish as a native language, something you could never compete against. A lot of places won't even consider you if you are not at a native level. I translate Chinese and never have trouble finding work or short projects to work on. Spanish is exactly the opposite. The last company I was working for had their Spanish translators calling in practically begging for work everyday. But the Spanish projects paid so little and the number of Spanish speakers was so high that they seldom got work. If they did, the pay was crap. None of the Spanish translators could survive on translating alone.. all had other jobs. Meanwhile I'm having a hard time avoiding job offers, working on a couple projects at once, making 6 figures. Even with a degree, translation certificate, and a high level of fluency in Spanish, I would be extremely suprised if the average salary passed $20-25k.

[muerteverde]

Originally Posted by Lubaolong

Lol ok. I work in the translation business. Every guy and his dog speaks Spanish. The US is so heavily populated by people that speak both English and Spanish as a native language, something you could never compete against. A lot of places won't even consider you if you are not at a native level. I translate Chinese and never have trouble finding work or short projects to work on. Spanish is exactly the opposite. The last company I was working for had their Spanish translators calling in practically begging for work everyday. But the Spanish projects paid so little and the number of Spanish speakers was so high that they seldom got work. If they did, the pay was crap. None of the Spanish translators could survive on translating alone.. all had other jobs. Meanwhile I'm having a hard time avoiding job offers, working on a couple projects at once, making 6 figures. Even with a degree, translation certificate, and a high level of fluency in Spanish, I would be extremely suprised if the average salary passed $20-25k.

I studying translation at a university (Spanish) and I would say that it depends on your location. Right now where I am, there is a big need for Spanish teachers and also a need for Spanish translators. Local schools are desperate for SPanish teachers and are having French teachers and English teachers take crash courses and try to teach Spanish. Lubaolong makes a good point about Spanish translation though. Because the market is so saturated, you have to be very good, and settle for less.

Oh, and "native speaker" is not some magic badge of perfection either. I am not a native speaker and I am better than many "native speaking" latinos I have met here, better than the "native speaker" Spanish 215 teacher I work with now, and I scored better than 80% of my 100% native speaker class in my copyediting class last year in Costa Rica.

But the thread starter is not specificlly looking to be a translator, just to learn a language. From what he said, I advise he go with Japanese. 100% do it, because THAT is where your heart is, and this is the single most important thing about learning languages. That will give you the motivation to study and practice. You will never learn a language you don't want to learn.

[Lubaolong]

Originally Posted by muerteverde

Oh, and "native speaker" is not some magic badge of perfection either. I am not a native speaker and I am better than many "native speaking" latinos I have met here, better than the "native speaker" Spanish 215 teacher I work with now, and I scored better than 80% of my 100% native speaker class in my copyediting class last year in Costa Rica.

But the thread starter is not specificlly looking to be a translator, just to learn a language. From what he said, I advise he go with Japanese. 100% do it, because THAT is where your heart is, and this is the single most important thing about learning languages. That will give you the motivation to study and practice. You will never learn a language you don't want to learn.

Yes that is very true. Being a good translator and a native speaker are two totally different things. However a lot of the higher level translating jobs (federal departments, intel agencies, etc) are full of people that speak both English and Spanish as a native language AND have have extensive training/certifications in translation. These type of people are going to be difficult to compete against for someone that is just picking up the language in college. Now if you are talking about teaching Spanish in HS.. yeah again that's a totally different story. If the OP's goal is to eventually become a high school teacher, I say go learn Spanish. If you're looking for a language to make a translating career out of or maybe assist you in the business world, Japanese would probably be better.