Russian or Chinese: Which Is More Worth Learning?

CM   Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:04 am GMT
Which of these would allow me to be fluent quicker? I hear that Russian is very difficult in terms of grammar and Mandarin Chinese is of course difficult with its characters.

I was thinking of learning Chinese but something bothers me. A teacher of mine in the past told me that he had to learn characters for over 6-7 years before he was able to learn to read newspapers and such. That makes me wonder if I should spend all this time doing so.

With Russian, learning the alphabet is quicker than learning characters. But the grammar and pronunciation takes very long to learn I hear.

Any thoughts on this? Thanks.
CM   Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:08 am GMT
Also, it seems like Mandarin Chinese is becoming much more popular to learn nowadays and that learning it will soon not be too special. But many people aren't learning Russian, so...
Guest   Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:09 am GMT
That is nonsense. Russian is many times easier than Mandarin. It is not so distant as some people think, there is a clear Indo-European feel about it. Chinese on the other hand is "a whole nother ball game". And the pronunciation is a thousand times easier than Chinese because there are no tones. Apparently, there are only a handful of foreigners who have ever learnt Chinese to a native level and these people are celebrities! I'm saying this from an Indo-European perspective though, if you already know Asian languages then maybe you will find Chinese easier.
Guest   Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:12 am GMT
You're that same guy who's been asking about German and Russian and French lately aren't you, that physicist guy. Make up your mind already, geez! You could already know the basic grammar by now if you'd started those 2 weeks ago or whenever it was.
CM   Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:21 am GMT
Uh, no. Who are you talking about?
K. T.   Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:39 am GMT
Russian is easier.
Alexei   Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:45 am GMT
I of course will tell you Russian. Russia is a beautiful country. Visit us sometime!
sino   Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:49 am GMT
Indeed, Chinese is hard, but it is rewarding.

If you try, you will find it is not so difficult as others said.

So just take a try.
CM   Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:52 am GMT
I actually already speak another Asian language: Lao. But I don't know how to write it. This kind of makes me want to learn Chinese because I already understand how tones work. But the Chinese character-learning portion seems much too time-consuming.
Hispanic   Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:56 am GMT
Learn Chinese, it's much more important than Russian by far.
sino   Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:59 am GMT
You need not to learn to write each character, 2000 or so is enough for reading most books and news paper. You also can learn Pinyin to type characters with a computer.
K. T.   Tue Jun 24, 2008 3:02 am GMT
I see. Now we have more information. If tones are not a problem, then maybe the time to learn Chinese would be reduced for you.

Without adequate information, we can't really help you in the best way.

Do you WANT to learn one of these languages or is it being suggested to you?
K. T.   Tue Jun 24, 2008 3:05 am GMT
What is fluency then? Speaking and reading only? I guess it depends on your needs. I can't imagine only READING Chinese. I had to learn how to write Japanese characters in order to remember them.
CM   Tue Jun 24, 2008 3:06 am GMT
I was suggested these two and I wouldn't mind learning either of these.

More info about me:
I learned Mandarin Chinese in the past; I took a year of it. I actually did very well in the class and got the 2nd highest grade. I have learned a bit of Russian on my own; I understand the Cyrillic alphabet more or less. Pronunciation is very beginner-level.

So basically, I learned Chinese formally and Russian on my own. I would like to learn one of these languages to build up my resume and one of the most important reasons is because I like both cultures very much.
SJF   Tue Jun 24, 2008 3:14 am GMT
CM,what's your mother tongue?