My Japanese Coach or Chinese? Which language should I try first?

Is it Mandarin or Cantonese? People have thrown a fit over that before on Fluther.

Personally, I’d get Japanese. I had a Japanese class in the third grade (go progressive schooling!) and I loved the language. Far more fun to speak in. :)

The Chinese one. Mandarin would be a good language to learn.

Mandarin

That depends on what you’re trying to achieve? Mandarin has the one of the highest percents in language/speaking ability in the world, far greater then Japanese. I prefer Japanese over Mandarin, in my opinion, an elegant tone compared to mandarin.

Business?
Travel?
Cultural interest?

Just to learn. I like the software, and I like languages in general.

Which ones have you already learned?

I’m kind of drawn to most things Japanese.
But I think Mandarin is much more handy.

Plus I think it might be a good starting point
for learning your first character-based language.
Isn’t Kanji based off of Chinese characters?

Though there is a lot of great Japanese literature
that I’d love to read in its original language.

Okay, I’m going with Japanese. Thanks, peeps!

I win!

yokatta desu ne! Nihongo tottemo omosiroi. nihongo ichi-ban, chukokugo san-ban to rusiago ni-ban desu yo.
Eh sorry im bored and dont get to use my japanese much

I would start with Japanese. Inflection is not an issue, as it is in Mandarin, as spoken Japanese does not rely on any rising or falling tones to denote meaning. In addition Japanese characters seem less complex in a graphic sense.

Good choice. I would also go with Japanese.

I am a non-native Chinese speaker that actually learned Chinese. I have many friends that have taken up Japanese. I think the answer to your question depends on where your interest lies because learning either language is quite an undertaking. Here’s the difference, Chinese grammar is very easy but, since it doesn’t use an alphabet, learning the characters is all a memorization game. Once you learn the basics around pronunciation and tones (and this is tough to get a hold on at first), the grammar is pretty easy to learn (e.g. no verb conjugation—> problem with learning many Western languages). As for Japanese, my understanding is that the grammar is much more difficult to learn than Chinese. Japanese also uses some Chinese characters (—> have to memorize) but it also has multiple alphabets. The net of it is, both languages are hard to learn, but in different ways. I’d say that for people whose native language is a Western language, Chinese is probably easier to learn to speak. Again, learning a language is a lifelong process. Regardless if it is Chinese, Japanese, or Russian, set realistic expectations. Fluency in a year is not possible. If you accept that going it, it will be a much less frustrating process. Good luck!