I want something to say when my other language-learning friends talk about how hard/easy XYZ language is.

For example, for easy parts:

  • No genders
  • Easy vowels/consonants

For difficulties:

  • Kanji
  • Formality

Please help? Thanks!

Edit: summary of comments for my future reference:

Easier:

  • no genders
  • resource rich for learning
  • simpler tenses

Easy and hard:

  • pronunciation (consistent, but accent hard to eliminate)
  • grammar (consistent but different)

Harder:

  • Kanji (like icons)
  • formality
  • Cyo@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    1 year ago

    The only step of learning Japanese that I consider hard is memorizing Kanji. Using them later becomes easy but what can make the learning complicated is that for example: Let’s say that I don’t know any kanji and I want to learn by reading: "Oh I found this, how do I pronounce it ‘何’ ??? … ): " Learning kanji requires to read the dictionary or taking the info from some source.

    Back when I learned English I could learn a word by reading it and understanding the context. “W O R D” was what I say, letters so I could pronounce it. But kanji is different, It requires more "active " study to memorize.

    Sometimes I think that kanji is in someway similar to the icons of the Apps on my phone. For example the Icon of WhatsApp, when I see it I know it’s WhatsApp,but that only because I have previously learned that.

    Learning kanji is somehow hard but more than difficult it just requires time. Actually I like learning kanjis, the feeling of "strange symbols " becoming words to ny brain is one of the best sensations that I could have experienced in my whole life.