Although Chinese and Japanese language both have complicated writing systems and lots of ethnic background to learn, but for a native English speaker, both are difficult in different ways.
Pronunciation difference:
Idiosyncrasies of Japanese language include it grammar and pronunciation and writing. Japanese pronunciation is quite easy in the beginning. It poses little challenge to the English speaker.Chinese pronunciation is, of course, exasperating to learn. It can be very hard to make yourself understood.
However, when you are past the beginning stage, you will face the real difficulty with Japanese; speaking like a native speaker. Learning the 'pitch' accent is not easy. So is native-like intonation while speaking.
When learning Chinese, in the later stages, accent is not a very big issue. Given there are so many wildly different accents in China alone that once you get your tones approximately right, you can pass of as a native speaker in telephone conversations.
Hence Spoken Japanese is easier to learn than Spoken Chinese. Also, in Japanese there are many frequently occurring "markers" in speech which help a speaker keep their bearing within a sentence by 'particles' and word suffixes and between two sentences by using verb endings. In Chinese it was much easier to lose the meaning once you come across new words.
Grammar Differences:
Japanese grammar is indeed more complex than Chinese, and inverted as compared to English, as it follows the Subject-Object-Verb rule. But if you are visiting Japan for the first time, you can pick up basic grammar usage very quickly and make yourself understood.
It takes much more effort to overcome the phonetic hurdles in beginning Chinese. Japanese grammar seems like bizarre script at first. Once you get over the grammar hump by persistence, and verb conjugations, causative-passive, you can enjoy Japanese.
Chinese grammar starts out fairly simple for English speakers. In contrast, Japanese has separate rules for two types of adjectives, nouns, and two types of verbs. You also have two exception verbs and two exception adjectives.
Regarding Chinese phonetic alphabets, pinyin works just fine. Hiragana is just as easy. Kanji, the script in which it is written is Chinese. It is easy and helps to build vocabulary quickly.
Conclusion:
Learning Chinese probably beats Japanese in simplicity. The biggest problem is the availability of learning resources. If you have internet connection at your home, you can have the benefits of learning, in the comfort of your home, and at your own pace. While there is an abundance of internet resources to learn Chinese language online, not that much attention has been paid to online learning resources for Japanese.
Pronunciation difference:
Idiosyncrasies of Japanese language include it grammar and pronunciation and writing. Japanese pronunciation is quite easy in the beginning. It poses little challenge to the English speaker.Chinese pronunciation is, of course, exasperating to learn. It can be very hard to make yourself understood.
However, when you are past the beginning stage, you will face the real difficulty with Japanese; speaking like a native speaker. Learning the 'pitch' accent is not easy. So is native-like intonation while speaking.
When learning Chinese, in the later stages, accent is not a very big issue. Given there are so many wildly different accents in China alone that once you get your tones approximately right, you can pass of as a native speaker in telephone conversations.
Hence Spoken Japanese is easier to learn than Spoken Chinese. Also, in Japanese there are many frequently occurring "markers" in speech which help a speaker keep their bearing within a sentence by 'particles' and word suffixes and between two sentences by using verb endings. In Chinese it was much easier to lose the meaning once you come across new words.
Grammar Differences:
Japanese grammar is indeed more complex than Chinese, and inverted as compared to English, as it follows the Subject-Object-Verb rule. But if you are visiting Japan for the first time, you can pick up basic grammar usage very quickly and make yourself understood.
It takes much more effort to overcome the phonetic hurdles in beginning Chinese. Japanese grammar seems like bizarre script at first. Once you get over the grammar hump by persistence, and verb conjugations, causative-passive, you can enjoy Japanese.
Chinese grammar starts out fairly simple for English speakers. In contrast, Japanese has separate rules for two types of adjectives, nouns, and two types of verbs. You also have two exception verbs and two exception adjectives.
Regarding Chinese phonetic alphabets, pinyin works just fine. Hiragana is just as easy. Kanji, the script in which it is written is Chinese. It is easy and helps to build vocabulary quickly.
Conclusion:
Learning Chinese probably beats Japanese in simplicity. The biggest problem is the availability of learning resources. If you have internet connection at your home, you can have the benefits of learning, in the comfort of your home, and at your own pace. While there is an abundance of internet resources to learn Chinese language online, not that much attention has been paid to online learning resources for Japanese.
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