How long does it take to learn Korean fluently? It will take about 1200 hours to reach a high intermediate level. You'll need additional practice, so you may want to double that number to 2400 hours to get towards fluency. That would be about 23 hours of study per week for two years.
You can learn Korean in a year if you study for over 6 hours every day. Or almost 43 hours every week. That's an extremely intense study schedule, even more than a full-time job. With 20 minutes of daily study, it would take 20 years to reach Korean fluency.
Korean is a fun and relatively quick language to pick up and use. Assuming you study for 1-2 hours a day, you could be using basic Korean within a couple of months, and you could be making simple conversation within six months. Above all, it's absolutely essential to understand your goals.
Unlike other East-Asian languages, Korean isn't a tonal language. This means, that the meaning of the word doesn't change, regardless of what your accent is like. This makes learning Korean much easier than Japanese.
Relatively, Korean would be an easier language to learn. Thanks to its phonetic alphabet and more simplistic grammar rules, Korean is not the most challenging Asian language to learn. Chinese on the other hand is much more widely spoken. This means that finding study materials and practice partners would be easier.
Korean vs Chinese: Which one's the easiest to learn? In conclusion, the Mandarin Chinese writing system is far more complex than its Korean counterpart. Hangul is far easier to learn than Hanzi. But, while Chinese grammar is rather predictable and stable, Korean grammar has some extra layers of difficulty.
The Korean grammar system is very different from English, and the use of honorifics can get very confusing. Overall, it will come down to the time a beginner dedicates to their learning. With the correct dedication, Thai will be the easier language to master in a shorter amount of time.
Is Korean easier to learn than Japanese? Yes, Korean language is easier to learn than Japanese. To be able to read and write Japanese, you must memorize hiragana, katakana, and over 2000 Kanji (Chinese characters). Memorizing Japanese Kanji takes years of daily cramming.
As we've already mentioned, Japanese is considered the fastest language in the world. It is always mentioned as the first on the list. So, here are 6 of the fastest spoken languages in the world, based on the average number of syllables spoken per second (SPS): Japanese - 7.84 SPS.
And it ranks as 18th in the most used languages in the world. This makes the language useful for travel, or business. If you plan on doing any sort of business in the country, you will need to know Korean.
In short, yes, you can learn Korean in a year. However, the effort involved is significant. You would need to study 40 to 45 hours a week – that's roughly 6 hours a day – to reach fluency in Korean. That's intense, even for someone with no job or other responsibilities!
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Contrary to common belief, mastering this language is entirely possible if only you know the best resources and ways to do it. You can even learn Korean from the comfort of your home!
In comparison, you need around 10,000 words, random or not to reach a native speaker's level. Following this thought and considering that Korean is a much more complex language than English, you'll need around 3,000 words to get around and make yourself understood.
According to the Engco Forecasting Model explained above, the 5 most spoken languages in 2050 will be Mandarin, Spanish, English, Hindi and Arabic. The key drivers behind the continued rise in popularity of these languages include population growth, economic predictions and national language policy.
The languages that takes the number 1 place in our list and therefore, the most spoken first language in the world is, by far, Mandarin Chinese. Mandarin is only one of the many Chinese dialects spoken in China. However, it is officially considered the Official Language of the People's Republic of China.
Wrapping Up: Should I Learn Korean Or Japanese (2023)
Korean and Japanese are both similar and different from each other in certain aspects. Both languages share Chinese characters but have different pronunciations and vocabulary. It is easier for people to learn Korean if they already know Japanese and Chinese.
The Korean language used to be written with traditional Chinese symbols but was slowly replaced by a phonetic system of writing in the 19th and 20th centuries. Korean is thus the easiest language of these three to learn how to read and write, for which learners of the language will be grateful!
The Korean alphabet, called Hangul, has 24 letters, including 14 consonants and 10 vowels. In addition to the 24 basic letters, Hangul also includes combinations of vowels and consonants that represent additional sounds.
The Japanese language is one of the most popular and beautiful languages in Asia. It is an ancient language of Asia. It is a very musical language. And it is not harsh at all.
According to FSI, the Foreign Service Institute, Vietnamese is categorized as Category IV of languages. The difficulty is just below learning Arabic, Korean, and Mandarin Chinese. It normally takes 44 weeks or 1100 class hours to reach fluency.
1. Mandarin Chinese. Interestingly, the hardest language to learn is also the most widely spoken native language in the world. Mandarin Chinese is challenging for a number of reasons.