Should I learn Mandarin or Cantonese?

[pazu]

I think most of the old folks couldn't speak Mandarin.

[Ian_Lee]

It all depends on your motive.

Today's Wall Street Journal published an article that explored the motive of American students learning Japanese. It said that overall the general motive has switched from international business to pop culture junkie.

Maybe Mandarin helps you more in international business. But if you are more interested in Cantopop culture like HK movies, then maybe Cantonese is more fun.

[bhchao]

Ian, I agree. Mandarin is more useful in today's practical world.

Objectively I think learning Japanese is a complete waste of time, unless you want to listen to Japanese songs or watch cartoons. I used to take Japanese courses, but after reflecting on the usefulness of the language, I dropped out entirely. In a course I previously took, I asked two ladies "Why are you taking Japanese?" Both of their responses is that they want to have better chemistry with their boyfriends because both of their boyfriends are Japanese.

At UCLA's extension program, an average of 12 people are enrolled in a Japanese language course, while every beginning level Mandarin course is entirely closed each quarter due to the maximum enrollment capacity being filled, about 30 students. In order to get a seat in a Mandarin course, students have to enroll in the first week of registration because the seats go very quickly. Otherwise they have to wait until the next quarter.

Despite being fluent in Mandarin, I attended a Mandarin course at UCLA just to see how it goes. The instructor from Beijing asked everyone why they are taking Mandarin. Most of the responses were business-related, like "I'm starting a job in Shanghai next month" or "My company works with clients from China and Hong Kong."

Taking Japanese might have made sense 30 years ago before the emergence of China on the world scene. Today China and the US is driving the world economy.

[Guest Yau]

Taking Japanese might have made sense 30 years ago before the emergence of China on the world scene. Today China and the US is driving the world economy.

si si, chinese is going to take over the world and provide an irresistible and huge market for every corner on the earth----the claim was told 100 years ago but just never realized.

[keith]

I would suggest Mandarin.

[Ian_Lee]

Bhchao:

In my state, it is different. Japanese is still the most preferred foreign language though Mandarin has gained some ground. But my state university is different since it is always chosen as one of the 10 best institutions to learn Japanese language.

I would say most people study foreign language for utilitarian purpose. (But I also wonder how many people would actually use Mandarin even though they study it for the sake of international business.) But of course, there are exceptions. I study Japanese purely for the sake of easiness of getting around in Japan when I travel solo there.

[ala]

Taking Japanese might have made sense 30 years ago before the emergence of China on the world scene.

And yet English and Japanese are the two most popular foreign languages for Chinese nationals. The runnerup, German, is a distant distant third.

[xuechengfeng]

Off topic, but following the sub-topic, Japanese courses are always full at Ohio State, while Chinese is close, but not usually full. Also, it seems more and more people drop out as the time goes on.

[Haoqide]

benotnobody...

I was referring to the light 'x' sounds in words like xiao, xiang, etc...Those sounds to me are very pretty and sound good in songs.

Cantonese doesn't have as many of those sweet-sounding words. But it's certainly a better dialect to tell a joke in. Very cool.