Learning a language with a different alphabet

[sabotai]

For awhile now, I've been (re)learning german. Took it for four years in high school, and quickly forgot about 99% of it. I've got a good handle of the grammar, and have been spending about 30 minutes to an hour every night (most nights) working on it. I have a decent understanding of the language, but my vocabulary is still pretty limited, so I need to vastly improve that.

However, I've been thinking of what language to tackle next, even if I don't actually dive into a new language for some time. I was thinking of French, Italian or Spanish, thinking that picking up another European language after I am well aquanted with German would be relatively easy.

I also thought it'd be neat to tackle a language that would be a real challenge. One that had totally different grammar, completely different alphabet, etc. Japanese, Mandarin or Korean came to mind, since I watch a lot of movies from the far east. I also thought, for something completely different, I could learn Hindi or Arabic (although doubtful since I would like to learn languages that will also serve a practical purpose, and I don't watch or read, or would watch or read, anything in Hindi or Arabic...but I have thought of it.)

I know there is romaji for Japanese and Mandarin has something similar. I was wondering if I learned a language with a completely different alphabet, what would be more advisable to jump into the language completely, learning the alphabet as I went? Or would it be better to learn it with a roman-style alphabet first, and then learn the real alphabet later?

[st.cronin]

Standard pedagogy says learn the alphabet first. But I think it depends on your particular strengths and weaknesses, as well as your goals within the language.

[Izulde]

Umm, the languages you mention are character-based, not alphabet based.

I'd say learn Russian if you want to start with a different alphabet.

[sabotai]

Umm, the languages you mention are character-based, not alphabet based.

I'd say learn Russian if you want to start with a different alphabet.

I didn't realize there was a difference. I'm not looking at just alphabet-based languages, in that case, just wondering about learning languages that don't use the roman alphabet.

[Izulde]

A few more things to keep in mind: Yes, German will be helpful to a fair degree, as Spanish was much easier to acquire even with my still rusty German background, though there is a family shift, from Germanic to Romance.

Also, the learning pace will be much, much slower with an alternate alphabet or character-based system. From my discussions with others about various languages, Chinese characters are particularly brutal to learn and Korean is just a nasty, nasty language all-around, which is why there's such an emphasis on English instruction in Korean schools.

Japanese itself in terms of speaking is apparently relatively easy, but you have 3 different writing systems to deal with.

[sabotai]

Also, the learning pace will be much, much slower with an alternate alphabet or character-based system.

I realize that it will be a slow learning process. I imagine, though, that in the long run, it'd be better to learn the writing/alphabet/characters from the start.

[StLee]

I am living in Korea and learning Korean. Korean (called Hangul) is an "alphabet-based," not "character-based" language, like Mandarin is. The Korean alphabet is actually quite simple to learn, taking most people only an hour to learn and only a few hours to master.

The grammar is quite different, but it is quite logical, though there are basically three different ways to speak based on your listening audience: casual, polite, and mandatory polite.

Like all languages, I think based on my studies of languages in general, building a vocabulary is the absolute toughest part of a language. My vocabulary in Korean stinks, so although I know how to build a basic sentence, my actual usage of the language is still limited to saying basic expressions and ordering food. With that in mind, I am surviving well, but I would one day like to be fluent in the langauge, which means I have to keep on making and studying flash cards.

Link: http://www.omniglot.com/writing/korean.htm

[Lorena]

Ahh so it's German, ok. I was trying to figure out what dʒeɪ means.

[Pumpy Tudors]

All languages get easier if you learn jive first. I learned jive before I learned English.

[sabotai]

Thanks for the link StLee. Great site.

Ahh so it's German, ok. I was trying to figure out what dʒeɪ means.

Heh, no. If you look up the letter J on wikipedia, that's the pronunciation of it. (Jay = dʒeɪ ) :D

And uh course ah' know JIBE, Pumpy. Slap mah fro! ah' plum dought everyone dun did.