If you are Passionate about Languages and for some incomprehensible reason, you don't plan on learning one of the Big Three in Asia ( Chinese, Korean and Japanese ) then, my fellow journeymen, you are missing out on a lot!
Lately, I have been getting quite interested in the Korean language and the Korean history - don't you wonder sometimes too about the Twin States as in "What do the people in South Korea think about North Korea?" and vice versa, how different the life over in these two countries really is; how do people in these countries look back at history and more importantly how do they interpret it all.
Besides, if you get interested in the Asian Far East, there is no way that you won't learn about other countries as well. The histories of China-Japan-Korea are intertwined so deeply, needless to say that there is (my favorite) Mongolia as well in the mix but considering that only about 3 Million people are there in the entire country ( 2 Million of whom live in the Capital Ulan Bator itself ) and being surrounded by such Population juggernauts, Mongolia often gets overlooked.
But I digress;P
The point being, if you too are crazy about languages and "figuring out people" then the Far East can satiate your curiosity for a lifetime. Of the three languages, I think Korean is the easiest as the letters are phonetic ( like English or Esperanto) and thus you can gain confidence and have a taste of Asia through Korean itself. Later on move to Japanese and Chinese as you feel comfortable with the various narratives that you'd find interesting.
Say, if you like Buddhism and history of Ideas and Wars ( talk about Irony) then why not understand the languages within these contexts. For me, reading Harry Potter over and over again in different languages works perfectly for most non-Asian languages but when in the Far East, I better start reading more of it's Long history.
Lately I have been listening to History of China and History of Japan podcasts, both of which I would definitely recommend to get anyone started in the Asian History and then slowly start expanding one's knowledge base from there onwards.
I have already been gripped by these two, I think I have covered about 20 hours ( of 50 hours ) in History of Japan and about 10 hours ( of 40 hours) in History of China. In addition to these I am flirting slightly with Topics in Korean History and The Korean Society podcasts, though only a couple of episodes which seem interesting enough to take break from the other two.
Hmm, being obsessive is a useful trait to have;P
Lately, I have been getting quite interested in the Korean language and the Korean history - don't you wonder sometimes too about the Twin States as in "What do the people in South Korea think about North Korea?" and vice versa, how different the life over in these two countries really is; how do people in these countries look back at history and more importantly how do they interpret it all.
Besides, if you get interested in the Asian Far East, there is no way that you won't learn about other countries as well. The histories of China-Japan-Korea are intertwined so deeply, needless to say that there is (my favorite) Mongolia as well in the mix but considering that only about 3 Million people are there in the entire country ( 2 Million of whom live in the Capital Ulan Bator itself ) and being surrounded by such Population juggernauts, Mongolia often gets overlooked.
But I digress;P
The point being, if you too are crazy about languages and "figuring out people" then the Far East can satiate your curiosity for a lifetime. Of the three languages, I think Korean is the easiest as the letters are phonetic ( like English or Esperanto) and thus you can gain confidence and have a taste of Asia through Korean itself. Later on move to Japanese and Chinese as you feel comfortable with the various narratives that you'd find interesting.
Say, if you like Buddhism and history of Ideas and Wars ( talk about Irony) then why not understand the languages within these contexts. For me, reading Harry Potter over and over again in different languages works perfectly for most non-Asian languages but when in the Far East, I better start reading more of it's Long history.
Lately I have been listening to History of China and History of Japan podcasts, both of which I would definitely recommend to get anyone started in the Asian History and then slowly start expanding one's knowledge base from there onwards.
I have already been gripped by these two, I think I have covered about 20 hours ( of 50 hours ) in History of Japan and about 10 hours ( of 40 hours) in History of China. In addition to these I am flirting slightly with Topics in Korean History and The Korean Society podcasts, though only a couple of episodes which seem interesting enough to take break from the other two.
Hmm, being obsessive is a useful trait to have;P
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