The Student Room Group
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>

Korean or Japanese... Or Korean and Japanese?

Okay so I'm going in to year 13 and of course have been looking at university courses, but nothing has really taken my interest apart from Japanese and Korean Studies. However the thing is I really, really like both, and have self studied then at different points and each one has things about it that I really like. Sadly, I can only pick one. I love the way Korean sounds, and how it looks, and while being similar in difficulty to Japanese, has an infinitely easier writing system. Japanese on the other hand has been something I have had a keen interest in for probably three years at this point and I know MUCH more about the history, the culture and various other things relating to Japan. I'm really facing a big dilemma as I really cannot decide which I would want to do. There is a Korean and Japanese course too but I feel like this isn't really going to be that good as it eliminates all the interesting optional modules of doing a single language and replaces them with Beginner Japanese which, even over three years of study, gets you too a pretty average level. However I'm not going to rule it out as I honestly can't decide what would be better. Does anyone have any advice, has anyone done these specific subjects?Thanks for any help/advice and please ask if you want me to explain something I explained in not much detail in this post
Hi there. I study Japanese and French at University so hopefully I'll be able to help you with your question.
This seems to be quite a tricky dilemma as it's clear that you have a passion for both languages. I'm not sure if this would be of much use to you, but like any language course ( and any other degree course for that matter), your choice should come down to what really interests you, as you'll have to dedicate yourself to the study of these languages for the next four years, and you'll really need motivation to do that.
In your case, I would say you need to identify and do a few things in order to make your decision:
1- why are you interested in both languages? What aspects of the language and culture do you like, and could you see yourself living in that country for a year abroad?
2- what aspects of the language and culture do you want to study? Modules vary depending on each university- some universities specialising in modern culture, whilst others focus more on history etc. this can really have an effect on your motivation as you need to remain interested.
3- research each course ( that means every course at every university you are interested in, even for the same subject) thoroughly. Email and ask teachers at your chosen universities, go to open days and taster sessions. The information you gather at these events can really influence your decision

You should remember that both languages have some linguistic and cultural links, and from experience, you can easily visit either country on your year abroad :wink:

I'm sorry I can't give you a more concrete answer, but I hope this helps you a little. Good luck!


Posted from TSR Mobile
Korean Studies student here! Feel free to message me with any questions
Original post by pecopecopeco
Okay so I'm going in to year 13 and of course have been looking at university courses, but nothing has really taken my interest apart from Japanese and Korean Studies. However the thing is I really, really like both, and have self studied then at different points and each one has things about it that I really like. Sadly, I can only pick one. I love the way Korean sounds, and how it looks, and while being similar in difficulty to Japanese, has an infinitely easier writing system. Japanese on the other hand has been something I have had a keen interest in for probably three years at this point and I know MUCH more about the history, the culture and various other things relating to Japan. I'm really facing a big dilemma as I really cannot decide which I would want to do. There is a Korean and Japanese course too but I feel like this isn't really going to be that good as it eliminates all the interesting optional modules of doing a single language and replaces them with Beginner Japanese which, even over three years of study, gets you too a pretty average level. However I'm not going to rule it out as I honestly can't decide what would be better. Does anyone have any advice, has anyone done these specific subjects?Thanks for any help/advice and please ask if you want me to explain something I explained in not much detail in this post


Hi there! I'm applying for Japanese this year too (so excited omg :ahee:) and I've noticed that a lot of Japanese courses offer the option to pick up Korean later on, so maybe that would be a good thing to do if you can't decide? I'd imagine it would be easier to pick up Korean later rather than Japanese because of the writing system and similarities in grammar. I can't remember where exactly offers this but I know it exists.

Out of interest where are you thinking of applying to? :smile:
Original post by Steliata
Hi there! I'm applying for Japanese this year too (so excited omg :ahee:) and I've noticed that a lot of Japanese courses offer the option to pick up Korean later on, so maybe that would be a good thing to do if you can't decide? I'd imagine it would be easier to pick up Korean later rather than Japanese because of the writing system and similarities in grammar. I can't remember where exactly offers this but I know it exists.

Out of interest where are you thinking of applying to? :smile:


Sorry to interrupt but I believe SOAS offers this and the University of Sheffield also offer this!

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you