Languages: Chinese vs Japanese

[Okayadokari]

I'm having a debate with a friend who insists that the Japanese language is superior to the Chinese language. What are the disadvantages of Japanese compared to Chinese?

[thereisnospoon]

Not that I would know anything about either language, but that has to be one of the strangest debates I've ever heard.

[Lemonachi]

...err well Japanese does share some common characters with the Chinese when it's written.

Anyway with any 2nd language or so, it all depends on what one you use more often/are more comfortable with it is usually the first language unless you move somewhere?

[TotallyUsagi]

Well... I don't know all that much about Chinese. I do know that Kanji is both Chinese and Japanese, and Japanese also has Katakana (words that are based on sounds and mostly used to imitate words in other languages) and Hiragana (basically a formal Japanese).... So I don't know about (or even if there are) other forms of Chinese. But it seems for the most part they're pretty similar, though I gotta say that Japanese is pretty darn awesome...

[Okayadokari]

Does anyone here know both Chinese and Japanese? Consider the fact that Japanese has an alphabet, while Chinese doesn't. What are the disadvantages of having an alphabet? For example, you may have to write more characters to convey a meaning, while it can only require one or two characters in Chinese. Anything else?

[Breeze]

Hm... interesting debate... what can I say...
Chinese is more difficult to learn. Definetely (with that whole accent thing).
Japanese Kanji characters are just like Chinese ones.

I just know 1% Japanese ^^

[supremegoddess]

I don't know any Chinese... the pronunciation (like Breeze said) would be a bit hard, but I think you only have to learn that and the kanji, where as in Japanese there are 3 scripts!

[Amy-Chan]

I guess it would depend on the person, everyone varies to what they find easy, some might find no alphabet easier, others a alphabet, the three bits to japanese may or may not prove hard to the particular person - usagi hilights this, i forget which it is but she can't really write it proper, even in the future

[pyxee]

I know almost nothing about Chinese except that Japanese Kanji are taken from Chinese.
But with Japanese there are not only the three writing forms but also different levels of formality in speech.

[Breeze]

pyxee said:

But with Japanese there are not only the three writing forms but also different levels of formality in speech.

true, true. there are some suffixes you add to the verbs.
and the difficult Jpanese thing: particles I can't understand any except "no" and "wa".

[pyxee]

yeah I have to agree, Particles are a big pain, so many I have a grasp of a lot of them though.