I don't know about Korean, but Mandarin is one of the easiest languages for an English speaker to learn. I should say spoken Mandarin. Becoming literate, reading and writing, is another magnitude of difficulty. No verb endings, no gender, sounds much like English (sh, j, ch, that would be difficult for speakers of Spanish or German, for example). Tone is important, but it makes for a rather compact array of syllables. The sound approximately like "sher", depending on tone, can mean the verb to be, the number 10, or $hit, among other things. The Chinese are great jokesters, and love to mess with non-speakers of Chinese. My name in Chinese by a change in tones means "chicken taking a dump". A guy I served with named Scorby was called Szu Gou Pi, meaning dead dog fart.
Stupidity has its way, while its cousin, evil, runs rampant.
I don't know about Korean, but Mandarin is one of the easiest languages for an English speaker to learn. I should say spoken Mandarin. Becoming literate, reading and writing, is another magnitude of difficulty. No verb endings, no gender, sounds much like English (sh, j, ch, that would be difficult for speakers of Spanish or German, for example). Tone is important, but it makes for a rather compact array of syllables. The sound approximately like "sher", depending on tone, can mean the verb to be, the number 10, or $hit, among other things. The Chinese are great jokesters, and love to mess with non-speakers of Chinese. My name in Chinese by a change in tones means "chicken taking a dump". A guy I served with named Scorby was called Szu Gou Pi, meaning dead dog fart.
Learn to eat Kimchi. I used to do business with a company in Korea and their executives were always impressed to see I ate kimchi. Although for some learning the language might be easier.
I still like kimchi but my family hates the smell when I bring it home. Fermented cabbage, fermented fish sauce, fermented shrimp paste, some hot chillies and a few other things. I'm amazed everyone doesn't love it.
Anyone here ever learn it as an adult? 2nd or 3rd language?
How hard/easy etc - good resources?
I have a new customer and being able to speak some would be most beneficial.
does your customer speak english? may be there are other ways of connecting with him/her.
Yes they do and one of my POC's is really good the other isn't as much. I just want to be able to show them IGAS about their business too. Just would like to be able to laugh at the same jokes you know?
Slavic languages have *got* to be the most difficult. Learning the meaning of the words is only a part of it. Being able to say the word even after you've heard it takes a lot of vocal gymnastics.
"Z" is a vowel in Polish, apparently.
Example: "Przemyśl" means industry.
If I ever go to Poland I won't be able to talk about industry because I can't pronounce it.
I don't mind Slavic languages - reading Cyrillic cursive is murder though. HATE it and only bothered to do so well enough to pass that part of the exam. I suppose it's dying like English cursive these days too.
Anyone here ever learn it as an adult? 2nd or 3rd language?
How hard/easy etc - good resources?
I have a new customer and being able to speak some would be most beneficial.
does your customer speak english? may be there are other ways of connecting with him/her.
Yes they do and one of my POC's is really good the other isn't as much. I just want to be able to show them IGAS about their business too. Just would like to be able to laugh at the same jokes you know?
risky ! be careful
a sales manager told me , never ask a customer where they are from , the customer says "idaho" and you confuse Idaho with Iowa and make a joke about cow tipping. and you created a distance just by asking. ( have you ever seen a car salesman asking that?)
showing interests in korean food is the safest bet and its harmless. sharing american cultural things like old cars ,elvis and 'rat pack ' , mobs , Holyrood might be good ideas to explore.
There are online language courses and you might find a free one or at least cheap.
In Vietnam, we worked with Vietnamese, Cambodians, Montagnards, Thai, Laotian, and Chinese. They were mutually incomprehensible to each other, but all sounded alike to me. Fast, tonal, and somewhat sing-song. I managed to pick up Vietnamese numbers but that's about it. They all had different alphabets, as well.
For what it's worth. What I'm saying was years ago, maybe something has changed maybe it hasn't. Koreans aren't real big on shaking hands they bow to each other, if they are dealing with an American who they think knows nothing about their culture naturally they will shake hands. If the Korean bows to you, you in turn bow lower than they did, it's a show of respect, don't offer your hand unless they do first, especially if they are older. Don't associate anything Japanese with them as calling them mommasan or poppasan. The older Koreans have no love for the Japanese. They controlled their country twice, last time between 1910-1945. Another tidbit is their number 4 is the same as our 13, often their advertisements in magazines or billboards are written in Chinese, if they are counting something unimportant they will use Korean numbers, if it's important like money its in Chinese.
Can’t help on resources but making an effort to learn even a few words and sentences is usually appreciated by the native speaker.
This. Or do you need to speak some degree of fluency? I have found Asian languages are, many times, hard for the purely Western speaker. Tones/intonation being the most difficult.
Ymmv
I disagree. I personally found Japanese to be easier than Spanish.
I have a friend who spent 20 years in Taiwan. Of course he's fluent in Mandarin Taiwanese which is very similar to Mandarin Chinese. He said it's a lot easier to learn than many think.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
Can’t help on resources but making an effort to learn even a few words and sentences is usually appreciated by the native speaker.
This. Or do you need to speak some degree of fluency? I have found Asian languages are, many times, hard for the purely Western speaker. Tones/intonation being the most difficult.
Ymmv
I disagree. I personally found Japanese to be easier than Spanish.
I have a friend who spent 20 years in Taiwan. Of course he's fluent in Mandarin Taiwanese which is very similar to Mandarin Chinese. He said it's a lot easier to learn than many think.
I watched a pile of super smart people fail out of Chinese at a rapid clip.
Anyone here ever learn it as an adult? 2nd or 3rd language?
How hard/easy etc - good resources?
I have a new customer and being able to speak some would be most beneficial.
does your customer speak english? may be there are other ways of connecting with him/her.
Yes they do and one of my POC's is really good the other isn't as much. I just want to be able to show them IGAS about their business too. Just would like to be able to laugh at the same jokes you know?
As my instructor at DLI said. "get yourself a long haired dictionary"
Buddy of mine spent a year in Korea circa 1970 for Uncle Sam. He said he just picked up a few key words & phrases for the most basic communication. Then you can follow up with gestures, facial expressions, etc.
