Two part question for Asian language speakers or those familiar with the culture.?

B

Bermudaful

New member
I grew up in Bermuda but it is super easy for me to tell the difference between Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch, and German...

So I was thinking...

Part 1) Is it equally easy for someone from Thailand to tell the difference between Korean, Japanese, or Chinese...or can an Malaysian person tell the difference between those languages?

I'm talking about a person that has no knowledge or experience with these languages

Part 2) I cannot tell the difference between Hindi or Sinhalese, Korean or Chinese....but can an Asian who has no experience with European languages tell the difference between Italian and Spanish or French and Portuguese?

Thanks for your insight!
 
Part 1 - I guess that it depends with the language I guess. I know that for Chinese there are 2 sub languages and Cantonese has 6 to 9 tones (more of a flowing sound) and Mandarin only has 4 tones(a harsher sound.) For Japanese and Chinese they are both very similar but in chinese there are several different tones which can change the word and it's meaning. But in most cases you will be able to tell if it is Japanese or Chinese because in the Japanese language they speak much more faster than the Chinese.(For Japanese all words are composed of syllables and never end in consonants.) In Korean there are even more sounds because they have many more vowels than the English language.

Part 2- When I first started languages I could tell the difference between Italian, Spanish and French. It may be harder with some people and it may be easier with some. I still have trouble with Hindi and Sinhalese too but then not so much with the European languages.

I am now very multicultural so there are many languages that I can speak, listen and read and write in, such as: Canotnese, Mandarin (Chinese), Korean, English, French, Spanish, and German. I am also half Chinese half Korean and I some how got very interested in languages so I guess that I am very multicultural now.
 
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