Chinese: traditional or simplified???
Hello; I want to start studying Chinese , but I can't decide whether to start with traditional or simplified characters.
I'm interested in Chinese culture, but I foremost need a practical approach that could apply to scientific research and papers and online materials, such as biology research stuff.
I know that traditional characters are used in Hong Kong, Taiwan and by overseas Chinese, while simplified in mainland China and Singapore.
I'm a veterinary student, interested in animal husbandry, so I would like to know what geographical area has a more productive dairy farm industry or other kinds of animal husbandry, taking this into account I could choose better.
I guess traditional would be better to begin with?
Thanks!!
Search from various English teachers...
Answers · 8
3
If you are interested in Chinese culture then learn the traditional characters because they code the philosohy, history etc into the characters. Simplified ones do away with most of this "extraneous" information. It really depends on what your main interest is. It is like learning shorthand vs the traditional spelling of words. Thus learning traditional characters first makes simplified characters easier.
1
I would say simplified first because
-it's easier to learn than traditional
-its used by more people(a lot more!)
-since you are learning Chinese for a more business use than just bc you love chinese or the philosophy or something(not saying that you don't love chinese), simplified would be more useful for you, and more beneficial.
-this is just my personal opinion, most ppl that use traditional know simplified ones, but not a lot of ppl who know simplified would know traditional
1
Maybe Huhhot will be a nice place for you, which is in China mainland, so I recommend you to learn simplified characters to begin with.
1
Well, I think you had better directly learn simplified characters. Chinese mainland is the biggest place to raise animals, not Hongkong, or Taiwan.
1
The simplified characters is more easy to write and learn than the traditional characters I think .
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