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For an English speaker the two sit in the same difficulty group, so neither is officially easier: the Foreign Service Institute puts both at 2,200 class hours. Their basic everyday vocabulary is mostly different: almost none of the everyday words sound alike. Korean did take many words from Chinese, mostly beyond the basics, so the overlap grows as your vocabulary does.
For an English speaker the two sit in the same difficulty group, so neither is officially easier: the Foreign Service Institute puts both at 2,200 class hours. These are the figures behind the how long does it take to learn a language calculator, from the US Foreign Service Institute's published language training times.
| Korean | Chinese | |
|---|---|---|
| FSI difficulty group | Category IV | Category IV |
| Class hours to working proficiency | 2,200 | 2,200 |
| Full-time weeks | 88 | 88 |
The hours are for a native English speaker in full-time classes aiming at professional working proficiency. Useful everyday conversation comes sooner, and the calculator breaks the time down by level.
Their basic everyday vocabulary is mostly different: almost none of the everyday words sound alike. Korean did take many words from Chinese, mostly beyond the basics, so the overlap grows as your vocabulary does.
Very few everyday words sound alike in Korean and Chinese, so there is no short list to show.
And a few everyday words that sound completely different:
| English | Korean | Chinese |
|---|---|---|
| France | 프랑스peurangseu | 法国fǎ guó |
| brown | 갈색galsaek | 棕色zōng sè |
| delicious | 맛있는masinneun | 美味的měi wèi de |
| front | 전선jeonseon | 锋面fēng miàn |
| language | 언어eoneo | 语言yǔ yán |
| often | 자주jaju | 经常jīng cháng |
| seventeen | 열일곱yeorilgop | 十七shí qī |
| sweet | 달콤한dalkomhan | 甜的tián de |
| Korean | Chinese | |
|---|---|---|
| Writing system | Hangul, an alphabet | Chinese characters |
| Grammatical genders | None | None |
| Noun cases | Marked by small particles | None |
| Tones | No | Yes (Mandarin has four, plus a neutral one) |
Study time will not decide this one, because the two ask for about the same. If you want to reach a particular place, a person or a job, start with the one you will actually use: steady motivation counts for more than the difference in hours.
For an English speaker the two sit in the same difficulty group, so neither is officially easier: the Foreign Service Institute puts both at 2,200 class hours. Hours are for a native English speaker reaching professional working proficiency in full-time classes; casual learning gets you to useful conversation well before that.
Their basic everyday vocabulary is mostly different: almost none of the everyday words sound alike. Korean did take many words from Chinese, mostly beyond the basics, so the overlap grows as your vocabulary does.
Study time will not decide this one, because the two ask for about the same. If you want to reach a particular place, a person or a job, start with the one you will actually use: steady motivation counts for more than the difference in hours.
No. Korean is written with Hangul and Chinese with Chinese characters.
Watch Your LanguageVocabulary widgets for iPhone & Apple Watch
Watch Your Language puts Korean or Chinese words in a widget on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, and brings back the ones you keep forgetting, so the practice carries on every time you check the time.
