Which is more difficult: Japanese or Chinese?

I’m interested in both Japanese and Chinese and I can speak and understand both to some level.

After 3 years of living in Japan without formal Japanese courses, and a year of living in China, I realized that Japanese is harder to sound natural and native than Chinese. I still sound like a retard when I speak in Japanese. For Chinese, there are many instances when I talk to the locals and they don't get my tones so get flustered but when I found my bearing I can converse much more fluidly.

The most difficult thing I encouter when learning Japanese is that the lessons on textbooks and schools are retarded compared to what is actually spoken. Have you ever heard anyone say the following?

私はあなたにえんぴつをあげる。(Watashi ha anata ni empitsu wo ageru)

I swear that you will never, ever hear this sentence in your entire life. In fact, 90% of the time 私　(Watashi) and （あなた）Anata are not used. Compared this to Chinese where 我 (wo) and 你 (Ni) are commonly heard from a regular conversation. The lack of subjects usage in Japanese is a hurdle which until now I find difficult to overcome.

Some people have the wrong idea that since Mandarin uses 4 tones (+ 1 neutral tone) then it is much harder than Japanese which is mostly flat. But the truth is, the tonal foundation is an advantage in the long run. I believe that languages are better learned through the ears than through the eyes (a proof of which is that deaf people cannot make themselves understood), and hence devoting a long time in learning the tones and the music of Chinese produces the long-term result.

My last complain on Japanese is that there are so many readings for a certain character compared to Chinese which has at most 2 readings for some of its characters. Take for example:

行 - Could be read as kou, kyou, gyou, an, i..ku, yu..ku, okona..u/i in Japanese

行 - Only Xing2 and Hang2 in Chinese

Anyway, I still hope that one day I can speak both languages fluently and even be able to translate from Japanese to Chinese and vice versa.

Learning Chinese

If you are married to an expat in Shanghai then one of the things that make your stay productive is to study Mandarin. There are plenty of language schools in the city but in my opinion, going to the university is still a better option.

First of all, you have a good environment for learning. There is rigid and structured approach and there is the pressure in learning the language. You have midterms and final exams and also attendance is monitored and homeworks are encouraged.

Another good thing is that university is rather cheap with an average of 9000 RMB per semester, which means 3 lecture hours a day, 5 days a week, for 4 months.

I have been to two universities already -- Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, and Shanghai Traditional Chinese Medicine University. I decided to transfer universities since we live in Pudong area and it used to take me 2 hours to commute to Shanghai University of Finance. Another thing I don't like about that university is that some of the teachers are part-timers and hence they are not really experts. I think the university is trying to rake in cash by hiring cheap labour.

I remember that our "Listening" course is handled by an undergraduate and no one really takes her class seriously. We also have a "Writing" class which I think is irrelevant as the teacher would only ask us to write formal letters or documents by copying the book format without teaching anything. For our "Speaking" course, the teacher speaks with a western provincial accent and I really cannot quite catch it.

In Shanghai Traditional Chinese Medicine University, all of my current teachers have teaching degrees and speak more standard Mandarin. However, because the rule is 1 class per day, (2 days reading, 2 days speaking, 1 day listening) the teachers would already feel tired on the last minutes and would dismiss us early. I think it is a waste of time.

In order to compensate for this deficiencies of university lectures, I hired myself a private tutor which costs 40RMB per hour and I also subscribed to Chinesepod.com. This is helluva of a site and I really learn pretty neat expressions are not taught in the university. In the end, I think it's the podcast which helps me communicate more on a daily basis and on different functions, but it's the university structure that reinforced and provides the solid foundation.

In my opinion, one cannot exists without the other.