Should I use simplified or traditional Chinese?

Simplified Chinese is typically used when translating for mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia, and international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank. However, when translating for audiences in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau and international immigrant communities, Traditional Chinese is the norm.

Are traditional Chinese characters still used?

Traditional Chinese characters are only still used primarily by those in Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong, and many overseas communities, comprising a small minority of the Chinese-speaking population (~50 million people). However, they also remain in use in mainland China for artistic, scholarly, and advertising purposes.

Why does China use simplified characters?

The government of the People’s Republic of China in mainland China has promoted them for use in printing since the 1950s and 1960s to encourage literacy. Simplified character forms were created by reducing the number of strokes and simplifying the forms of a sizable proportion of Chinese characters.

Is Traditional Chinese harder than simplified?

Traditional characters are typically more complicated and have more strokes, while simplified characters are, as the name suggests, simpler and have fewer strokes. As mentioned, all Chinese characters were originally the same, so while some characters were changed in the simplified Chinese system, some carried over.

What is the difference between Chinese Simplified and Chinese Traditional?

The most obvious difference between traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese is the way that the characters look. Traditional characters are typically more complicated and have more strokes, while simplified characters are, as the name suggests, simpler and have fewer strokes.

Should I learn simplified or traditional characters?

In essence, if you plan to use your Chinese where simplified characters are used (mainland China and Singapore, for instance), then learn simplified. If you plan to go to Taiwan or Hong Kong, you will be better off learning traditional first.

Is Kanji based on traditional or simplified?

Kanji is derived from traditional Chinese characters, but has its own set of simplifications. They are not as extreme as simplified Chinese characters, and in fact looks very similar to traditional Chinese characters for the most part.

Is Kanji closer to traditional or simplified Chinese?

In terms of writing systems, mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia uses simplified characters. Japanese uses a form of Chinese characters in their writing system, called Kanji. The same goes for when Chinese characters are used in Korean Hanja. They are, of course, pronounced differently.

Should I learn traditional or simplified Reddit?

In the fullness of time, you’ll probably want to learn both. Traditional to simplified is probably a little bit easier, but learning simplified to start with is probably easier. The jump from one to other is probably not as difficult as you think.

Should the Chinese characters be simplified or revived?

Keeping the way it is now stands in everyone’s interest and the proposition to “revive the traditional” or “further simplify” the Chinese characters are both unpractical.

Why did China simplify its characters?

The first round of simplifications that the Chinese government implemented started in 1956, with a goal of reducing complexity. Some people say that because of character simplification, Chinese characters lost aesthetic and traditional values, including the meanings the base characters held.

Is it easier to learn Chinese or Mandarin in simplified characters?

Mandarin spoken in Mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia is written using simplified characters. Most resources teaching “Chinese” or “Mandarin” will be written in simplified. It’s arguably easier to learn as it’s less complex than traditional characters.

Is the use of Chinese characters a concern?

Recently the use of Chinese characters and the policies related to them have been a concern of many. The debate on traditional Chinese characters and simplified Chinese characters is an ongoing issue and has stirred up heated responses from supporters of both sides.