4 ms·

Cyrillic is not hard to learn.

by gsich 9y ago

yosito 9y ago
Most people don't learn a new alphabet just to go on vacation though, so this change will remove a lot of friction.
- disordinary 9y ago
  You're just backing up the stereotype of an English speaker unfortunately. Cyrilic is extremely easy to learn, you can do it in under an hour, and even in Russia most places that tourists interact will have latin and cyrilic versions of the same text (on the metro, etc). Countries like China are tougher to travel in, but it's not exactly difficult.
  - emodendroket 9y ago
    > Countries like China are tougher, but it's not exactly difficult. Uh, no, that's definitely wrong. Learning Chinese script is a very difficult and time-consuming task. Literacy in Japanese requires about 2,000 characters; literacy in Chinese requires about 5,000.
    - disordinary 9y ago
      I mean difficuilt to get around as a tourist - of course I didn't mean learn the glyphs, I've backpacked across China and, yes, if you're looking for a particular street you have to compare it carefully, you're making out the shapes as a picture rather than reading it like a language, but it's not that hard. I modified my comment to better reflect the intention.
  - yosito 9y ago
    I speak three languages. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
shard 9y ago
Neither is the basics of the Korean writing system (I memorized the writing and pronunciation system in about a day). However, if you want to look up what a word means, is it easier to type in the Latin alphabet or hunt and peck the Korean text? I expect that for most visitors to Korea, they are not going to spend the time to learn the Korean writing system, and rely on the faith that the basic English skills of the locals will get them through the trip.
- gsich 9y ago
  I would argue that Cyrillic is still easier then Korean. Similar amount of characters, some have similar pronunciation. So you might recognize a word even if you don't know the whole alphabet. (CCCP is somewhat known as an example) Besides, if you know the Greek alphabet (I guess many people here do), Cyrillic is not that far away.
  - emodendroket 9y ago
    Technically Korean characters are composed of smaller elements that have pronunciations, so for learning purposes you can essentially act like it is an alphabet. The biggest challenge is distinguishing between consonants that sound the same to English-speaking ears... but the writing system can't help you with that.
- emodendroket 9y ago
  > I expect that for most visitors to Korea, they are not going to spend the time to learn the Korean writing system, and rely on the faith that the basic English skills of the locals will get them through the trip. Of course. But would converting Korean to a romanized system somehow change that?

Cyrillic is not hard to learn.

by gsich 9y ago

Cyrillic is not hard to learn.

yosito 9y ago

Most people don't learn a new alphabet just to go on vacation though, so this change will remove a lot of friction.

disordinary 9y ago
You're just backing up the stereotype of an English speaker unfortunately. Cyrilic is extremely easy to learn, you can do it in under an hour, and even in Russia most places that tourists interact will have latin and cyrilic versions of the same text (on the metro, etc). Countries like China are tougher to travel in, but it's not exactly difficult.
- emodendroket 9y ago
  > Countries like China are tougher, but it's not exactly difficult. Uh, no, that's definitely wrong. Learning Chinese script is a very difficult and time-consuming task. Literacy in Japanese requires about 2,000 characters; literacy in Chinese requires about 5,000.
  - disordinary 9y ago
    I mean difficuilt to get around as a tourist - of course I didn't mean learn the glyphs, I've backpacked across China and, yes, if you're looking for a particular street you have to compare it carefully, you're making out the shapes as a picture rather than reading it like a language, but it's not that hard. I modified my comment to better reflect the intention.
- yosito 9y ago
  I speak three languages. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

shard 9y ago

Neither is the basics of the Korean writing system (I memorized the writing and pronunciation system in about a day). However, if you want to look up what a word means, is it easier to type in the Latin alphabet or hunt and peck the Korean text? I expect that for most visitors to Korea, they are not going to spend the time to learn the Korean writing system, and rely on the faith that the basic English skills of the locals will get them through the trip.

gsich 9y ago
I would argue that Cyrillic is still easier then Korean. Similar amount of characters, some have similar pronunciation. So you might recognize a word even if you don't know the whole alphabet. (CCCP is somewhat known as an example) Besides, if you know the Greek alphabet (I guess many people here do), Cyrillic is not that far away.
- emodendroket 9y ago
  Technically Korean characters are composed of smaller elements that have pronunciations, so for learning purposes you can essentially act like it is an alphabet. The biggest challenge is distinguishing between consonants that sound the same to English-speaking ears... but the writing system can't help you with that.
emodendroket 9y ago
> I expect that for most visitors to Korea, they are not going to spend the time to learn the Korean writing system, and rely on the faith that the basic English skills of the locals will get them through the trip. Of course. But would converting Korean to a romanized system somehow change that?