The Big Three East Asian Languages

[leosmith]

Mandarin, Japanese and Korean. I used to think of these as "The Big Three Asian Languages". I've since seen the error of my ways, and insert an "East" in there. Also, I know there are several other languages that deserve to displace Korean by some ways of thinking. But to this day I have this feeling that the big three are the best language combination for understanding and traveling in East Asia in general.

There was a pretty long period of time in my life when I dreamed about speaking all three. I didn't know a single westerner who could, and I didn't really have plans to go after all of them myself, so it never really occurred to me that it might happen one day. But the thought of having this ability seemed absolutely wonderful to me - sort of a triple crown of language learning; the ultimate hat trick.

Having finally achieved this, I would like this thread to be for those who are learning or have already learned the big three. Feel free to share your hopes, experiences, and advice to other learners.

[golyplot]

If you're looking for a better term, why not just say "CJK languages"? That way it is less ambiguous, and you don't have to worry about other Asian languages feeling slighted that they're not part of the "big three".

[nooj]

What other east asian or south east asian languages could topple korean from among the holy trinity? Maybe vietnamese, given how it is also one of the languages of the sinitic sphere, but i cant think of any else.

[reineke]

To Australians "the big three" appear to be Chinese, Japanese and Indonesian. Korean is here described as a key language of lower demand together with Arabic, Hindi, Thai, and Vietnamese:

https://newmatilda.com/2004/11/10/asian-studies-crisis/

Australian government document:

"The availability of the “big three” Asian languages – Japanese, Chinese and Indonesian – increased between 1988 and 2001."

[leosmith]

why not just say "CJK languages"?

In my mind Mandarin isn't synonymous with Chinese. Plus, I like "the big three".

What other east asian or south east asian languages could topple korean from among the holy trinity? Maybe vietnamese, given how it is also one of the languages of the sinitic sphere, but i cant think of any else.

Wu, Malay and Vietnamese were the contenders I was thinking of.

[Dylan95]

why not just say "CJK languages"?

In my mind Mandarin isn't synonymous with Chinese. Plus, I like "the big three".

What other east asian or south east asian languages could topple korean from among the holy trinity? Maybe vietnamese, given how it is also one of the languages of the sinitic sphere, but i cant think of any else.

Wu, Malay and Vietnamese were the contenders I was thinking of.

How is Wu more "important" than Tha, Tagalog, or Indonesian?

[schlaraffenland]

why not just say "CJK languages"?

In my mind Mandarin isn't synonymous with Chinese. Plus, I like "the big three".

What other east asian or south east asian languages could topple korean from among the holy trinity? Maybe vietnamese, given how it is also one of the languages of the sinitic sphere, but i cant think of any else.

Wu, Malay and Vietnamese were the contenders I was thinking of.

Yeah, I guess it depends somewhat on the immigration patterns prevalent in the place where the person comes from who uses the phrase "the big three." I think there are more Tagalog speakers in California than Mandarin speakers, for instance. California's big three might then actually be Tagalog, Cantonese, and Vietnamese. Or maybe Korean unseats one of those three. I'm going off the top off my head and not off census data.

[pandaramyun]

I know all three to about an intermediate level. I can understand fluent japanese because of japanese family but my production is bad. My korean is intermediate, I can speak and read novels and watch tv without needing subs and my mandarin speaking and listening is pretty good but I'm weak with writing characters (planning to work on that by reading novels over the summer in both japanese and chinese)

[arthaey]

There was a pretty long period of time in my life when I dreamed about speaking all three. I didn't know a single westerner who could

I don't know anyone personally who speaks all three, but I would be shocked if such people don't exist.

If it's a lifelong dream of yours, make it happen! It will certainly take dedication, effort, and time, but assuming you have those things, there's no reason you can be one of those westerners who speaks all three.

[Xenops]

Perhaps, rather, these are the "Big Oriental Three"?

Lately I've faced reality, and if I can be C1 or C2 in 2-3 languages other than English, I would be doing really well.