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bhikkhu

(10,708 posts)
3. Learning to write Korean is easier, but proficiency is about the same
Wed Jan 1, 2014, 03:26 AM
Jan 2014

...or, whether one reads and writes in Korean, English or Chinese, the brain treats the operation about the same, and the level of complexity is about the same. When we read English, for instance, we don't sound out the words or even read the individual letters; rather, we recognize the letters as distinct groups, and in many cases we recognize phrases as distinct units, rather than as individual letters and words. The same process goes for Chinese, Korean or any other written language. Regardless of the simplicity of the script, the brain finds it more efficient to work with them in large, complex chunks.

Chinese has the steepest learning curve because of the large number of signs, but after the 5th grade level or so that no longer matters; proficiency among equivalent learners (and there have been many good studies) is about on par with anywhere else.

btw - I read Korean quite well myself, and certainly is a better system than we have here where we have to essentially memorize the spelling of every word. But people of any intelligence can be quite good at memorizing.

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