Italian (my native language), just like it happens for English, uses general counting words like “one”, “two”, “three” etc.
This is why, when I started to learn Chinese, one of the most difficult things for me was Chinese measure words, which accompany numerals when counting or quantifying objects. I always forgot to use them!
Now I’m definitely more familiar with them, but I still struggle remembering all the different types (I’m a HUGE fan of 个!).
However, since I moved to Taipei, I started to use 位 way more, especially when I go to a restaurant and the waiter asks me how many we are… a small step
I had no idea Vietnamese used measure words too! It looks like similar logic is applied though (like long and thin objects/animals/paper) so maybe it wouldn’t feel as painful as learning them for the first time in Chinese
For anyone that wants a comprehensive list of most commonly used Chinese Measure Words I’d definitely recommend downloading this PDF to print off or keep as a study resource
Haha, yes, Vietnamese follows the same logic as Chinese, but Chinese has way more measure words than Vietnamese, so I still get headaches from all the Chinese measure words!