I’d imagine most of us think we learn the version based on where you are located
Simplified:
– Mainland China
Traditional:
– Taiwan
– Hong Kong
– Perhaps Guangdong Province?
But is this alwaus true? Is your choice to study either of the two solely based on your location or do you have a more interesting reason? I’ve read some cool stories online recently and want to see if we have any on this forum.
Also, for those based in Singapore for example, or heritage speakers based in the west, what do you study?
Let’s see which racks up the most numbers.
For me - simplified.
My reasoning is boring. Having been based in China that’s what I was taught. I have self-taught a bit of traditional to help me get by in Taiwan but otherwise I stick with the “easier” version.
This is 100% down to location - I’m based in Taipei. When I first started learning Chinese, simplified characters were very intimidating - starting with traditional would’ve been traumatic
But after a couple years of studying simplified first (before I lived in Taipei), the leap to traditional was a lot less intimidating.
And now my traditional characters make me feel fancy so I’ll be sticking to them
I am trying both at the same time! And even though I do not practice writing anymore, just recognising a character in both simplified and traditional takes some time to really register.
I started with simplified during my uni years so I know quiet a lot. Learning their traditional version is sometimes easy as a lot of them are similar!
For sure! It was introduced to increase the literacy rates in China, but it’s a nice side effect that helps the Chinese literacy rates of foreigners too
