Should I learn Sanskrit or Korean?

Korean is one of the world’s oldest living languages, and its origins are as obscure as the origin of the Korean people. Nineteenth-Century Western scholars proposed a number of theories that linked the Korean language with Ural-Altaic, Japanese, Chinese, Tibetan, Dravidian Ainu, Indo-European and other languages. Linguistically, Korean is unrelated to Chinese and is similar to, but distinct from Japanese. Early historical records indicate that at the dawn of the Christian era, two groups of languages were spoken in Manchuria and on the Korean Peninsula: the Northern or Puyo group and the southern or Han group. The modern Korean writing system, hangul, was devised in 1443 during the reign of King Sejong, perhaps the greatest monarch of the Yi Dynasty (1392-1910). Before hangul, other Korean scripts used a complex system of Chinese characters to represent the sounds of Korean. But because of the differences between Chinese and Korean, Chinese characters could not adequately denote Korean speech. Further, only the elite could afford the time necessary to study Chinese, so King Sejong (1397-1450) commissioned the invention of a phonetic script both more efficient and more accessible to the common people.

Sanskrit is an ancient and classical language of India in which every first book of the world Rigveda was compiled. Sanskrit language must have evolved to its expressive capability prior to that. It is presumed that the language used in Vedas was prevalent in the form of different dialects. It was to some extent different from the present Sanskrit. It is termed Vedic Sanskrit. Each Veda had its book of grammar known as Pratishakhya. The Pratishakhyas explained the forms of the words and other grammatical points. Later, so many schools of grammar developed. Sanskrit has been the source of later languages and literature in India. Pali and Prakrit were first to develop from Sanskrit. Pali was taken as a means for the exposition of Buddhistic ideas and Prakrit was used for the spread of Jain doctrines. Most of the Buddhistic literature is written in Pali and that of the Jain cult in Prakrit. A vast amount of Buddhistic and Jain literature was also written in Sanskrit simultaneously. Prakrit language had different shades in different parts of India.  Hindi, the official language of India, is developed from Sauraseni Apabhramsa. It is said that all the modern Indian languages used in the north part of India are evolved from Sanskrit and the other Modern Indian Languages of South India. The South Indian MILs are well enriched and nourished by the Sanskrit language.

• A repository of knowledge: One of the rewards of learning a second language is that being bilingual is a way of boosting intellectual growth and enhancing mental development. Learning Korean will expose you to the beautiful culture of Korea and its unbelievable entertainment industry. The process of acquiring the Korean language will stimulate your mind and ensure that your brain is always active and healthy. On the other hand, the importance of learning Sanskrit can be discussed with the amount of knowledge the language has to offer. From botany, biology, grammar to religion and astronomy – the language has texts written in a horde of subjects.
• Career Opportunities – It is no longer secret that the world is becoming a global village through rapid technological advancement. Most of the Korean companies look for people that will act as intermediaries between their business and clients—the one who can easily translate their business intentions with India’s local community on their behalf. Learning the Korean Language will put you in a better position to earn big in these areas. Moreover, there are many jobs involving languages where your Korean knowledge can add significant value to your curriculum vitae.On the other hand, as the oldest Indo-European language for which substantial written documentation exists, Sanskrit holds a prominent position in Indo-European studies. The body of Sanskrit literature encompasses a rich tradition of poetry and drama as well as scientific, technical, philosophical and religious texts.

• A number of people speaking the language nowadays – the Korean language, a language spoken by more than 75 million people, of whom 48 million live in South Korea and 24 million in North Korea. There are more than 2 million speakers in China, approximately 1 million in the United States, and about 500,000 in Japan. On the other hand, Sanskrit is one of the oldest languages that is not spoken by a huge number of people nowadays. In a country of over a billion people, only 14000 people claim Sanskrit to be their mother tongue.

So, it’s really your call here whether you want to take up Korean or Sanskrit. However, both of these languages have some similarities in their vocabulary and are super easy to learn which makes it more fun for you. We hope that we were able to help you make a better decision.

Should you choose to learn Korean we suggest Click here

and

If Sanskrit is your choice Click here.