Russian or Japanese?
Hello, I have some trouble deciding between studying Russian or Japanese, as the title says. I would like to hear your opinion about which one is a better suit for me.
I live in Bulgaria (located in Eastern Europe), therefore, my native language is Bulgarian. Russian is quite similar to it since they are both Slavic languages and using almost the same alphabet. We have a lot of mutual words and some of the grammar is similar. It would definitely be easier to learn it.
However, ever since I can remember, I have huge interest in East Asian cultures. Particularly Japanese culture. I like Japanese media (novels, manga, anime), mindset, traditions, etc. I find the country very fascinating because of the aspects which separate it from the rest of the world.
I have tried to study both languages, but cannot stick to a single one. Russian may seem more practical keeping in mind the geographical closeness and I also like Russia's culture. However, I don't have special interest in the media, I have only read Russian literature. Also, Russian is spoken by more people worldwide. But, still, I have my special interest in Japanese and practicality cannot make me choose one over the other so easily. Things keeping me away from Japanese are the xenophobic mindset of many Japanese people and decilining population.
Difficulty of the language is not much of a factor!
Thank you for reading this and sharing your opinion!