Yeah, I had read that they are interpreted and pronounced different between the two. The thing that strikes me about it is that it must make things slightly confusing, but really I'd imagine it would be no more strange than the way English borrows words from French, or Italian.

I can't speak any languages fluently ^_^, although I have a rudimentary knowledge of Japanese (and French, although I forget more every day). So it's really more of a facination than a knowledge, but it's something I'm hoping to develop more when I get around to it (night school, most likely).