Last week I wrote about 男らしい. Today, I am going to compare らしい and みたい.
Can you tell the difference between the next two sentences:
A: ジョンくんは子(こ)どもらしい絵(え)を描(か)く。
B: ジョンさんは子(こ)どもみたいな絵(え)を描(か)く。
On the other hand, [noun] + みたい means that something has the nature like the [noun] (not necessarily positive), so the sentence B means: John (is not a child but he) draws a picture that looks drawn by a child (Note that みたい itself is a なadjective, thus みたいな絵).
More Examples
ここは日本らしいところだ。
This place (in Japan) is a Japan-like place.
ここは日本みたいなところだ。
This place (out of Japan) is a Japan-like place.京都人らしい言葉遣いですね。
(You are from Kyoto and) you talk like a Kyoto person.
京都人みたいな言葉遣いですね。
(You are not from Kyoto and) you talk like a Kyoto person.秋らしい日差し。
Autumn like sunshine (in autumn)
秋みたいな日差し。
Autumn like sunshine (not in autumn)
Please visit my JLPT N3 Grammar page for more JLPT N3 grammar item.