Should I learn German or Dutch?

Question

I'm currently learning Dutch, but I was thinking about switching to German. Do you think I should? I don't care about job oppotunities or which one is spoken more

Answer 1

I study Dutch now and have studied German, which you'd prefer I suppose comes down to your preferences:

1. German grammar is much harder than Dutch grammer, for example the Dutch only have 2 noun genders (De words and Het words) German has 3 or 4! In Dutch very few things change with the gender of the noun, in German almost everything does.

2. German is alot more regular than Dutch, you'll find Dutch (like English) makes lots of rules then cheerfully breaks them, there are hardly any exceptions to rules in German.

3. For English speakers (like me) Dutch is *much* harder to pronounce than German. Sure German has some weird sounds in it, but even Germans think that Dutch is hard to pronounce. I personally still have lots of trouble with the UI sound (like in Tuin, which I always pronounce like the English word Town), and learning how to pronounce CH and G words was a nightmare, especially when they're all mixed up with K sounds:

Ik heb een geschiedenisboek gekregen (I've recieved a history book)

4. I know you don't care, but Dutch has far fewer speakers than German and is probably less useful. In theory Germans can understand Dutch and the Dutch German, since the languages in many respects are very similar, however in practise the massive gulf between how the languages are pronounced causes big problems. Also, wghen you go most Dutch speaking places (i.e. Holland, Northern Belgium (Flanders)) you'll find that almost everyone speaks English close to perfectly. The Germans/Austrians/Swiss try hard too, but I think that on balance you'll find less of them who speak English.

5. I didn't get far enough in German to learn if it's the same, but Dutch has got some fantastic expressions in it, which in my opinion make the whole language worthwhile:

Vooruit met de geit! -
Literally: Forwards with the goat!
Equivalent to: "Let's do it!"

Ik kon z'n bloed wel drinken! -
Literally: I could have drunk his blood
Equivalent to: He made me really angry

Patatje Oorlog -
Literally: Little Potato War
Equivalent to: French fries with mayonnaise, ketchup and satay sauce (just don't go there, it's named after the effect it has on your stomach :) )

6. As a final point, if you do decide to switch to German, you'll have alot of difficulty getting rid of all the Dutch in your head and will frequently accidentally use Dutch words instead of German ones. It took me a month to get the hang of saying Ik instead of Ich...

Answer 2

Dutch is easier than German.
It's said that for an English speaking person it's among the most easy languages to learn (Afrikaans being the easiest for being reduced so much to the essentials).
If you learn it via music on YouTube etc, then with Dutch you also enter a more 'fun' and open culture and world.
With German on the other hand you can enter a very cultural world, of the great composers, poets etc. It's a bit more 'heavy'.

But both quite easily understand each other, or at least grasp the general message.

Answer 3

German

Answer 4

I have this same problem! For what I've read in the comments everyone is saying both!! I'm doing German right now but I am thinking about switching to Dutch. Yes... not a lot of people speak it but 100 million is a lot of people that DO speak it. I would recommend Dutch but German is also a great and awesome language!! (For learning both of these 1st learn the alphabet then it will take you a lot faster to learn the language) THANKS FOR READING THIS!

Answer 5

Being dutch i do not agree with the other replies that it´s a breeze to learn german after mastering dutch, but that may depend on the person (the languages may sound the same, but believe me, they´re not!).

I would suggest to learn german, because what do you need dutch for? You can only speak it in The Netherlands, a part of Belgium (the Flamish part) and in (a part of) South Africa.

Answer 6

I'm learning Dutch too. So far, I can say the alphabet. Don't switch to German. German is boring. I started with German. Dutch it totally more awesome and fun. I'll bet that German is spoken more though.

Answer 7

I know a good amount of german, and from what I've seen, it's a lot like dutch. I can usually tell what something in dutch is trying to say. I think you should learn german, then dutch.

Answer 8

Depends what you mean by "currently learning". If you know a fair bit of Dutch and want to keep up the linguistic pursuits, switch to German. If you've taken 12 weeks of Dutch for 2 hours a week and are signing up for the next session, keep on with Dutch. It's okay to stop studying when you're not yet fluent but to stop when you've barely begun seems a waste. (Says the one who collects Teach Yourself books and can say one sentence in Japanese...)

But if you're hoping to eventually master whichever language you choose, pick German because there are definitely more resources for it.

Answer 9

i'm studing dutch as well
both are very closely related
only 16 million people know dutch
i'd continue learning dutch cuz its a wonderful language then once you feel comfortable pick up some german which should come very easily from the dutch u know
auralog makes a great computer program to learn dutch and german
www.auralog.com

Answer 10

Learn German Fast ans Easy!