Is German easy to learn for english speakers? Do you have any tips for my study of the Language.
2006-09-15 05:34:05 · 15 answers · asked by Lundy 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
The most difficult part for any English speaker is the totally different syntax (i.e. the way sentences are structured) Get into the habit of translating from German word by word first, before you put it into proper English, that makes the weird things more familiar. And don't try to translate things in your mind from English directly into German that hardly ever works. Try to start thinking in the German structure, as hard as you may find it at the beginning, it will soon become a habit.
Viel Vergnügen und viel Glück!
2006-09-15 09:49:58 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Total Immersion is the best way to learn. However, that's difficult to do. The next best, in my opinion, is to take classes. A local college/university should be able to help. You can also use the Goethe Institut ( http://www.goethe.de/lrn/wwt/de1554442.htm ) they are Germans teaching German, so you know you're learning the right stuff. They have classes all over the world, so there's likely to be a school near you.
It's not extremely difficult. There's more inflection (words change based on their role in the sentance) than in English. But it's easy to see that English and German are related languages. Some concepts and vocabulary are very similar or equal. German has also borrowed a lot of English words, like Computer, or Camping. Good luck
2006-09-15 13:22:44 · answer #2 · answered by mahgri 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
German is easy to learn, compared to other languages. Out of all of the languages I have learned, German has been by far the easiest. The English language is based off of the German language. The Pimsleur courses are great.
2006-09-15 12:43:05 · answer #3 · answered by ironchain15 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm Learning German to this year, It is kinda hard to get used to the weird sounds, for example the O sound in the US is different from the German Language, and there are a whole lot more like that.
2006-09-15 14:56:47 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I took German in highschool. I loved it. Thought it was the easiest language I have ever taken (Ive taken German, Spanish and Latin).
Many of the German words sound similar to english words...The trick to learning German is to learn all of the verb conjugations. German has masculine, feminine and neuter words...once your learn that...the rest is pretty easy!!!
Remember: you must think in German, not in English!!
2006-09-15 12:43:18 · answer #5 · answered by inevitable2277 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
german is the hardest language to learn, in fact the one that said that english is the hardest doesnt know what she is saying, probably she has never heard that german language has 3 different genders, and has something that called akkusative, dativ, the verb goes at the end of the sentence, sometimes femenine changes to masculine when the sentence is written in dativ, and all plural are femenine, declinations for articles, is a mess!!!!!!!!!!!.
anyway, i´ve been studying german for 2 yrs now at the goethe institute and they are very good teachers, but is hard!!!!!!!.
good luck.!
2006-09-15 13:27:46 · answer #6 · answered by My 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It isn't particularly easy for English speakers, but not too hard either. A lot of words are similar. What makes it it a bit hard is that you have different versions of "the" depending whether it is male, female or neutral. Der Mann, Die Frau, Das Kind (the man, the woman, the child). But you can get used to that. In that respect it is similar to Latin and Slavic languages.
I think it is easiest if you have conversation lessons. That probably works best for adults, probably best one on one or in a small group. Good luck/Viel Glueck!
2006-09-15 12:51:44 · answer #7 · answered by Thou Shalt Not Think 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Actually the English language is the hardest language to learn, unless your a kid in his learning phase of life.
I believe that the best and fastest way to learn a language is to live with a family that speaks that language and you will learn it faster than you ever would at school!
2006-09-15 12:41:43 · answer #8 · answered by Baby 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
in any case i would take some cd's or casettes with german lesson's for the pronunciation. as soon as you have a certain basic knowledge, try to start chatting in german, or play biliard at the german yahoo... so you can start slowly to conversate. if you go on holidays, you go to germany, i wouldn't choose austria or switzerland, because they speak german with a strong dialect. maybe some of these tips can help you. i learned italian this way.
2006-09-15 12:41:53 · answer #9 · answered by speedy_biondalez 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Its similar in many ways to english. Get pronounciation down well, then learn how to break up those huge german words. They are not so daunting once they are broken up.
2006-09-15 12:42:41 · answer #10 · answered by Ren Hoek 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋