Which language should I learn? French or German?

Question

I am starting to learn German for heritage reasons but am considering switching to French for practical reasons. Both I think, are about the same difficulty.. what are your opinions? French might be a little more accessable it seams.. more resources, films, french-speaking Canada etc...

Answer 1

Since one could say in a very general way that English has developed from a mixture of old German and old French, both languages should be equally easily accessible to you. In the age of the internet, the question of available resources is not really a problem any more, so it comes down to what you personally prefer.

One personal experience, though: I have experienced most native speakers of other languagees highly appreciative of my attempts to communicate with them in their own language; but French seems to be the big exception: if you don't speak it very well, native speakers tend to snub you... But maybe that's just my own experience.

Answer 2

German is harder--also, if you learn French, it's easier to understand other romance languages like Spanish and Italian. However, I've always wanted to learn German so I could read Rilke in his native language. I think French is a more accessible language, however.

Answer 3

Both, I think, are practical. German might be a little easier since English is a germanic lanquage. However, French is a wonderful language as well. Looks at what will benefit you more and go from there.

Answer 4

French would be more useful, but it's nice to learn about your heritage.
You could always learn basic German and then switch to French for actual use. This way you won't be out of the loop if family members speak German. :)

Answer 5

French.

Answer 6

I liked German more than French. Seemed more straight forward and more fun. However, if you really want to be practical, Spanish or Chinese might be a better language to learn.

Answer 7

French just sounds so pretty and German sounds very harsh and I heard German's harder to learn because it's so heavy. French is so much more romantic as well. I had always wanted to go to Paris and so french appeals to me. But if you're doing German for hertiage reasons, I suggest you go with that, because it's important to who you are as a person.

Answer 8

I think French is harder to learn but more worthwhile in the long run. My husband is French and I often wish I had learned the language in school.

Answer 9

Learn French first. Then, if you are still up to it, learn German. I think the more languages you learn, the more able person you'll be. By the way, once you've learned one language, another comes more easily-- even if the two are totally unrelated.

Answer 10

French, it's spoken over a much larger area globally. Also, once you've mastered one Romance language, it's easy to master or at least understand others (Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian are all related to French).