Should I learn German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, or Danish?

Question

I love learning languages. I am a native speaker of English and am learning french and japanese. I really also want to learn a germanic language. Should I learn German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, or Danish? Germany is spoken by the most, dutch is the closest to english and the netherlands are awesome, sweden is a pretty country with wonderful people, and norway is a beautiful country. If I were to choose to of the languages, which should they be?

Answer 1

That depends on what you want to do with it. German is, like you say, spoken by more people than any of the other languages, so it's very useful. However, since more people know German, you will have many competitors if you need it in the professional market, whereas knowing any of the other languages will make you more special and more interesting - it's a good "niche" for you. If you'd like to work in any of these countries, not just travel, select the language of the country where you'd most like to stay. Swedish, Norwegian and Danish are very like each other when written, but pronunciation differs. I think that spoken Danish is harder to understand than spoken Norwegian or spoken Swedish, since the pronunciation differs more from the written language than the other two. I'm Swedish, and I think it's hard to understand Danish, although I think it's a lovely language. Consonants are often not articulated in Danish. But then again, a Dane might think that Swedes or Norwegians sound funny, over-articulating every syllable loud and clear.

Answer 2

Well, depends on what you want to use it for. German is by far the language spoken by the most people of the languages you mentioned but it's also grammatically the trickiest for an English speaker. Knowing German would help a lot when learning Dutch, and maybe a little to learn Swedish and the others, but vocabularywise they're quite different languages. Swedish does have a vast amount of Low German loanwords, though, as a Swede, I find I can read quite a lot of Dutch without actually knowing it. Knowing Swedish helps a lot when learning Danish and Norwegian and vice versa, and Danish and Norwegian are very close since they've shared their basic written language for a long time. However, when it comes to speaking any of the languages mentioned, or understanding it spoken, it's a whole different matter. As a Swede I can find it quite difficult or close to impossible to understand, for example, a Danish speaker, even though reading Danish can be a piece of cake. On the other hand, Norwegian is far easier. There are Swedish dialects that are harder to understand than Norwegian, for other Swedes. Icelandic is a wholly different story. And to get the terms right. They're all Germanic languages, just different twigs of the same branch. English is also a Germanic language, even though the vocabulary nowadays is mainly loanwords from French and Latin. The skeleton of the language is still Germanic, though.

Answer 3

I would definitely say German. Here's some reasons not to take the other ones, and then why to take German:

1. Dutch-It is very similar to German, so if you really wanted to learn it learn German first (because it's more difficult, Dutch is the 'sister language' of English and it mutually intelligible to German, to a degree.) Dutch doesn't have a huge influence on the world, it's only spoken in the Netherlands, Suriname (probably the worst place in the world to visit, ever) and Indonesia (a failing, corrupt society.) But you're correct about it being close to English; if you're against taking German, take Dutch.

2. Swedish-A cool language to learn as not many Americans do, but it's not useful whatsoever. NOT EVEN IN SWEDEN. Sweden has a population of about 9.5 million, and 89% of the population can speak and understand English. English is commonly used in business there and even if you visit Stockholm, the figures are probably more like 100% of the population speaks English (the non-speakers are more likely to reside in the rural regions) and you don't even need to speak Swedish. Also, Swedish people love speaking English (unlike a lot of European countries) and speak it with very light accents. The reason i would say no, mostly, is that most Swedes can speak fluent English and therefore it's not useful anywhere.

3. Norwegian-It's very similar to Swedish (mutually intelligible to a degree) but it's the same thing, plus an even smaller population to the country. About 85% of Norwegians can speak English and again, in the cities it's near 100%. English is often used in business and in everyday life there (a Starbucks barista won't be startled if you start speaking English to them.) Norwegians love speaking English; I'm from there and have spoken it fluently since I was in year 7 (12 years old); I now live in the United Kingdom and speak English far better than Norwegian, I have not used that language once since living here.

4. Not very interesting-Danish I'm going to give you the same reason. Small population, language confined to Denmark, and most of the population can speak English as well.

REASONS TO TAKE GERMAN:
1. Germany is one of the most powerful and influential nations in the world. Their chancellor, Angela Merkel, was ranked the most powerful woman on the planet and the second-most powerful person in 2012. Germany's population of 84 million is Europe's largest (not including Russia, as it spans two continents) and Germany has a long but very interesting history; it was divided until 1990 and has now become the world's fifth-largest economy; German businesses have influence all across Europe, it is the official language of Germany and Austria and recognized in the southern African nation of Namibia. Germany is constantly used as a lingua franca around Europe (after French, it's good that you're learning that) and it is definitely useful.

German German German!

If you really want to learn a Scandinavian language, it doesn't matter which one you learn. They're all very similar and mutually intelligible; Dutch is also mutually intelligible (to a lesser degree) with German.

Answer 4

I was an exchange student in Denmark so studied Danish for the year I was there. I lived near the German border so also picked up a little German, and later studied German in university. I was able to guess at a lot of German and Dutch words (esp if I heard them and paid attention) and could usually figure out Norwegian and Swedish. In Scandinavia, Norwegian is the clearest language to pronounce/understand, in my opinion; followed by Swedish and then Danish. Danish is harder for the Norwegians and Swedish to follow because of it's pronounciation whereas the Danes can easily follow Swedish and Norwegian. There's a lot of similarity to old and middle english so once you learn one of these languages, you will see this.

These languages are really similar in vocabulary and grammar so knowing one really helps you pick up one of the others (although German has cases which Norwegian, Danish and Swedish do not have).

I can surprise many Danes by speaking Danish -- I like knowing languages that are a little less common since no one expects you know them...and it has been a conversation starter when someone sees it on my CV (esp a Dane -- I work in an international field). In one country I worked, the Norwegian ambassador was impressed because I said "how are you" and "thank you' in Norwegian to him, that he added me to their invite list for all events and parties...

Answer 5

I'm a French speaker, for me Dutch is easier than German. But I don't know with one you should learn. You should visit some websites in each language to see which one you prefer. And maybe also hear native people speak those languages. Maybe you should search for radio websites.
Sweden = Sverige
Norway = Norge
Danemark = Danmark
The Netherlands = Nederland
Germany = Deutschland

Answer 6

Well, if you learn Danish, then you're basically learning Norwegian and Swedish as well. All three languages are very close together. All germanic languages are close to american. Some words are spelled almost exactly the same. My fiance is Danish, so that's my language of choice ^_^

Answer 7

German, without a doubt. I've been taking German classes for several years and it's amazing. It's such a world-wide language, especially for business and commerce. And if you want to learn a language based of of the "fun-factor", German is the language to take. Plus, many of the words come from the French, the Spanish, even Latin. It really is amazing.

Sorry if I got caught up in it.

I just love German :D

Guten Abend!

Answer 8

Take German it's going to help you everywhere. Not just in northern Europe like you other languages you were thinking of. Tomorrow who knows! You might move to Spain, France, or Italy where German is really important

Answer 9

Ich möchte jeder danken, das gewesen ist, also nett zu mir in den Yahoo Antworten. Ich möchte auch sagen, daß ich sehr viel erlernt habe und daß die ganze Sie mir ein freat Abkommen geholfen haben. Noch einmal dank jeder. James

Answer 10

Learn German first, it's the language closest to English. The rest should fall in pretty easily except for the Scandinavian languages.