Why is German so difficult?

Question

I mean, there are half a dozen ways of making a plural. There are half a dozen ways to say "the". Every time you open your mouth you have to keep half a dozen grammatical rules in mind. And the Germans think inanimate things have genders! English is so logical in comparison. If you want to make a plural you just add "s". There's only one word for "the". Men are masculine, women are feminine, and the table is neuter. Logical, isn't it?

Jah ich spreche Deutsch und verstehe es ganz gut, aber ich finde dass die Grammatik ganz unlogisch ist. Deutsch ist meine vierte Sprache.

I also speak English, Irish, and French. I have a reading knowledge of Latin and Anglo-Saxon and the rudiments of Italian. I am fairly fluent in German but I find it hard-going trying to remember the grammar all the time.

I just had a brainstorm. Learning German if English is your first language is like starting on an old-style PC if you've always had a Mac. And presumably vice versa. What do you think?

Answer 1

Paul, German is a complex language. Even though it does not come from Latin, its structure is all based in the Latin language. That's why there is masculine, feminine and neuter. Besides, there are the declination cases and the verbs, which are very similar to the ones from latin languages.

I've been studying it for almost a year, and at first it was quite a shock for me. Now things are getting better. Keep on studying and you'll see you can make it.

Some websites that may help you:

http://www.goethe.de/lrn/duw/deindex.htm

http://www.tagesschau.de/

http://www.n-tv.de/

http://www.stern.de/

http://www.welt.de/

http://www.zeit.de/

http://www.morgenpost.de/

http://libraries.mit.edu/guides/types/flnews/german.html


http://www.languageguide.org/

http://www.deutschland.de

http://www.chefkoch.de/

http://www.deutsch-lernen.com /d_index.php

http://www.langenscheidt.de/

http://german.about.com/

http://dict.leo.org/?search=&lang=en


http://www.quelle.de

http://www.smartphrase.com/German/ge_general_words_phr.shtml

http://www.spiegel.de/

http://www.deutsch-perfekt.com/

http://www.german-way.com/

http://www.magazine-deutschland.de/index_POR_P.php?lang=por&lang=por

Viel Glück!

Answer 2

If it makes you feel any better, Latin was just as difficult if not more so than German. It also had genders for inanimate objects and declensions for nouns (like changing verbs around depending on the tense, they change nouns depending on the preposition). English developed after German and even from German so it makes perfect sense - people were probably tired of it being so complicated so it eventually evolved into the relatively simple language it is today.

Before you get too overenchanted with English, imagine being a second-language speaker and having to understand why you can get the "f" sound from "f" (cuff), "ph" (phobic) AND "gh" (cough). Now THAT'S confusing! ;-)

Answer 3

It is difficult primarily because it is what is called a "flexive" language: that is, one that features not only the conjugation of verbs, but the conjugation of nouns and adjectives as well into several different "cases" such as prepositional and genitive. The German language is very precise about description, word location, verbs, etc. That means more vocabulary and cases to learn!

At least you're not learning Hungarian. The Hungarian language has over 20 cases for nouns!

Also, the English language is FAR from logical. I would call the flexive languages like German quite logical and precise, unlike English. English is vague, ambiguous, and confusing compared to German or Russian. You will realize this as your studies progress. Our English system of pronunciation and spelling is ridiculous and completely inconsistent. That's because English is not purely Germanic or Latin...it stems from several different language traditions that all left their mark on how we speak.

Answer 4

Most languages are like that. English is the oddball, but I know a few trick to the whole grnder trick in German. If it ends in "e" it is most likely "die" for instance die schlange meaning snake. If it ends in "er", "s", or "r", it is most likely "der" like der spritzer, one way to say water, and anything else is most likely "das" like das cargo, meaning snail. I know it's confusing, but French, Spanish, Latin and any Oriental languages are MUCH harder to learn. Trust me, I'm taking French, Japanise, and German. Believe me, German is the easiest choice you could have chosen for a foreign language. Besides that the words are ALWAYS spelt how they sound, unlike the other languages i mentioned earlier and English, plus the rules always apply (again unlike all those other languages). Look on the bright side, and try your best. It will only get easier from there.

Answer 5

I speak 6 languages fluently including German, go ahead and make fun of German, but I can make fun of English just as easily.

Answer 6

In English, we just have "you". In German, there's "du" for singular and "ihr" for plural, unless you want to be polite, and then you say "Sie" which as far as I can tell is like calling someone They with a capital T. And that's just the nominative case, there's also accusative and dative...

Answer 7

That is only the beginning... Then you have to consider the adding together of different words, and example is the longest name in Guinness Book of World Records... it is one name that describes a story-all run together and I can't remember how long it is but it's looooong.

Answer 8

Once you learn Latin, Greek or Russian, you will see the logic.

Answer 9

well its not that hard actually germa is mine 5th languages and it's really easy if u know another one, but keep trying and learning, once u get used to it...it's goign to be very simple.

Answer 10

It's not so hard. Even Germans can learn it.