which is harder for an english native speaker to learn to a good standard?
2007-06-26 00:55:27 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
and please explain why?
2007-06-26 01:01:27 · update #1
dutch. dutch is a very complicated language. every rule in spelling or grammer has an exception. most even go as far as having a rule for the exception, which ofcourse also has an exception.
an example. verb conjucation. past tense, a DE is added to the stem of the verb. unles the verb ends in a K F S CH P or T then TE is added. this rule however does not apply to words adopted from otherlanguages like german or english.
the genders of words is also unfathemable for foreigners. there are two words for 'the' de and het. as there are no clear rules to state what gender a word is as in german. even people who speak dutch and come from the former colonies (suriname, indonesia or the antilles) make mistakes with this.
i personally think dutch is much much much more complicated than any other language i know.
edit: as a special note to an answerer above, english grammer is nothing like dutch grammer. its prfoundly different, even the basic sentance structure of , object verb subject doesnt apply most times in dutch.
2007-06-26 01:10:50 · answer #1 · answered by mrzwink 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I would say Dutch, but only because there are more resources for learning German, including far more native speakers and more teachers.
Dutch is more closely related to English, so in theory it should be easier for that reason--but there are a lot more factors that some into play.
2007-06-26 08:11:43 · answer #2 · answered by Goddess of Grammar 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think you can say this on such a general basis. It always very much depends on the learner how good and fast he or she learns a language.
Dutch probably has an easier pronunciation for a speaker of English, as it is still closer to English. German underwent severe sound shifts with its consonants, leading to sounds that are completely different to the English system and are therefore hard to acquire.
As for grammar I'm hesitant to point out a more difficult one. Every grammar has its own difficulties on different levels. And again, what is hard or easy to acquire depends very much on the learner.
Why don't you try both languages for a couple of lessons and then go ahead with the one that seems more fun?
2007-06-26 16:09:13 · answer #3 · answered by Masterswot 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
ABHIK Dutta
If you're going to use german in an answer, make sure it's correct.
I can speak english as well is "Ich kann auch Englisch" - they commonly don't use the verb 'to speak' in such a sentence. It may be that learning German as a foreign language, you'll be taught to say "Ich kann auch Englisch sprechen" but the germans wouldn't say it like that.
Maybe you should look up the german verb "sprechen" too.
As for the question of which language is harder, I cannot comment as I've never attempted to learn Dutch. I do get the impression that Dutch would be easier, but I can't base that on any fact.
2007-06-26 12:40:36 · answer #4 · answered by manorris3265 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think Dutch is easier. I've been learning German for a long time now and I'm still far from comfortable with the language. It's very hard, to the point that it can't get any harder - imagine how hard Latin grammar is - so is German - genders, plurals, articles, cases, verbs, adjectives...OMG, the adjectives.... plus incredibly rich vocabulary, plus very difficult idioms, plus very difficult pronunication. Actually, I don't know anybody who learnt German outside of a German speaking country, but I know many who quit only after several weeks.
2007-06-26 08:50:09 · answer #5 · answered by Alexander T 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree with Daniel.
actually, Dutch is both geographically and linguistically situated between English and German. Most important advantage: no such cases like in German. Pronounciation is even quite close to some English dialects near the East coast of Brittain.
2007-06-26 08:26:42 · answer #6 · answered by lodchjo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
German; Dutch is a lot closer to English than German is and has the added benefit have having no noun declensions (unlike German). The pronunciation of Dutch sounds a little startling at first but it is not hard.
2007-06-26 08:24:42 · answer #7 · answered by GrahamH 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Probably German as there are more phonetic & grammatic similarities between English & Dutch.
2007-06-26 07:59:11 · answer #8 · answered by cafcnil 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Double Dutch.
2007-06-26 09:23:43 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
I would say German is harder. The grammar is much more complicated (cases, declined adjectives, word order, irregular noun plurals) and the vocabulary isn't very similar to English.
Dutch is easy. It has lots of similarities to English words, and much simpler grammar than German.
2007-06-26 08:17:25 · answer #10 · answered by Daniel R 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋