Should I learn German. I've got time but is it worthy, is it too difficult?

Answer 1

It is worthy. But, ask yourself if you are likely to use it. Will you live or work in a German speaking country? Do you need it for business or personal reasons? Do you like German literature? etc. etc.

Is is a priority for you? Do the benefits justify the effort to learn a new language, as opposed to learning something else?

German is phonetic, but has a lot of grammatical irregularities. Learning any language to to point of fluency takes a lot of time and effort.

Answer 2

It's an underrated language. People are more interested in Spanish (important in the Americas mostly), French, Japanese, and Chinese
German is a great language to learn. Due to the stigma it still has because of past history (I don't need to elaborate), and the fact that people don't find it a "pretty sounding" language like Italian, French or Spanish, most people have no interest in learning it.

Reasons to learn German:
It is the second most spoken language in EU.
While Germany is not the science power it once was, they still produce extensive scientific literature
Most German news media is very serious and straightforward, so if you want no-nonsense information, knowing German is for you.
If you master German, learning Swedish, Norwegian and Dutch will be a breeze, because German is the most difficult of the Germanic languages.
Overall, if doing business in the EU interests you, a knowledge of German is a huge plus.

On difficulty: It's not easy, but it's neither horribly difficult. Harder than the Romance languages, but definitely easier than Russian or Greek. I would roughly put it in the same "toughness category" as Latin. The noun system can be complicated, but if you make a mistake, you will still be understood. Also keep in mind that it's related to English. In my case, pronunciation was more difficult than grammar (I still can't get the "ch" sound right!, and I tend to forget that the accent is usually on the first syllable).
The only slighlty complicated issue is that there are several dialects, and Swiss German is different from Berlin German, but....most German speaking societies learn Standard German in grade school, which is what most German language books teach you, so no matter where you go, you should be able to communicate.

Answer 3

It's worth learning another language, and German is one of the more "popular" so you'd be able to use it as a common language with more people than with many others.
Ease is relative. But as far as I'm aware, in German the same group of letters is always pronounced in the same way, thus making it "easier" than English, for example.
Be aware that if you do learn German, you will learn what is termed "High German". If you go to somewhere like Munich, you'll find the local dialect is different. Doubtless it's the same for other regions.
But YES. Try to learn it.

Answer 4

It is worth learning any second language and German is widely used in business and there are many German tourists who love it when you try the language, even if you do make mistakes.

As for difficulty, it depends on how easily you pick up new languages. I learned Dutch, German, Latvian and the northern dialect of German (similar to dutch) and I am now looking to learn another language. Latvian (even though I am Latvian and have most to gain from learning it) I find has been the hardest. Yet my sister cannot speak any other languages at all!

Answer 5

I think you will find German fairly easy unless you already have a good knowledge of the Romance languages. German tends to be phonetic, regular and is, I find, easier to speak than say French or Spanish because the pronunciation of words is distinct. Germans also tend not to elide words; for example: konnen sie mir die Zeit sagen bitte (can you tell me the time please) would be fully pronounced whereas 'Quel heure est-il s'il vous plait' tends to come out as one long word!

Anyway, the Germans are great fun and knowing a bit of the language would be a good excuse to visit this varied and immensely friendly country.

Incidentally I'm not German (Irish, actually) and while my French is pretty good,compared to my German, I enjoy speaking German more. Don't know why.

Answer 6

I learnt German and it was relatively easy as the alphabet used and the letter groupings are similar to English. You need to start right at the beginning in a truly beginners class. There is a lot of repetition to aid the memory. Get the CD's of a German course as well as this will help your pronunciation. You will also meet new people and make new friends.

Answer 7

Karkondrite says about it all and I agree. Many Europeans speak German as a second language as well as others from further afield who have worked or studied there.
From German I can read Dutch and the Scandi languages (not Finnish) and understand most.
If you just want to learn any foreign language Spanish is about the easiest widely spoken one

Answer 8

German is spoken only in Europe by 120 millions people.

French is the only language (apart from English!) to be spoken on the five continents (320 millions people!)

The UNO has two main languages for its work :English and French.

It has six official languages (so the more important at a world scale) English,French,Spanish,Chinese,Russian,Arabic.

German isn't part of them!
So go for French!

Answer 9

Jordan tends to think "nine" is a proper response, obviously doesn't speak German...

I think you should definitely do it. It's widely spoken and definitely useful in furthering your knowledge of the Germanic languages.

On the difficulty scale I'd say it's proving harder for me than french did grammar-wise but vocab-wise it's much easier.

Answer 10

NO, SPANISH IS THE LANGUAGE TO LEARN, IT IS EASY, USEFUL AND FUN