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Why learn German? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| zooplah Diglot Senior Member United States zooplah.farvista.net Joined 6369 days ago 100 posts - 116 votes  Speaks: English*, Esperanto Studies: German | Message 81 of 119 06 February 2010 at 4:27am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
UNIX servers are case-sensitive and most servers run on UNIX (generally Linux or one of the BSDs). However, domain names aren't. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| zooplah Diglot Senior Member United States zooplah.farvista.net Joined 6369 days ago 100 posts - 116 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto Studies: German | Message 82 of 119 06 February 2010 at 4:37am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
No offense, but that's bull. Textbooks try to get you to believe that by introducing you to German-English cognates first, but you'll not be fooled into thinking that German's easy once you get into its grammar. English itself isn't so much a language as a pidgin bridging the Anglo-Saxons, French, and Norwegians. The grammar of English is similar to but much simpler than the grammar of German, but in reality, the grammar and vocabulary similarities aren't that common. Someone might think of a contrived sentence, like the one Esperanto Association for North America does on its site:
With any actual exposure to anything actually written in Esperanto, you realize that it's not even close to English. The same with German.
A lot of German words come from French and retain its pronunciation. I remember the weirdness when I first heard the pronunciation of Genie.
Well, there's Yiddish. I can't think of any others. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| zooplah Diglot Senior Member United States zooplah.farvista.net Joined 6369 days ago 100 posts - 116 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto Studies: German | Message 83 of 119 06 February 2010 at 4:44am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
Enriching? How? I've found Esperanto enriching. It's really how I learned grammar. It has syntax, semantics, and morphology much different from English, which helped me think in new ways. But all I've gotten from German has been a headache and being called a Nazi. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Faraday Senior Member United States Joined 6119 days ago 129 posts - 256 votes Speaks: German* | Message 84 of 119 06 February 2010 at 6:02am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Because it is the language of love...
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| Pyx Diglot Senior Member China Joined 5736 days ago 670 posts - 892 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: Mandarin | Message 85 of 119 06 February 2010 at 6:49am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
Aw, that's sad :( 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5586 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French | Message 86 of 119 06 February 2010 at 3:54pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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I love German, it has brought nothing but joy and wonder for me. I love the way it's formed, read, and spoken. I find it amazing. It's a very flexible language, I love listening to it :) I find it much easier to understand than Spanish, (maybe because I'm teaching myself) It's just a blast to learn and study :)
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| Dainty Newbie United States Joined 5486 days ago 38 posts - 53 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 87 of 119 06 February 2010 at 6:08pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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My reasons for wanting to learn German are both personal and practical.
Practical, because it's the only language where I already know a native speaker who is willing to work with me and help me, my dear Oma. As the years go by I don't want to miss this precious opportunity. Personal, because my German heritage is the most distinct and well confirmed of my roots and yet somehow I've managed to go through life without really getting to know the German culture. Learning the language is, for me, a perfect way to be drawn into all that the country has to offer. My dream is to visit there someday, and while I'm at it to meet some of my German relatives for the first time. I know at least some of them do not speak English, so my efforts would also have a practical use in that regard. In my short time so far of studying the German language I've discovered growing within myself a distinct fondness for Germany. When I see a product that's been imported from Germany it makes me smile and perhaps stand up a little straighter. When someone mentions a medical treatment they got in Germany that isn't available in the USA I'm proud of that country and feel a sense that I'm part of that. I suppose when it comes right down to it, I knew that German was the language that I would keep wanting to learn indefinitely, and that's why I chose it as my first language to learn despite its purported difficulty and decreased usefulness compared to other languages. It may not be ideal for everyone, or even for most people, but it's my heritage, my roots, and that's why it's right for me. At heart it's already my second language, and if it's my language I should learn it, right? :) 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| hanni aka cordelia0507 Groupie United Kingdom Joined 5605 days ago 69 posts - 92 votes Speaks: Dutch* | Message 88 of 119 07 February 2010 at 3:57pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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If you live in Europe you should know the answer. German is the biggest mother tongue in the EU and the second biggest language on the European continent. Should take precedence over all other languages apart from English, for practical reasons.
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