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Why learn German? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| delectric Diglot Senior Member China Joined 7182 days ago 608 posts - 733 votes  Speaks: English*, Mandarin Studies: German | Message 33 of 119 20 September 2005 at 9:08am | IP Logged | ||
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Strange I always think Russian sounds a very scary language. Maybe because many Russians I have met seem very bolshy and upfront?
For my own selfish reasons (having lived in Germany as a child and currently trying to relearn German), I hope German remains an important European language. I was so disheartened at my recent visit to Austria where everyone (well the vast majority) spoke to me in such fluent English. Being a practical person I wondered why I was bothering. Even here in China it seems every man and his dog are learning English. I wonder if someday German will just converge into a type of English with a lot of German slang words. An academic Chinese friend told me recently that there is a trend amongst some youth in China to impose English type grammar in some sentences. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| orion Senior Member United States Joined 7022 days ago 622 posts - 678 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Russian | Message 34 of 119 20 September 2005 at 9:28am | IP Logged | ||
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Yes, I know what you mean in your statement about "why bother?". I studied German to a fairly decent level about 20 years ago, but have since let it slide. Others have encouraged me to pick it up again and "finish" it. With so many Germans that speak English much better than I speak German, I wonder why I should try. It is frustrating, and a bit humiliating, for a German to impatiently switch to English when you are trying to converse with them in their language. I work in a science capacity, so a reading knowledge of German has been useful, I must admit.
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| victor Tetraglot Moderator United States Joined 7319 days ago 1098 posts - 1056 votes 6 sounds Speaks: Cantonese*, English, FrenchC1, Mandarin Studies: Spanish Personal Language Map | Message 35 of 119 20 September 2005 at 9:23pm | IP Logged | ||
I concur with that. I find myself writing a lot of English type grammar sentences subconsciously. This is a common trend in Hong Kong where students mix in the different types of sentence patterns together. Sometimes there are so many condensed ways to say something in Chinese (particularly with 4-character idioms), but we would choose to say it long like in English. (Not saying that English is long, but long in those particular cases.) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tuffy Triglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 7035 days ago 1394 posts - 1412 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German Studies: Spanish | Message 36 of 119 24 September 2005 at 10:02am | IP Logged | ||
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Oops, I see there was already another post on this.
But I can't move or delete this post, sorry! Hi, On a few posts I read that German is considered to be an important language. I myself learned German from the age of six by watching German tv (Sesame street :-) And I must say it's a great language!! I love talking to German people! It's also a nice country. But I didn't know German was so IMPORTANT in Europe. To me it seems only Germany, Austria and Switzerland speak German. Ofcourse that makes it unique in having three European countries with a high population and a strong economy speaking the same language :-) But appart from that: aren't English, Spanish and French far more important and used in Europe by the OTHER countries? I feel like other countries learn French, Spanish and English before learning German. So is German learned and spoken a lot in foreign countries? Would German be usefull in Italy, Spain, England, France, Belgium, South America, United States etc.? The reason I ask this is because I want to know if my knowledge of German is a great asset or not :-) I did read just now that there are a few people in the countries I mentioned who do speak German. Even a few thousand :) But perhaps you guys have more details and insight in these matters :) Tuffy Edited by tuffy on 24 September 2005 at 10:14am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tuffy Triglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 7035 days ago 1394 posts - 1412 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German Studies: Spanish | Message 37 of 119 24 September 2005 at 10:49am | IP Logged | ||
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I just posted the same question, about the importance of knowing German... and then I saw this thread :-)
I myself speak German quite well, I learned it from the age of 6 by watching German tv (Sesame Street at that time :) I like the language and the country!! I also enjoy talking to Germans because it's fun talking in another language. (And it's nice when they compliment me on my German :) Anyway, it was good to read a few posts showing me the importance of knowing German. Ofcourse it doesn't come close to English, Spanish and French but the reasons for learning German on that webpage, plus the mentioning of Eastern European countries speaking German, convinced me it's a handy language to know afterall. (Plus it gives me access to a few more tv channels and programs I can watch. Derrick for instance :-) Tuffy Edited by tuffy on 24 September 2005 at 10:53am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Paul Tetraglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 7122 days ago 114 posts - 124 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, German Studies: Italian | Message 38 of 119 24 September 2005 at 11:50am | IP Logged | ||
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German is the most widely spoken language in the EU (the world's largest
economy), and second in Europe. My friend, that speaks for itself! Ok so we know that the population of France will supplant that of Germany within 50 years (France to reach 76 million, Germany to fall to 70 million, UK to level out at 62 million). But, even then there will be more native German speakers! Spanish only has about 36 million native speakers within Europe, and overall i think a lot more people learn German as a foreign language. Isn't German widely spoken in Eastern Europe as well? As for German in the UK, well many choose this as their first foreign language, but French is still the most popular, but this is due to it's proximity. My Second language is French. My third language is German. As a world language, i'm not sure of German's status. Germany has a large economy, and i hear that it's widely spoken as a language of business in parts of Asia. Obviously Spanish and Portuguese, and French are more widely spoken on the world scale. I guess it all depends on where you are living. Edited by Paul on 24 September 2005 at 11:59am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| orion Senior Member United States Joined 7022 days ago 622 posts - 678 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Russian | Message 39 of 119 24 September 2005 at 1:02pm | IP Logged | ||
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How is German perceived by others in the Netherlands? The only Dutch people I have met were kids during WWII. Their opinion of German is not high, even though they speak it quite well. Maybe the younger generation has gotten past history?
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| tuffy Triglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 7035 days ago 1394 posts - 1412 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German Studies: Spanish | Message 40 of 119 24 September 2005 at 5:54pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks Paul, yes I think you're right.
After I wrote my question I also read a thread where this question was already asked :-) And there I read what you also said: it's indeed also spoken in Eastern Europe a lot. I forgot about Poland and didn't know about the other Eastern countries. And what you write about the importance of and within the EU also is convincing. Since I have started to learn Spanish I'm getting more interested in the very concept of knowing and learning other languages. And I wondered if that what I knew already was something useful. After reading your reply and those other posts I gues the answer is yes :) Also interesting to read that you yourself learned German. That indeed shows the language isn't limited to the "German speaking country borders" solely. Tuffy Edited by tuffy on 24 September 2005 at 5:55pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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