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Which language should my focus be on?

 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages Post Reply
Smart
Tetraglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5339 days ago
352 posts - 398 votes 
Speaks: Spanish, English*, Latin, French
Studies: German

 
 Message 1 of 5
13 April 2010 at 11:58pm | IP Logged 
Hello.

Here's the question:
Which language should my major focus be on? French or German?

I am currently teaching myself both languages, however I noticed on sharedtalk, there are more French speakers than German. So my French learning became dominant, however should I tackle German first? I have more interest in German being that i am half-German, and my mother tongue (English) is closer to it than French.

I have more resources for German: Assimil German with Ease, Teach Yourself German and Pimsleur 1-3, I also have a proper English-German dictionary and phrasebook.

Not to mention I plan to learn other Germanic languages (Dutch, Frisian, etc)

Thanks for reading.
1 person has voted this message useful



canada38
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Canada
Joined 5495 days ago
304 posts - 417 votes 
Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French
Studies: Portuguese, Japanese

 
 Message 2 of 5
14 April 2010 at 12:06am | IP Logged 
Whichever you have more interest in, otherwise it is a chore.
1 person has voted this message useful



Smart
Tetraglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5339 days ago
352 posts - 398 votes 
Speaks: Spanish, English*, Latin, French
Studies: German

 
 Message 3 of 5
14 April 2010 at 12:17am | IP Logged 
canada38 wrote:
Whichever you have more interest in, otherwise it is a chore.

No I would not consider it a chore, just the building blocks of becoming a polyglot. :)

I will probably focus on German then. Thanks
1 person has voted this message useful



tracker465
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5352 days ago
355 posts - 496 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch

 
 Message 4 of 5
14 April 2010 at 12:39am | IP Logged 
German, of course :)

In reality though, it just depends on your personal interest, as well as your future goals. I have a large number of languages which I want to learn, so I try to plan out the most efficient way of learning them. For instance, I already speak English (natively) and have a B2-level of German, give or take how much I use it. I have dabbled a bit with Dutch, and sometime want to learn one of the Scandanavian tongues. My experience with English, German and Dutch will make my experience this summer, when I begin Norwegian, to be fairly easy.

I see that you speak Spanish, and Latin (well I would assume read would be a better term for Latin), and are studying French and Portuguese. Since these tongues are very similar to Spanish and Latin, maybe it might be more advantageous to focus your efforts with French, and move into German later. Heck, there are even a lot of French words in Dutch, so maybe move as follows: French - Dutch - German.

If you want to become a polyglot (I want this also), I think that picking a good order for learning the languages would be quite useful, or would at least make things easier. Of course if there are more Germans in your area, for instance, perhaps it makes better sense to learn German then.
3 persons have voted this message useful



Smart
Tetraglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5339 days ago
352 posts - 398 votes 
Speaks: Spanish, English*, Latin, French
Studies: German

 
 Message 5 of 5
14 April 2010 at 12:50am | IP Logged 
tracker465 wrote:
German, of course :)

In reality though, it just depends on your personal interest, as well as your future goals. I have a large number of languages which I want to learn, so I try to plan out the most efficient way of learning them. For instance, I already speak English (natively) and have a B2-level of German, give or take how much I use it. I have dabbled a bit with Dutch, and sometime want to learn one of the Scandanavian tongues. My experience with English, German and Dutch will make my experience this summer, when I begin Norwegian, to be fairly easy.

I see that you speak Spanish, and Latin (well I would assume read would be a better term for Latin), and are studying French and Portuguese. Since these tongues are very similar to Spanish and Latin, maybe it might be more advantageous to focus your efforts with French, and move into German later. Heck, there are even a lot of French words in Dutch, so maybe move as follows: French - Dutch - German.

If you want to become a polyglot (I want this also), I think that picking a good order for learning the languages would be quite useful, or would at least make things easier. Of course if there are more Germans in your area, for instance, perhaps it makes better sense to learn German then.


Indeed. However, I have a love for the Germanic and Scandinavian languages primarily, I was almost forced to learn Spanish, (chose to learn Latin because its awesome!).

Also on the subject of Portuguese, I already know it quite well so I am setting it aside to be my companion with Dutch.

Here's how it will work:
French & German - Finish both to "basic" fluency, stop learning French, continue some German once in a while. (to advanced fluency hopefully)
Introduce Dutch - At intermediate in language, stop German and move into next step
Re-introduce Portuguese - now both languages I am intermediate in but focus placed on Dutch, learn Dutch to advanced fluency. Portuguese to basic fluency.
Introduce new language (Frisian, Catalan, Italian, Norwegian, Danish): will decide later.
Continue.


1 person has voted this message useful



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