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Difficulty of Germanic Languages | ||
Tags: Afrikaans | Germanic Languages | Scandinavian Languages | Icelandic | Norwegian | Swedish | Dutch | Difficulty | German | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| lady_skywalker Triglot Senior Member Netherlands aspiringpolyglotblog Joined 6849 days ago 909 posts - 942 votes  Speaks: Spanish, English*, Mandarin Studies: Japanese, French, Dutch, Italian | Message 9 of 20 31 May 2006 at 2:58pm | IP Logged |
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I can't really speak for most of the Germanic languages as I've never paid attention to any of them except for Dutch. So from my limited experiences, I would say Dutch is the easiest language as it shares quite a substantial vocabulary (albeit spelt slightly differently) and its grammar seems to be less complicated than that of German (or so I have been told). There are a few sounds that are quite tricky to pronounce but these can be learnt with a bit of practice...the Dutch 'g' will take a LOT a practice. ^_^
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| fanatic Octoglot Senior Member Australia speedmathematics.com Joined 7105 days ago 1152 posts - 1818 votes Speaks: English*, German, French, Afrikaans, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Dutch Studies: Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Modern Hebrew, Malay, Mandarin, Esperanto | Message 10 of 20 31 May 2006 at 9:27pm | IP Logged |
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If you are going by grammar I would have to say Afrikaans is the easiest. I don't know that it would be the most useful.
German is not too difficult in spite of the three genders and the declensions of nouns and adjectives. It is easy to understand when you only have to recognize the declensions. I wouldn't be inclined to make a decision based on the level of difficulty. Go for the language that will be most useful and give the most pleasure. None of the Germanic languages are too difficult if you are a native English speaker. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| AML Senior Member United States Joined 6784 days ago 323 posts - 426 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: Modern Hebrew, German, Spanish | Message 11 of 20 01 June 2006 at 1:45am | IP Logged |
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I think Swedish is probably the easiest. But if you know some German, then
Dutch will probably be the easiest. It looks exactly like simple German to me. I think of any Germanic language, German will be the most useful. This is for two reasons: 1. It is the most economically important German-speaking country. 2. Out of Dutch, Swedish, and German, almost every Dutchman and Swede will speak amazingly good English. This is slightly less likely with Germans, although many will speak good english. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| brumblebee Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6734 days ago 206 posts - 212 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese | Message 12 of 20 02 June 2006 at 5:39pm | IP Logged |
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I don't know any German besides knowing that "nein" means "no". I want to learn a second Germanic language, and I'm just trying to decide.
Anyways, I kind of came up with a criteria: 1) Must be inexpensive materials available at Borders (to order). 2)Pronunciation must be fairly simple. 3) I'm not too concerned about the irregular grammar factor, I'm known as a "grammar nut" I'm trying to decide between German, Dutch, Afrikaans, and Swedish. I might add Norwegian to that list too :). Edited by brumblebee on 02 June 2006 at 5:40pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Sierra Diglot Senior Member Turkey livinginlights.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 7083 days ago 296 posts - 411 votes Speaks: English*, SwedishB1 Studies: Turkish | Message 13 of 20 02 June 2006 at 9:06pm | IP Logged |
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I don't think there's a gigantic difference in the difficulty levels of the various Germanic languages, at least not enough that that factor would influence my decision, personally. They're all quite doable for a native English speaker.
That said, I would guess that German would be the hardest on your list and Swedish or Afrikaans would be the easiest. The pronunciation in Swedish can be difficult for a native English speaker- more so, in my opinion, than German. The vowels all sound similar at first, and there are some difficult-to-pronounce combinations (sj, skj, stj, etc) which sound like a mix between "sh" and a whoosh of air. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| brumblebee Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6734 days ago 206 posts - 212 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese | Message 14 of 20 03 June 2006 at 6:59pm | IP Logged |
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I think that I'll try Swedish, and that I might learn German, Dutch, and /or Afrikaans later
-brumblebee 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| brumblebee Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6734 days ago 206 posts - 212 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese | Message 15 of 20 03 June 2006 at 10:21pm | IP Logged |
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I hope that I can persuade my Icelandic friend to learn Swedish with me! That would be fun!
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| siromar Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6704 days ago 104 posts - 103 votes Speaks: Arabic (Written)*, EnglishC2 Studies: French, Swedish | Message 16 of 20 08 June 2006 at 3:38am | IP Logged |
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I've tried learning both German and Swedish, and I can tell you that German is far more difficult.
Swedish is fun to learn, not that hard to pronounce (well, difficult at first, but you get used to it), and is very pleasant sounding. German is more practical, with widely available study-material. Either way, language learing is something that requires time and dedication. Whichever you choose, make sure you stick to it, no matter how frustrating it becomes. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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