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German may be easy to "pick up" because of all the cognates, but I've found that the German grammer is both complex and not very "English". French, on the othe

German may be easy to "pick up" because of all the cognates, but I've found that the German grammer is both complex and not very "English". French, on the other hand, has significant vocabulary overlap with English and it's grammar rules are either easier to learn, or easy to fudge when speaking.

StavrosK 15y ago
As a speaker of both English and German, and a dabbler in the other Romantic languages, I find German impossible to learn. I've taken years of classes and am still no good at it. Its grammar is really close to ancient Greek, but that makes learning it no easier. Greek has three genders also, but you can usually tell the gender from the noun's suffix. In German, you have to learn the article with the word. It is one of the hardest languages I've met.
- darklajid 15y ago
  The Awful German Language - Mark Twain [1] I love that essay - and he agrees with you on the gender issue: --- To continue with the German genders: a tree is male, its buds are female, its leaves are neuter; horses are sexless, dogs are male, cats are female -- tomcats included, of course; a person's mouth, neck, bosom, elbows, fingers, nails, feet, and body are of the male sex, and his head is male or neuter according to the word selected to signify it, and not according to the sex of the individual who wears it -- for in Germany all the women either male heads or sexless ones; a person's nose, lips, shoulders, breast, hands, and toes are of the female sex; and his hair, ears, eyes, chin, legs, knees, heart, and conscience haven't any sex at all. The inventor of the language probably got what he knew about a conscience from hearsay. Now, by the above dissection, the reader will see that in Germany a man may think he is a man, but when he comes to look into the matter closely, he is bound to have his doubts; he finds that in sober truth he is a most ridiculous mixture; and if he ends by trying to comfort himself with the thought that he can at least depend on a third of this mess as being manly and masculine, the humiliating second thought will quickly remind him that in this respect he is no better off than any woman or cow in the land. --- 1: http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/awfgrmlg.html http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/awfgrmlg.html (First hit I found on Google. You might find "better" versions)
  - StavrosK 15y ago
    Ah, I've read this before, it's delightful, but I go one further. I don't actually mind the detached genders (Greek has them, the door is a she, the table is an it, the bench is a he), as long as you can guess it from the word itself somehow (in Greek, gender is determined by the word's suffix, the girl is still neuter but you can tell even if you've never seen the word before). In German, you basically have to learn an extra bit of information for every word.
    - officemonkey 15y ago
      It's more than a bit: 0 = der 1 = die 10 = das
      - StavrosK 15y ago
        "A bit" = "some". I know that 3 > 2.
        officemonkey 15y ago
        I'm sorry, I thought you were speaking technically. "An extra bit of information" could easily be mistaken for a computer term.
        StavrosK 15y ago
        I guess it is, but I thought people would realise that I don't think that a bit has three states :P
        officemonkey 15y ago
        I knew you knew German had three genders, I just thought other people didn't know.
        StavrosK 15y ago

StavrosK 15y ago

As a speaker of both English and German, and a dabbler in the other Romantic languages, I find German impossible to learn. I've taken years of classes and am still no good at it. Its grammar is really close to ancient Greek, but that makes learning it no easier. Greek has three genders also, but you can usually tell the gender from the noun's suffix. In German, you have to learn the article with the word. It is one of the hardest languages I've met.

darklajid 15y ago
The Awful German Language - Mark Twain [1] I love that essay - and he agrees with you on the gender issue: --- To continue with the German genders: a tree is male, its buds are female, its leaves are neuter; horses are sexless, dogs are male, cats are female -- tomcats included, of course; a person's mouth, neck, bosom, elbows, fingers, nails, feet, and body are of the male sex, and his head is male or neuter according to the word selected to signify it, and not according to the sex of the individual who wears it -- for in Germany all the women either male heads or sexless ones; a person's nose, lips, shoulders, breast, hands, and toes are of the female sex; and his hair, ears, eyes, chin, legs, knees, heart, and conscience haven't any sex at all. The inventor of the language probably got what he knew about a conscience from hearsay. Now, by the above dissection, the reader will see that in Germany a man may think he is a man, but when he comes to look into the matter closely, he is bound to have his doubts; he finds that in sober truth he is a most ridiculous mixture; and if he ends by trying to comfort himself with the thought that he can at least depend on a third of this mess as being manly and masculine, the humiliating second thought will quickly remind him that in this respect he is no better off than any woman or cow in the land. --- 1: http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/awfgrmlg.html http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/awfgrmlg.html (First hit I found on Google. You might find "better" versions)
- StavrosK 15y ago
  Ah, I've read this before, it's delightful, but I go one further. I don't actually mind the detached genders (Greek has them, the door is a she, the table is an it, the bench is a he), as long as you can guess it from the word itself somehow (in Greek, gender is determined by the word's suffix, the girl is still neuter but you can tell even if you've never seen the word before). In German, you basically have to learn an extra bit of information for every word.
  - officemonkey 15y ago
    It's more than a bit: 0 = der 1 = die 10 = das
    - StavrosK 15y ago
      "A bit" = "some". I know that 3 > 2.
      - officemonkey 15y ago
        I'm sorry, I thought you were speaking technically. "An extra bit of information" could easily be mistaken for a computer term.
        StavrosK 15y ago
        I guess it is, but I thought people would realise that I don't think that a bit has three states :P
        officemonkey 15y ago
        I knew you knew German had three genders, I just thought other people didn't know.
        StavrosK 15y ago