Learning a new language

[PowerKop]

I'm enthusiastic about the idea of learning a new language.

The languages that most appeal to me are French and German and I am wondering which one is easier to learn and which one is more relevant around the world. I would be teaching myself to start with, but may do a postgraduate course next year, which upon completion will allow me to teach a language, as i'm already a qualified teacher.

Also if anyone has taught themselves these languages, do you know of any self teaching resources that could be helpful for giving me a bit of a start.

 

[BigBadCam]

I'm enthusiastic about the idea of learning a new language.

The languages that most appeal to me are French and German and I am wondering which one is easier to learn and which one is more relevant around the world. I would be teaching myself to start with, but may do a postgraduate course next year, which upon completion will allow me to teach a language, as i'm already a qualified teacher.

Also if anyone has taught themselves these languages, do you know of any self teaching resources that could be helpful for giving me a bit of a start.

We are part of the Asian region. The EU has in no uncertain terms told us where to go. No that you really need to learn any other languages other than English in this day and age, but either Japanese or Mandarin would be the best ones for you to learn considering they are our two largest trading partners. They will be a lot more important to future generations of children IMO. The best way to learn a language is to go and live in the country where the language is spoken. You will be forced to learn the language just to survive.

 

[numchuks]

I'd say French is more relevant out of the two. Spoken all over Africa, South East Asia, Pacific and bits of South America. Most people around the world understand either French or English.

German is only really spoken in two countires, Germany and Austria, and a little bit in Switzerland.

 

[Chops_a_must]

Also if anyone has taught themselves these languages, do you know of any self teaching resources that could be helpful for giving me a bit of a start.

http://www.byki.com/

 

[rdhopkins2]

I'd say French for a European language or an Asian language (Chinese, Japanese or Indonesian) as was mentioned for trade.

Spanish is a great language for anyone travelling to Central/Sth America.

 

[The Cranium]

I'd say French is more relevant out of the two. Spoken all over Africa, South East Asia, Pacific and bits of South America. Most people around the world understand either French or English.

German is only really spoken in two countires, Germany and Austria, and a little bit in Switzerland.

Exactly and regret learning Italian as a kid not French as that was an option, I have now worked in a French speaking country for 2 years and it would of been an easier transition, once you learn one it gets easier, I now know four languages including 2 African dialects.

Lastly, get a GF that speaks the language you wnat a learn, easiest way to learn IMO.

French speaking countries:

 

[PowerKop]

Thanks for the replies people. Indonesian is a language offered at university, but although more relevant to Australia, it doesn't really interest me. I learnt Chinese in primary school and one again it's not a country I would like to go and live in at any stage.
French and German appeal, because I will be going to Europe in the next few years and these countries, particularly Germany intrigue me. Out of the two French sounds as though it has more relevance worldwide, so I might start my learning journey and see how I go.

 

[Smell The Glove]

We are part of the Asian region. The EU has in no uncertain terms told us where to go. No that you really need to learn any other languages other than English in this day and age, but either Japanese or Mandarin would be the best ones for you to learn considering they are our two largest trading partners. They will be a lot more important to future generations of children IMO. The best way to learn a language is to go and live in the country where the language is spoken. You will be forced to learn the language just to survive.

Relevant perhaps if he was actually involved in international commerce with Japanese or Chinese companies.

I'd say French is more relevant out of the two. Spoken all over Africa, South East Asia, Pacific and bits of South America. Most people around the world understand either French or English.

German is only really spoken in two countires, Germany and Austria, and a little bit in Switzerland.

I presume you have never actually been to Europe.

German is still one of the two dominant languages of Europe- I'd say 90% of Europeans who speak a second language would have a working knowledge of either German or English. Particularly in Eastern Europe, where English becomes more and more limited, speaking German can be invaluable.

English being a Germanic language also makes it easier to pick up. Once you have the grammar down pat, its a very easy language to become quite well versed in.

French on the other hand........

 

[BigBadCam]

Relevant perhaps if he was actually involved in international commerce with Japanese or Chinese companies.

He has indicated that he is a teacher and that is part of the reason he wants to learn a language. In this current global climate with Japan and China as Australia's two largest trading partners, Japanese and Mandarin are 1000+% more important to the next generation. We have been given the heave ho from the EU and learning European languages is irrelevant save for a once in a lifetime Kontiki tour where somebody might find it funny to order a crossaint in French.

 

[scooter22]

French is easier to learn than German. I am currently learning Japanese.

 

[PowerKop]

He has indicated that he is a teacher and that is part of the reason he wants to learn a language. In this current global climate with Japan and China as Australia's two largest trading partners, Japanese and Mandarin are 1000+% more important to the next generation. We have been given the heave ho from the EU and learning European languages is irrelevant save for a once in a lifetime Kontiki tour where somebody might find it funny to order a crossaint in French.

I think your right. It seems nowadays most schools that offer languages are taking Indonesian, Chinese or Japanese, with the view that these languages will be more useful to the next generation. I'm sure in previous generations, French would have been the main language offered at most schools.

 

[numchuks]

I presume you have never actually been to Europe.

German is still one of the two dominant languages of Europe- I'd say 90% of Europeans who speak a second language would have a working knowledge of either German or English. Particularly in Eastern Europe, where English becomes more and more limited, speaking German can be invaluable.

English being a Germanic language also makes it easier to pick up. Once you have the grammar down pat, its a very easy language to become quite well versed in.

French on the other hand........

yes I have been to europe and german is only dominant in those 3 countries I mentioned. German is good for eastern europe, but not for western europe where they know French better so it just depends on which area intrests you more.

Yes german is alot closer to english so can be easier to learn.

But French is better for international travel, and once you know it you can learn other langugaes like Spanish, Italian, Portugese, Romanian etc. which is invaluable if you want to go to central/south america.

 

[Blue_Ninja]

If it is just for travelling in Europe why bother? 50% of the inhabitants of the EU list English as their second language, and many more speak it, particular;y in Western Europe.
There are roughly 100 million native German speakers in the EU alone...its a big an important language in Europe........
German is not really all that useful in Eastern Europe, English far more so......
The idea that either French of German are relevant to the world is not really a concern I would think, given that English (which I'm assuming is your first language) is the dominant language in the world....
I say all of this as a speaker of four languages, who liives in Eastern Europe...

 

[BigBadCam]

yes I have been to europe and german is only dominant in those 3 countries I mentioned. German is good for eastern europe, but not for western europe where they know French better so it just depends on which area intrests you more.

Yes german is alot closer to english so can be easier to learn.

But French is better for international travel, and once you know it you can learn other langugaes like Spanish, Italian, Portugese, Romanian etc. which is invaluable if you want to go to central/south america.

Just learn Spanish. French and German are dying languages.

 

[magic_johnson!]

Recomend Japanese but if you want to learn a european language, I'd go with Spanish.

 

[The Cranium]

Just learn Spanish. French and German are dying languages.

This would have to be the most stupid statement I've heard, refer to my earlier post..

http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm


The Summer Institute for Linguistics (SIL) Ethnologue Survey (1999) lists the following as the top languages by population:
(number of native speakers in parentheses)

• 
  [*]Chinese* (937,132,000)
  [*]Spanish (332,000,000)
  [*]English (322,000,000)
  [*]Bengali (189,000,000)
  [*]Hindi/Urdu (182,000,000)
  [*]Arabic* (174,950,000)
  [*]Portuguese (170,000,000)
  [*]Russian (170,000,000)
  [*]Japanese (125,000,000)
  [*]German (98,000,000)
  [*]French* (79,572,000)

 

[RUNVS]

I'm enthusiastic about the idea of learning a new language.

The languages that most appeal to me are French and German and I am wondering which one is easier to learn and which one is more relevant around the world. I would be teaching myself to start with, but may do a postgraduate course next year, which upon completion will allow me to teach a language, as i'm already a qualified teacher.

Also if anyone has taught themselves these languages, do you know of any self teaching resources that could be helpful for giving me a bit of a start.

I learn't a bit of German in Primary school and a bit of French in high school. To this day i still remember the German i learnt and have forgotten almost all the French i learned about. Even though i learnt French a lot more recently than i learnt German i found that German was the easier language to pick up and keep in my memory.

 

[OzBomber]

Bonjour, Je m'appelle Sean. Cava? J'adore le football et le cricket.

Doing it at school. I'm not terrible but I'm not brilliant at it, but I'm probably gonna do it in VCE and it boosts your marks up by 14. I always wanted to learn Spanish but they don't teach it at my school or any school around my area.

 

[Deledinho]

Bonjour, Je m'appelle Sean. Cava? J'adore le football et le cricket.

It's so tempting to go grammar nazi on this, but I won't. Did 5 years of French at school, and not just because it was a bludge subject. Loved it.

 

[The Cranium]

It's so tempting to go grammar nazi on this, but I won't. Did 5 years of French at school, and not just because it was a bludge subject. Loved it.

LOL, CaVa is the informal, Comment allez vous is the norm.

 

[OzBomber]

It's so tempting to go grammar nazi on this, but I won't. Did 5 years of French at school, and not just because it was a bludge subject. Loved it.

Haha shh. As I said I'm not great at it.

 

[BigBadCam]

This would have to be the most stupid statement I've heard, refer to my earlier post..

Why do you say this?

Chinese + Japanese > Spanish > French + German

 

[Smell The Glove]

He has indicated that he is a teacher and that is part of the reason he wants to learn a language. In this current global climate with Japan and China as Australia's two largest trading partners, Japanese and Mandarin are 1000+% more important to the next generation. We have been given the heave ho from the EU and learning European languages is irrelevant save for a once in a lifetime Kontiki tour where somebody might find it funny to order a crossaint in French.

This attitude baffles me, as does that whole "Australia is a part of Asia" nonsense. And we have been "given the heave ho" from Europe? Europe has never rejected us, unlike Asia- I seem to recall the Singaporean PM saying only ten odd years ago that Australia would never be welcome in Asia unless we were numerically more than 50% ethnically Asian.

We have been told to piss off from Asia, unless we change ethnically. Asians couldnt care less about whether Australians can count to ten in a Chinese language or not.

yes I have been to europe and german is only dominant in those 3 countries I mentioned. German is good for eastern europe, but not for western europe where they know French better so it just depends on which area intrests you more.

Yes german is alot closer to english so can be easier to learn.

But French is better for international travel, and once you know it you can learn other langugaes like Spanish, Italian, Portugese, Romanian etc. which is invaluable if you want to go to central/south america.

No idea. The only Europeans that speak French are the French. Simple as that.

And outside Europe, unless you are planning to visit African shitholes, Pacific nothing countries and a few other little nooks and crannies, French is useless.

Spanish is a useful language to learn though, definitely. Probably more than any other language.

 

[blaargh]

No idea. The only Europeans that speak French are the French. Simple as that.

And outside Europe, unless you are planning to visit African shitholes, Pacific nothing countries and a few other little nooks and crannies, French is useless.

*cough*

Visited Europe recently? Also, alot of large organisations have French as their first or second choice of language (Olympics).

German is a very useful language in Europe, but no where else. However, I think that it is slightly more natural for an english speaker to start - at least I didn't have the same problems with hearing the individual words in conversation with german as I did in french.

Don't know alot about spanish, but it does seem to be a very useful language for travelling - lots of interesting and obscure countries seem to use it... I guess it all depends on where you have your next holiday planned

With any language, the real key seem to be immersion in the language - time spent in a country that speaks it is an invaluable experience!

Bonne Chance

 

[BigBadCam]

Only gays speak the French. Jks.