is it hard to learn german??

Question

basically i took german back in highschoolfor only 2 years but i dont remember anything.so i am planning to learn german at my university ( i am 22 years old student..) because i would like to move back to europe to germany( i am not from germany- i am from greece).i have 2 friends who did it though.so is it hrd to learn german fluently enough that you can live in germany?how long can it take?

Answer 1

For an english speaker german is not terribly difficult to learn. The most difficult part seems to be distinguishing which gender relates to which noun. With all the similarities, provided you have the aptitude, if you put your mind to it, learning the language at least decently well shouldn't take terribly long. Most important is using it as much as possible. Try to immerse yourself in german (join a german/american organization, go to german restaurants in the US and use your language to order, watch german movies, order the german tv station and watch the news on there rather than US news, etc.). Additionally, once you're actually in Germany your language skills will significantly improve.

Answer 2

Personally, I think German is easy and a lot of fun. I've been learning French also, and I find German to be more complicated grammatically than French or English, but in a good way. How you order your words in a sentence is very flexible, and the pronunciation is pretty easy, easier than French. It's very straightforward and consistent, so you shouldn't have any trouble with it. If you want a language easier than German, go with Swedish or Norwegian. Once you get past some pronunciation quirks, they're pretty easy.

Answer 3

you probably wont see this anymore.



it's a yes or no question, the answer is oh yeah



I've been studying german for a year and a scale of 1 to 10 I rank myself a 6. the grammar is hard adjective have specific endings, nouns have 3 different gernders (der, die, das)



I think there are a lot of people (people who entered university) in Germany that can speak English so I guess you won't have a problem with asking for help.



need help with translation (www.dict.cc)

Answer 4

I'm not sure how long it will take but I recently decided I wanted to learn German and I don't have the money to buy good programs but if you go on youtube they have tutorials on speaking German that reeeeally helped me. Also there are awesome websites (free) that you can use. Try Livemocha.com You might want to use more than one website. Basically how I am attempting to learn is use the free resources online. I made flashcards for EVERYTHING too. =D I hope I helped a bit!

Answer 5

Some people learn languages quickly by some people takes forever. I teach German in Berlitz Intern. School in Houston/Tx. They are having courses for 2 weeks, is not cheep, but my students understand, talk, and read after 2 weeks. The best way is always read, talk and watch German TV channels.

The German Language is not so easy because the hard grammar.

Good Luck for you.

Answer 6

I'm German but live in the US for 13 years and I'm glad to not having to learn German :-). Not to discourage you, but it will take awhile and if you can't practice what you learn in school, it's hard to sustain.



I had English in school for 6 years and when I moved here, had headaches for 6 moth from the focus that it took to participate in business meetings.



Learning goes fastest if you live in the country. If you are a quick learner, you should be able to be comfortable within a year.

In Germany almost everybody speaks some basic English, so living there without being fluent is no problem.



Look for a German group in your town and see if you can hook up with them occasionally to practice pronunciation.



Viel Spass!

Answer 7

It's a difficult language to learn and is basically a waste of time.Most Germans speak English (the language of their conquerors) so communication is not a problem.Germans are arrogant enough not to allow you to practice your German on them but expect you to let them practice their English on you.Use your time to learn some other language.

Answer 8

I'm learning English and I practice on yahoo answers , allot of English words are almost the same in German but grammar is more difficult .

I wish you lots of fun learning ..................Katie :-)

Answer 9

I would say it depends on you. I have lived here one year and can barely hold a conversation.



Start with some free online programs

http://www.livemocha.com

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,1595,2815,00.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/german/lj/index.shtml



Good luck