Introduction
German and English are both members of the West Germanic branch of languages, a part of the Indo-European family of languages. But German has a reputation in terms of new languages to learn among English speakers. However, it is not as difficult as many make it out to be.
Is it difficult to learn German?
The difficulty depends on the language and the learner. Standard German aspects in terms of vocabulary, grammar, and culture are based on English speakers to learn.
Vocabulary
Languages are made up of their words, vocabulary, and German, two languages have a common “ancestor” language, and there are many extremely similar words.
Around 80% of the most commonly used English words are related to German words and around 40% of all English words are similar to their German equivalents, and it usually comes from old West Germanic languages, English words come from Latin, French, and Greek.
This means that many English speakers will easily understand a major part of everyday German words.
German Grammar
A language’s grammar is how languages are built and how they work. Although some parts of German grammar are tricky for English speakers to get with, German grammar is actually easier to learn than English grammar because it follows a set of rules. It makes small differences among them German grammar that is hard for English speakers which is not really that it is complex, but rather that some parts of it are simply different to what we are used to.
Tricky but rhythmic
German grammar is distinctive in positioning its verbs, and there are also a couple of general rules of thumb here. German has a certain rhythmic quality and makes it quite easy to know how to structure your sentences. For example, if a sentence is simple, the verb will usually appear in the second position; if it is simple and a yes/no question, it will go in the first position.
The verb will always be at the end, and if there is a modal verb involved, this will take the very last spot. In their infinitive form, these are verbs that have a prefix attached to them that splits away when they are conjugated. This prefix is usually found somewhere after the verb, usually again at the end of a sentence. These kinds of verbs are similar to English phrasal verbs.
Reasons for why German is not difficult
When considering how difficult a language is to learn, it is therefore important to think about the cultural side. Although there are plenty of German native speakers, particularly younger ones and particularly in the more cosmopolitan cities, that speak flawless English, the level of penetration that English has in German-speaking society is not as high as in other places.
Providing a great source of input, a tradition in German, foreign films, and tv shows, including everything produced by Hollywood, is all translated and dubbed into German. It is easier to fully immerse yourself in the German language and culture in order to learn it quickly if you move to a German-speaking country.
For English speakers, German is not that hard in some ways and so many words are obviously similar and many others are related in a way that you learn to work out in time. Compound words are actually not that hard to break down if you are not afraid of them and can even do it independently.
The aspects of German include in its grammar, gendered nouns, the case system, verb placement, and separable verbs all follow rules that and even if there are a huge number of them, it can be learned easily. If you make mistakes, you want to correct them by native learners. This will make you learn German easily.
Conclusion
Only by your motivation you can study any new language easily and it is not hard. how difficult the language actually ultimately depends on how hard you work at it. Learning German takes some time, and you will not become fluent one day.