Introduction

Modern standard High German is descended from the Middle High German dialects and is spoken in the central and southern highlands of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It is used as the language of administration, higher education, literature, and the mass media in the Low German speech area as well. Standard High German is based on, but not identical with, the Middle German dialect used by Martin Luther in his 16th-century translation of the Bible. German is not only an interesting option for academics, but also those in the business world should consider brushing up on their Deutsch. Germany is the biggest economy within the European Union and the fourth largest worldwide. It is home to numerous international corporations and on the front line of new technologies. While the schooling system in Germany is set up in a way that every German citizen knows at least some English, communicating with someone in their native tongue is a sign of good faith that is appreciated everywhere.

 In this article, we’ll discuss if learning German will put a negative affect on your English language skills:

1. The basics:

This original English language that was infiltrated by French and Latin, called Anglo-Saxon, gets its name from the Germanic tribes who migrated there around 500-800 A.D. That’s right, Germanic. Even today, 80 of the 100 most common words in English are Germanic in origin. These most basic, most frequently spoken words in English and German are from the same roots, making them all extremely similar. Give or take a few spelling and pronunciation differences, they’re practically the same.

2. English and German are Germanic languages:

Geographically the proto-West Germanic language centered around present-day northern Germany and then spread to southwards as well as northwestwards and before going global with European colonization. The Germanic tribes had been speaking their own version of English before the Normans invaded and conquered England.  Norman and Latin words didn’t displace much vocabulary, or subtract anything but rather added to the existing Germanic language. Today, 80 of the 100 most common words in English are Germanic in origin.

3. Pronunciation:

German is a notoriously difficult language to learn, and many people are quite proud having mastered it. Words from German and English are often incredibly similar in their pronunciations. There were periods where consonant sounds changed slightly between German and English. A good example is the German letter P, which changed to F 1500 years ago (Ship turned became Schiff, for example) but has remained the same ever since.

4. The two languages use the same alphabet:

One of the most obvious similarities between German and English is the fact that both languages utilize the same 26 letters which form the Latin alphabet. This is a major plus point, as it makes it easy for English speakers to start writing in the German language straight away. Certainly, it represents an advantage over an English speaker trying to learn a language like Mandarin, Arabic or Japanese, which utilise completely different writing systems.

In this method, not a single word from another language is used to teach a target language to a student. Actions (movements) and gestures are used to explain meanings of expressions such as ‘sit down’, ‘get up’, ‘go out’, ‘come in’, etc. spoken in the target language.