German is definitely worth learning!

MURATA   Sat Aug 02, 2008 4:59 am GMT
German is definitely worth learning!

German, the second widely spoken language (second only to English) in Europe. There is one book written in German in every 10 books in the world. And related reasons such as economy, technology, science, and national power......
Guest   Sat Aug 02, 2008 8:53 am GMT
I am not sure. German is important in Central Europe, but there are other two languages very important:

English in Western Europe, including Germany, and Russian in Eastern Europe (including Slavic countries and former USSR).

So, in Europe there are 2 key languages, English and Russian, and after them German is the most spoken.

Anyway, I don't know which one, Russian or German, is more useful in Eastern Europe.

That is very interesting because in Europe you should speak at least 3 languages:

1. English

2. A romance language: French, Spanish or Italian

3. An important language in Eastern Europe: German, Russian or Polish (the last one is also interesting, official in European Union and whit Latin alphabet).

PD. If you don't go to Eastern Europe, and for instance you are Portuguese, you don't need the third language.
Guest   Sat Aug 02, 2008 9:24 am GMT
Don't think that knowing a romance language you can speak with all romance people. These languages are not intellegible. I've seen Italians in Paris and Portuguese in Rome really in difficulty. English is the only "lingua franca" in Europe.
Guest   Sat Aug 02, 2008 9:31 am GMT
"English is the only "lingua franca" in Europe. "

Hardly. While a lot of people will understand English you can't juist go anywhere and expect people to speak it. The statistics say about 40-50% will have at least a basic knowledge of English but it's far from being a proper lingua Franca yet. Maybe in 20-30 years, it might be nearer 100%, who knows.
Guest   Sat Aug 02, 2008 10:38 am GMT
"English is the only "lingua franca" in Europe. "

No, in former USSR you need Russian.

Besides, in a lot of Central-Eastern European countries, English is not very known. You need Russian or German.

In Mediterranean countries (France, Spain, Portugal and Italy), it is better to know at least one Romance language. A lot of them don't speak English or only a very basic level.
Deutsch   Sat Aug 02, 2008 3:53 pm GMT
English is de facto the lingua franca all over the world, including Europe.

I was at the Baltic countries last week, a number of older people spoke German, but practically the whole younger generation has a pretty good command in English.

All this doesn't meant that German is not important though.
Guest   Sun Aug 03, 2008 12:59 pm GMT
Among German/Dutch/Swedish/Norwegian/Danish,
"German" is the most useful and important language.
Guest   Mon Aug 04, 2008 5:11 am GMT
<<Among German/Dutch/Swedish/Norwegian/Danish,
"German" is the most useful and important language.>>

But amongst the Romance languages such as French and Spanish, nope.
Guest   Mon Aug 04, 2008 8:15 am GMT
German is *not* a Romance language!
ONO   Mon Aug 04, 2008 8:16 am GMT
Ich liebe Deutsch!
Guest   Mon Aug 04, 2008 8:20 am GMT
Ich liebe Dick.
Guest   Mon Aug 04, 2008 8:21 am GMT
<<German is *not* a Romance language!>>

Well, duh. I was comparing its usefulness compared to the Romance languages: Spanish and French.
Guest   Mon Aug 04, 2008 8:22 am GMT
Ich liebe Dicke von Menschen. Ich liebe dick geschwollen.
Guest   Mon Aug 04, 2008 11:37 am GMT
Frauliche Weihnackten!
Shrey   Thu Aug 07, 2008 6:41 am GMT
Doesn't Dick mean fat?