French vs German vs Spanish? Difficulty & Usefulness?

pueblo aqui   Fri Jan 05, 2007 9:15 am GMT
to try to explain simply what wrote "est", i woulkd say:

if you are french, it will be much easier for you to learn spanish and not so german or english.

If you are anglophone, it will be easier to learn german

etc etc
Seljuk   Fri Jan 05, 2007 2:38 pm GMT
You should definitely learn French.Although French is spoken less when compared to Spanish.But be sure that it will be more useful for you when you come to make a speech in EU.Fench is still a much respected language.But if your aim is talking to ordinary people somewhere around Argentina or Columbia or any other S. American ordinary country except Brasil, go for your Spanish!I'd rather them in that order:
1-French
2-Spanish
3-German
Benjamin   Fri Jan 05, 2007 3:20 pm GMT
« If you are anglophone, it will be easier to learn german »

Not necessarily, although I can understand why a native Spanish speaker would assume this.
est   Fri Jan 05, 2007 7:26 pm GMT
i didnt mean ehat pueblo aqui said... that wasnt my point!! it doesnt matter if you are anglophone or french, with some determination you could learn any language... you already learned chinese mandarin!!
Ariel   Mon Jan 08, 2007 1:22 am GMT
German!
It is one of the most fun languages to learn. You can use it in many different place and subjects throughout life. When you start picking it up, you begin to link it to more and more in your dailey life. This makes it easier.

Some say it's tough to learn. I'm not going to lie to you, it is, but only at first. The more you practice, the more it makes sense.

Geh fur es!!!!
ZhongGuoRen   Mon Jan 08, 2007 4:03 am GMT
Despite the importance, my descending rank list of European languages as below,

1. English

2. German

3. Italian

4. French

5. Spanish

......
Guest   Mon Jan 08, 2007 9:29 am GMT
>>Geh fur es!!!!<<

That does'nt exist in German! Much better: Nimm es or mach es or lerne es.
Guest   Mon Jan 08, 2007 9:32 am GMT
Correction: That doesn't exist in German!
Will live in France   Mon Jan 08, 2007 4:43 pm GMT
I've been learning french for two years and I have now declared french as my major. The grammar and orthography are not that difficult; it's remembering the genders that are.
Reality   Tue Jan 09, 2007 12:32 am GMT
Despite the importance, my descending rank list of European languages as below,

1. English

2. German (Population in Swtizerland, Germany, and Austria is declining (or will decline)

3. Italian (population is in drastic decilne)

4. French

5. Spanish (population in all LA countries is increasing dramatically
pyaarxto   Tue Jan 09, 2007 2:14 am GMT
I am from India. I speak Hindi, Spanish, English, French, and Portuguese fluently. But in reply to the question I think Spanish is the best option, as it's beautiful to write, listen to, read and speak. It's fairly logical, semantically and phonetically and it's nowadays the most important language in America (including the USA) and Europe. Almost everybody wants to go and live either in Spain, Peru or Mexico. Well, in England is like that. It's the most widely taught language after English in any school either in Scandinavia, North Africa (where French is supposed to have that status) or Korea. It's challenging and very very nice. Learn Spanish, my friends! ¡El español es relindo!
Are you a genius?   Tue Jan 09, 2007 4:39 am GMT
"I am from India. I speak Hindi, Spanish, English, French, and Portuguese fluently."

Are you a genius, because I am a native English speaker and I'm struggling to learn Spanish? I know all the tenses, and can write relatively well, not to mention read, but speaking Spanish is and has always been a nightmare for me - I simply can't stop thinking in English. Please give me any advice that you have that will help my language acquistion.

How long did it take you to learn Spanish? Do you read foreign language newspapers everyday, or do you just have an "ear" for foreign languages, and have you been to Spain.

I have an IQ of 136 and I am starting to get frustrated after studying the lanugage for 3 semesters. All of my friends know one or two foreign languages (not including English) and I feel left out when I hang out with them.
ZhongGuoRen   Tue Jan 09, 2007 4:41 am GMT
Reality,
<(Population in Swtizerland, Germany, and Austria is declining (or will decline) >
<(population is in drastic decilne) >
<(population in all LA countries is increasing dramatically>


I don't care much about population declining phenomenon in German, Italian, and their related countries. And I don't care much about how developable and potential Spain and Latin America will be in the future.
I just concern about which language I like best, which language will be of some help for my work or life, and which country always has hand-in-hand relationship with China's development and with Chinese people, in many respects. It's the most important thing for me, instead of whether Hispanic Population would be on the increase or decline. Population is NOT a vital and crucial element. Thanks!
ZhongGuoRen   Tue Jan 09, 2007 5:16 am GMT
From 1974 till now, for 33 years in series, Germany has always held the status of being the most important trading partner of CHINA. Then Italy and France trod on the heels of Germany, on the aspects of Economy, Culture, Science & Technology, and frequent Civilian Communication with Chinese people. And in China, we have Germany style buildings, Italy style and French style, of course, also many England ones, but almost few Spanish buildings or culture. Frankly speaking, in China, few Spanish companies or organizations can be chose to work in by our Chinese people. It's really a pity for those who want to study Spanish very hard.
Libelle Reiher   Tue Jan 09, 2007 5:29 am GMT
I have a degree in German and French and chose German as my main language. If you are going for prestige, go for German or French. If you plan to go to graduate school for advanced degrees or plan to go into the fields of science, psychology, art, engineering, architecture, or economics/business, German is best. German and French are usually required for graduate study in the humanities and social sciences in the United States. I took business German and found it VERY useful. There are even MBA programs in America with a dual degree in German and Business. All these people on the Spanish bandwagon unfortunately don't know that Germany is THE economic powerhouse of the European Union. If you know The Big Three of English, German, and French, you can consider yourself educated in Western culture and can get around ANYWHERE in Europe. I recommend taking German first since you know English and then take French later if you have time. At least you seem well aware of the importance of Germany in the world arena of economics. Spanish is good if you live in New Mexico or some other Southwestern state in the U.S. and want to go into fields such as public health, corrections, social work, etc. Economics, business, academia, medicine, etc., would call for German, French, or even Latin. Hope this helps.