Ok, Im fluent in English, I want to study 1 of this Germanic languages, which of this two languages is easy for a English speaker to learn German or Swidish???
2 Germanic Languages...
From what I've read, they're both about equal in terms of which is easier to learn if you already know English. What is your mother tongue? That might help to know which will be easier to learn.
My Mother Tongue is waaay off, LOL, its Spanish... I know Spanish is no where near Any Germanic Language...
Oh, okay, yeah I'd say then it doesn't really matter. My opinion remains that they'll both be equal in difficulty to learn. So then it really depends on what you want to do!
"Ok, Im fluent in English, I want to study 1 of this Germanic languages, which of this two languages is easy for a English speaker to learn German or Swidish???"
Although English and German are more related to each other than English is to Swedish, Swedish will probably be easier for an English speaker to learn since German grammar is rather complex! But regarding vocabulary, English shares more similiarity to German, of course.
The German language is also more useful overall, unless you're planning to work in the Scandinavian countries.
See Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_language
"German is the main language of about 90–95 million people in Europe (as of 2004), or 13.3% of all Europeans, being the second most spoken native language in Europe after Russian, above French (66.5 million speakers in 2004) and English (64.2 million speakers in 2004). German is the third most taught foreign language worldwide, also in the United States (after Spanish and French); it is the second most known foreign language in the EU (after English; see [1]) It is one of the official languages of the European Union, and one of the three working languages of the European Commission, along with English and French.
According to Global Reach (2004), 6.9% of the Internet population is German.[3][4] According to Netz-tipp (2002), 7.7% of webpages are written in German[5], making it second only to English. They also report that 12% of Google's users use its German interface[5].
Older statistics: Babel (1998) found somewhat similar demographics.[6] FUNREDES[7] (1998) and Vilaweb[8] (2000) both found that German is the third most popular language used by websites, after English and Japanese."
Besides, German would be a good intermediary between the West and North Germanic languages: North Germanic languages have similar vocabulary to German, just like Dutch (a West germanic lang.) which furthermore resembles German in its grammar!
Although English and German are more related to each other than English is to Swedish, Swedish will probably be easier for an English speaker to learn since German grammar is rather complex! But regarding vocabulary, English shares more similiarity to German, of course.
The German language is also more useful overall, unless you're planning to work in the Scandinavian countries.
See Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_language
"German is the main language of about 90–95 million people in Europe (as of 2004), or 13.3% of all Europeans, being the second most spoken native language in Europe after Russian, above French (66.5 million speakers in 2004) and English (64.2 million speakers in 2004). German is the third most taught foreign language worldwide, also in the United States (after Spanish and French); it is the second most known foreign language in the EU (after English; see [1]) It is one of the official languages of the European Union, and one of the three working languages of the European Commission, along with English and French.
According to Global Reach (2004), 6.9% of the Internet population is German.[3][4] According to Netz-tipp (2002), 7.7% of webpages are written in German[5], making it second only to English. They also report that 12% of Google's users use its German interface[5].
Older statistics: Babel (1998) found somewhat similar demographics.[6] FUNREDES[7] (1998) and Vilaweb[8] (2000) both found that German is the third most popular language used by websites, after English and Japanese."
Besides, German would be a good intermediary between the West and North Germanic languages: North Germanic languages have similar vocabulary to German, just like Dutch (a West germanic lang.) which furthermore resembles German in its grammar!
"regarding vocabulary, English shares more similiarity to German, of course."
I´m not sure that English vocabulary is closer to German than to Swedish. English has plenty of words with Scandinavian orign.
Otherwise your summary was a good one.
I´m not sure that English vocabulary is closer to German than to Swedish. English has plenty of words with Scandinavian orign.
Otherwise your summary was a good one.
"I´m not sure that English vocabulary is closer to German than to Swedish. English has plenty of words with Scandinavian orign."
True, it has, but the core Germanic vocab of English is of West Germanic origin, thus resembles rather German in this regard.
Furthermore, the influx of Low German words into Swedish is much more remarkable than those English words of Scandinavian origin, which makes Swedish more similar to German. Not to mention the related words Swedish and German possess anyway because of their common Proto-Germanic roots.
I just looked into a Swedish- German internet-dictionary to get some examples: stall - Stall; stam - Stamm; stamp - stampfen; stank - Gestank; stans - Stanze; stapel - Stapel; stark - stark; statlig - staatlich; statsfientlig - staatsfeindlich ...
Though, I don't know if all of the above examples are Swedish words of German origin, or rather ones of common Proto-Germanic origin.
True, it has, but the core Germanic vocab of English is of West Germanic origin, thus resembles rather German in this regard.
Furthermore, the influx of Low German words into Swedish is much more remarkable than those English words of Scandinavian origin, which makes Swedish more similar to German. Not to mention the related words Swedish and German possess anyway because of their common Proto-Germanic roots.
I just looked into a Swedish- German internet-dictionary to get some examples: stall - Stall; stam - Stamm; stamp - stampfen; stank - Gestank; stans - Stanze; stapel - Stapel; stark - stark; statlig - staatlich; statsfientlig - staatsfeindlich ...
Though, I don't know if all of the above examples are Swedish words of German origin, or rather ones of common Proto-Germanic origin.
One note is that German phonology is much closer to English phonology than Swedish phonology. Standard German phonology is not all that different from, say, English English phonology aside that it has rounded front vowels and final devoicing, whereas Standard Swedish has things such as retroflex consonants, tone stress, central rounded vowels (in opposition to both front and back rounded vowels), and the "sje" and "tje" fricatives (which do not really exist as such in English).
Swedish grammar may be easier (maybe much easier) than German. But two features make it more difficult, at least for me.
One is the pronunciation. German (at least Standard German) is fairly clear and straightforward. Swedish is harder to pronounce, and harder to understand.
Second is the orthography. German has one of the most regular spelling systems in the world. If you know the basics, you can correctly pronounce any word (although you may get the stress wrong.) Swedish pronunciation differs from what the spelling indicates.
I've thought about trying Swedish, but have been put off by those two points. (And as Harry indicated, there is a lot more material available for German than Swedish.) Any opinions on those two points from anyone who has studied Swedish (or Norwegian or Danish), or from a native speaker?
P.S. There's a great website for Swedish learners:
http://www.8sidor.se/
It's an online newspaper that's written in easy-to-read Swedish.
There's also one like that for Norwegian.
http://www.klartale.no/
One is the pronunciation. German (at least Standard German) is fairly clear and straightforward. Swedish is harder to pronounce, and harder to understand.
Second is the orthography. German has one of the most regular spelling systems in the world. If you know the basics, you can correctly pronounce any word (although you may get the stress wrong.) Swedish pronunciation differs from what the spelling indicates.
I've thought about trying Swedish, but have been put off by those two points. (And as Harry indicated, there is a lot more material available for German than Swedish.) Any opinions on those two points from anyone who has studied Swedish (or Norwegian or Danish), or from a native speaker?
P.S. There's a great website for Swedish learners:
http://www.8sidor.se/
It's an online newspaper that's written in easy-to-read Swedish.
There's also one like that for Norwegian.
http://www.klartale.no/
Hi Noel,
I am a Spanish speaker, who happened to learn German and Swedish as well. After learning English to a certain degree, I started to learn German. Then I went to work in Sweden for one and a half year and I had the chance to learn Swedish before moving to Germany for one and a half year, so my personal opinion on your question is that if you already speak English and you are aware of the English grammar (because, contrary to many opinions here, English DOES have a well structured grammar as any other language does) and have a good vocabulary, you will find that German vocabulary has a lot in common regarding the written language.
When it comes to the spoken language, this is not the case anymore, because of the phonetic evolution which each of these languages has undergone, although German is more regular and simpler than English; there are less vowels (I mean hereby the different sounds, not the written symbols for vowels).
Now, as for other aspects of grammar, like syntax, declensions, gender and verbal conjugations things change dramatically and you are confronted with a very extensive system of rules for all this stuff, which in English doesn't exist because English is simpler regarding this. Managing these rules is not complicated, but for sure more work to do than in the case of English.
Swedish (Norwegian and Danish too) grammar is very similar to English grammar regarding almost all of the above mentioned aspects. The written language is sort of a midway in between, having a lot of words which resemble their German cousins, but a lot of words which are not present in German but which are similar to their English counterparts. I think this is due to the fact that at the earliest stages of the English language, mostly evolving from the Germanic languages spoken by the Saxons and the Angles coming from what is today's Germany, there was a strong Scandinavian influence from the Vikings, who invaded and settled down in England several times and for long periods and who finally intermarriaged with the Angles, Saxons and Celts who where already living there.
The problem with Swedish is the complex phonetic system, especially the vowels, who present a difference in length but also in quality (or tone... I don't quite find the proper word to explain that) depending on whether the vowel is long or short. This happens with some vowels in English (for instance "i") and German ("e" and " ö"), but in Swedish it happens with the 9 vocalic sounds, which renders 18 sounds....
For us as Spanish speakers, the biggest problem is the phonetics, because our startpoint is the quite simple Spanish phonetics, and our ears are normally not well trained to distinguish some sounds. But training you ears can be achieved with practice, and a lot of patience, of course.
About which one should you choose to learn, it depends on what your aims are. If you are not working at a Swedish company or living there, or engaged to a Swede, you will find more use in learning German, I think.
Since I came back home, I have not had a single chance to speak Swedish to anyone, but I have had many oportunities to speak German now and then. If we put aside practical reasons and let the learning of either for the sake of learning a Germanic language, I would say, any of them has a very interesting side, though German literature is evidently more extensive (which shouldn't necessarily mean "better than" or "more beautiful than" ) than Swedish.
I am a Spanish speaker, who happened to learn German and Swedish as well. After learning English to a certain degree, I started to learn German. Then I went to work in Sweden for one and a half year and I had the chance to learn Swedish before moving to Germany for one and a half year, so my personal opinion on your question is that if you already speak English and you are aware of the English grammar (because, contrary to many opinions here, English DOES have a well structured grammar as any other language does) and have a good vocabulary, you will find that German vocabulary has a lot in common regarding the written language.
When it comes to the spoken language, this is not the case anymore, because of the phonetic evolution which each of these languages has undergone, although German is more regular and simpler than English; there are less vowels (I mean hereby the different sounds, not the written symbols for vowels).
Now, as for other aspects of grammar, like syntax, declensions, gender and verbal conjugations things change dramatically and you are confronted with a very extensive system of rules for all this stuff, which in English doesn't exist because English is simpler regarding this. Managing these rules is not complicated, but for sure more work to do than in the case of English.
Swedish (Norwegian and Danish too) grammar is very similar to English grammar regarding almost all of the above mentioned aspects. The written language is sort of a midway in between, having a lot of words which resemble their German cousins, but a lot of words which are not present in German but which are similar to their English counterparts. I think this is due to the fact that at the earliest stages of the English language, mostly evolving from the Germanic languages spoken by the Saxons and the Angles coming from what is today's Germany, there was a strong Scandinavian influence from the Vikings, who invaded and settled down in England several times and for long periods and who finally intermarriaged with the Angles, Saxons and Celts who where already living there.
The problem with Swedish is the complex phonetic system, especially the vowels, who present a difference in length but also in quality (or tone... I don't quite find the proper word to explain that) depending on whether the vowel is long or short. This happens with some vowels in English (for instance "i") and German ("e" and " ö"), but in Swedish it happens with the 9 vocalic sounds, which renders 18 sounds....
For us as Spanish speakers, the biggest problem is the phonetics, because our startpoint is the quite simple Spanish phonetics, and our ears are normally not well trained to distinguish some sounds. But training you ears can be achieved with practice, and a lot of patience, of course.
About which one should you choose to learn, it depends on what your aims are. If you are not working at a Swedish company or living there, or engaged to a Swede, you will find more use in learning German, I think.
Since I came back home, I have not had a single chance to speak Swedish to anyone, but I have had many oportunities to speak German now and then. If we put aside practical reasons and let the learning of either for the sake of learning a Germanic language, I would say, any of them has a very interesting side, though German literature is evidently more extensive (which shouldn't necessarily mean "better than" or "more beautiful than" ) than Swedish.
Funny thing that you're a Spanish speaker and your name is Arthur... and it's even funnier that you said that you speak English up to a certain level but, I find it to be perfectly well spoken....
Why are you guys so ashamed to say you're United Statians??
Why are you guys so ashamed to say you're United Statians??
Elbarto,
Escribo mi nombre en inglés porque originalmente escribía aquí en Antimoon en listas referentes a idiomas germánicos, esto es, escribía principalmente en alemán, sueco e inglés (Puedes constatarlo revisando la lista "Similarities between Dutch and Danish", julio del año pasado, más o menos). Esto es por costumbre, pues viviendo en estos países la gente prefería llamarme por mi nombre en inglés, no me preguntes por qué, pero para ellos era más fácil.
Ahora, si para que creas en la legitimidad de mi lengua materna y trasfondo cultural tengo que escribirte en español y firmar como "Arturo" y esto te hace más feliz, pues helo aquí.
Por otro lado, gracias por la flor, pero de verdad creo que mi nivel de inglés es intermedio y no avanzado. Esto es lo que quise decir con "to a certain degree".
En cuanto a mi nacionalidad, si quieres creer otra cosa es asunto tuyo, pero, sin implicación alguna (que es bastante desgastante el ataque entre hispanoparlantes y estadounidenses en los últimos días) para ningún bando, no soy estadounidense, es más, en total, he pisado 2 veces ese país en 32 años de vida, sumando 5 días en total.
And now it is up to you if you believe me or not.
Have a nice day.
Escribo mi nombre en inglés porque originalmente escribía aquí en Antimoon en listas referentes a idiomas germánicos, esto es, escribía principalmente en alemán, sueco e inglés (Puedes constatarlo revisando la lista "Similarities between Dutch and Danish", julio del año pasado, más o menos). Esto es por costumbre, pues viviendo en estos países la gente prefería llamarme por mi nombre en inglés, no me preguntes por qué, pero para ellos era más fácil.
Ahora, si para que creas en la legitimidad de mi lengua materna y trasfondo cultural tengo que escribirte en español y firmar como "Arturo" y esto te hace más feliz, pues helo aquí.
Por otro lado, gracias por la flor, pero de verdad creo que mi nivel de inglés es intermedio y no avanzado. Esto es lo que quise decir con "to a certain degree".
En cuanto a mi nacionalidad, si quieres creer otra cosa es asunto tuyo, pero, sin implicación alguna (que es bastante desgastante el ataque entre hispanoparlantes y estadounidenses en los últimos días) para ningún bando, no soy estadounidense, es más, en total, he pisado 2 veces ese país en 32 años de vida, sumando 5 días en total.
And now it is up to you if you believe me or not.
Have a nice day.
How do you know his name isn't really "Arturo" or some other Hispanic name and he isn't just anglicizing it?
Your English really is pretty advanced, you know. There's just one thing that was wrong with it.
"If we put aside practical reasons and let the learning of either for the sake of learning a Germanic language"
Did you just forget to type "be" between "either" and "for"?
"If we put aside practical reasons and let the learning of either for the sake of learning a Germanic language"
Did you just forget to type "be" between "either" and "for"?