German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol, the German-speaking Community of Belgium, and Liechtenstein.
German is the second most-spoken language on the continent of Europe. However, when it comes to native speakers, German is number one. I'm fed up with the myth that German is hard to learn for English speakers. Plus, some German learners get flustered by the absurdly long words, and unusual grammar structure.
However, I don't believe that any language is harder to learn than another.Worldwide, around 120 million people speak some form of German as their first language. German is easier for a native English speaker to learn than many people realize.
Not surprisingly, English and German share thousands of cognates â?? words that sound the same and have the same meanings. One 3-hour German course per week for 8 weeks, plus a weekly homework assignment (1 hour), plus independent practice of any type (2 hours). Three courses per year. You will need between 25-30 courses. With three courses per year, it may take you between 8.3 to 10 years to reach an intermediate level.
German and English are similar. Many words in German sound and/or look the same as equivalent English words, because the two languages share the same â??grandparent.â?? For example, look at these words:
Haus = house, Buch = book, Finger = finger, Hand = hand,
Name = name, Mutter = mother, schwimmen = swim
singen = to sing, kommen = to come, blau = blue, alt = old
windig = windy.