German or Spanish as a foreign language

[poiuyt]

Scary mum saved caustic reply to my post only or just having a bad day; ha ha ha ha

[Sally-Anne]

If you want the soft option, given that she is already doing French, then it has to be Spanish.

If she is talented at languages, go for German to broaden her range. It opens up much of the "other half of Europe" linguistically. (Barring Hungarian and Finnish, if I recall correctly.)

I have spent quite a few weekends in Amsterdam visiting a friend and I can practically converse in Dutch by the end of each visit, simply by deriving words and phrases from German.

As for Swedish, I recall a post-graduate student telling me, when I was panicking before my Swedish finals: "Just think of the German word and make it look Swedish"! As I picked up a 2:1 in Swedish, against all the odds, there does seem to be something in that!

[dani*]

Don't forget that German is also spoken in Austria and Switzerland, both strong economies.

Swiss German is nothing like German. German is probably closer to Dutch/Flemish.

In terms of grammar, I would go for Latin instead. Imho the best basis for anyone interested in languages.

[bondgirl]

Hoch Deutsch will be understood in Switzerland and written Swiss German is also hoch Deutsch. However, as you say, spoken Swiss German is a different matter altogether and people from neighbouring villages in some of the valleys don't even understood each other. There's no hope for the rest of us!!

[Fran17]

My middle DS is studying French and Spanish to GCSE and has decided to study Spanish to A level because he loves it.

I am sure your DD can't go wrong with either of her choices.

[Amber]

Don't forget that German is also spoken in Austria and Switzerland, both strong economies.

Swiss German is nothing like German. German is probably closer to Dutch/Flemish.

Beg to disagree with that. Written Swiss German is identical to German German and Austrian German. It is just Hochdeutsch - a bit like what we call 'the Queen's English' . Dutch is a totally different language and to read it in any depth you need to have studied Dutch. In terms of spoken dialect it does depend on which part of Germany/Austria/Switzerland you are in - just like the UK there are accents and even distinct words. In northern Germany then yes possibly the 'Plattdeutsch' would be on the face of it similar to Dutch, whereas the Bavarian accent in the south sounds very similar to what is spoken in Austria. It's a bit like comparing Geordie with Cornwall. But speaking the 'official version' would get you understood, even if you might not understand what people said to you!

I agree that Latin is a fantastic language; but the choice here is between Spanish and German.

Edited to add: just saw your post Bondgirl. Agree.

[dani*]

I'm fluent in German, we have an auntie in Zurich. As soon as you get out of the large towns German is about as useful as English. The Swiss understand high German but they also understand English.

[Sally-Anne]

Swiss German is nothing like German.

It is - just about - as long as you speak very, very fluent German! All Swiss (apart from the occasional cow-herder) are perfectly capable of speaking "high German" if they choose to. It is considered rude to talk Swiss German in non-Swiss company, although I have had to put with it quite a few times!

[Amber]

I'm fluent in German, we have an auntie in Zurich. As soon as you get out of the large towns German is about as useful as English. The Swiss understand high German but they also understand English.

I am also fluent in German, but have little experience of Switzerland, I admit. However, I lived in Bavaria for a while, where there is a very thick and distinctive way of speaking, and my German was easily understood, while I got used to the local accent/dialect pretty quickly. Maybe a bit like Swedish and Norwegian, Sally-Anne ? I can understand the latter and speak back in Swedish which they usually 'get', or at least pretend to.

Personally I think it's all a bit academic as GCSE German is unlikely to equip a student to do anything but the basics, as indeed GCSE Spanish would. I think a choice of GCSE should not really be made on the basis of what is likely to be 'useful' in the travel sense because the reality is that none of them would be! You need to get a little higher for that IMHO.

[sherry_d]

Can't she just choose the subject that interest her in many ways.

If you do go on holiday abroad, what sort of countries do you like visiting as a family? I think it will be much more interesting and useful studying a language she is remotely interested in perhaps in terms of culture etc. People are biased in their views of what languages. In my own world I wouldn't even think about German because of my very own personal biased reasons