German or Spanish as a foreign language

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nada
Posts: 46
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2009 5:06 pm
Location: Kingston upon Thames

German or Spanish as a foreign language

Post by nada »

My DD has to choose between German and Spanish to start learning next year - Y8. Would love to hear your opinion - which one would you choose? I don't speak neither of them and have been hardly thinking about advantages of one overy the other. Thank you.
DenDe
Posts: 390
Joined: Wed Jul 07, 2010 1:45 pm

Re: German or Spanish as a foreign language

Post by DenDe »

GERMAN!

I don't have any experience with Spanish but DS hates French (Which has a similar root to Spanish I believe) whereas DD loves German and does very well in it.

Not a very logical preference I suppose. Perhaps DS will hate German too when he starts it next year. :?
nada
Posts: 46
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2009 5:06 pm
Location: Kingston upon Thames

Re: German or Spanish as a foreign language

Post by nada »

Thanks for your suggestion. Forgot to say DD is learning Freanch and she likes it. She is also very talented with languages.
scary mum
Posts: 8841
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:45 pm

Re: German or Spanish as a foreign language

Post by scary mum »

I would say that Spanish "goes" better. DD did French (randomly assigned to French or Spanish year 7) and then was allowed to add German in year 8 as she was in the top set for French and she hated German. DS is doing French and Spanish, but enjoys Spanish the most. However, if she is talented at languages, perhaps it would be good to have two different types of language?
scary mum
dani*
Posts: 298
Joined: Thu Apr 03, 2008 1:40 pm

Re: German or Spanish as a foreign language

Post by dani* »

Spanish is a lot easier than French or German and is spoken in a lot of different countries. German is great if you like Germany but that is as good as it gets.
Y
Posts: 463
Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:49 pm

Re: German or Spanish as a foreign language

Post by Y »

German is an inflected language - that is, it does a lot of changing of word endings, in a way we do little of in English. I remember sitting with a girl pre-O-level, trying to help her through the German case system, and she was defeated by it. I hated it so much that I gave it up German after O-level. Spanish, is indeed, much nearer to French, and that can create a problem with mixing up words from the two languages. Rather less likely with German. If you travel to Spain, you'll get to practise your Spanish, but the Germans are more likely to want to practise their (brilliant) English on you. If your DD likes to speak languages, she may get more satisfaction with Spanish than German (cheaper (?) to visit on package holidays!) In my small experience with Spanish, the Spaniards were really accommodating to foreigners trying to speak their language (as are the Italians, even if you accidentally mix up your Spanish and Italian!) Can your DD spend some time talking to older students studying the languages? It's very difficult to make a choice without any experience.
poiuyt
Posts: 317
Joined: Mon Oct 10, 2011 12:35 pm
Location: England

Re: German or Spanish as a foreign language

Post by poiuyt »

German everytime, Spanish economy is dead. Also consider Hindi and/or chinese, power houses in world economy. Europe is dead apart from German
mike1880
Posts: 2563
Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2008 10:51 pm

Re: German or Spanish as a foreign language

Post by mike1880 »

If she's already doing French she'll find Spanish a lot easier I think, there are some similarities.

Mike
menagerie
Posts: 577
Joined: Thu May 26, 2011 9:37 pm

Re: German or Spanish as a foreign language

Post by menagerie »

I think I'd go for Spanish as it is now as widely spoken in the States as English. And it is so beautiful to listen to.
But German grammar is superb at helping us unpick English grammar. It makes you a precise, clear thinker.
(I learned German at school - Spanish wasn't an option.)
nada
Posts: 46
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2009 5:06 pm
Location: Kingston upon Thames

Re: German or Spanish as a foreign language

Post by nada »

Even though both languages have rich culture, Spanish is associated more with warm climate, hot temperament and fun whereas German goes with seriousness and business.
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