The hardest language for a native english speaker : German or Spanish?

[Boost]

I know several multilingual posters can hopefully shed some light on the challenges both of these languages present to the average dumb American/Brit/Aussie whose foreign language abilities are limited.

[Donny]

German is OK ... spanish don´t know....

[Kilo Medic]

Spanish is fairly similar to English, sharing many words. 

[calfzilla]

Spanish is fairly similar to English, sharing many words. 

This.

[galain]

Of the two I think Spanish is easier. German is where a lot of English vocab comes from, but the grammar is very complicated.

I think the foreign service put out a list of languages that rated the main ones in terms of time it took to become comfortable speaking them, and for English speakers I think it was Korean that topped out as the hardest to learn.

[calfzilla]

I've studied Spanish and Arabic. Spanish was pretty easy but challenging. Arabic is difficult because its a whole different alphabet. I want to continue studying Arabic and also learn some Italian. Really like the way Italian sounds.

[Irongrip400]

I took private German lessons for ten weeks(had a baby, so it's been put on hold) and while there were a lot of similarities with sentence structure and cognates, it is still difficult. I had hoped to learn enough to be able to converse a bit by this Christmas when I go back, but I think that's very far fetched at this point. I have no Spanish, but had three years of French, but that didn't seem any easier really. At least with German, the letters are pronounced, no real "silent" ones like in french(ie c'est).

[_bruce_]

German is a bitch - lots of practice is needed.
It never sounds as relaxed or smooth as English but in areas like theater and drama German is the bomb.

[Parker]

Spanish tends to be a little easier (and easier on the ears) than German, i would say.

[jon cole]

vocabulary on german is easy and fun
grammar really sucks because of "declinaisons"

[Irongrip400]

German is a bitch - lots of practice is needed.
It never sounds as relaxed or smooth as English but in areas like theater and drama German is the bomb.

What is your native language Bruce?

[dj181]

German is a bitch - lots of practice is needed.
It never sounds as relaxed or smooth as English but in areas like theater and drama German is the bomb.

according to an x-German girlfriend of mine, you austrians are considered hillbillies and inferior to German people

[RRKore]

Not sure which is the toughest language for English speakers but it sure isn't Spanish or German.  Personally, I've found Thai to be ridiculously hard;
I've taken 5 semesters of college German and a year of (nothing but) Russian at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey (I was a Russian voice interceptor, MOS 98G, in the army) so I've always considered myself pretty talented when it comes to languages but trying to learn Thai humbled me.
Holy fuck, tonal languages suuuuuck!  Thai has 5 tones: low, medium, high, rising, and falling.  So you can have a word like "ma" have 5 completely different meanings depending on your tone.  I must say that the grammar is actually pretty simple (especially compared to Russian with its 6 cases) but then, when you try to learn thai's sanskrit-based writing system, it's all bad.  I have at least 10 Thai language instruction books but none explain the writing system clearly enough for me to catch on.  Oh well, guess I don't really need to communicate with my in-laws anyway, right?

[Wiggs]

Not even close. It's German. The sentence structure is often not the same as it is in English. This gives English speakers problems. It's not just the vocab. Once you get it down though, it becomes alot easier.

[calfzilla]

Not sure which is the toughest language for English speakers but it sure isn't Spanish or German.  Personally, I've found Thai to be ridiculously hard;
I've taken 5 semesters of college German and a year of (nothing but) Russian at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey (I was a Russian voice interceptor, MOS 98G, in the army) so I've always considered myself pretty talented when it comes to languages but trying to learn Thai humbled me.
Holy fuck, tonal languages suuuuuck!  Thai has 5 tones: low, medium, high, rising, and falling.  So you can have a word like "ma" have 5 completely different meanings depending on your tone.  I must say that the grammar is actually pretty simple (especially compared to Russian with its 6 cases) but then, when you try to learn thai's sanskrit-based writing system, it's all bad.  I have at least 10 Thai language instruction books but none explain the writing system clearly enough for me to catch on.  Oh well, guess I don't really need to communicate with my in-laws thai ladyboys anyway, right?

Fixed. 

[el numero uno]

I don't know about German but the grammar in Spanish is difficult even for native people. Speaking I don't think it would be that hard for a gringo.

[Borracho]

I don't know about German but the grammar in Spanish is difficult even for native people. Speaking I don't think it would be that hard for a gringo.

German pronunciation may be easier for them though...just sound pissed off all the time.

[Roger Bacon]

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[el numero uno]

German pronunciation may be easier for them though...just sound pissed off all the time.

LOL 

[doison]

Looks like you're fluent in pansy.  I'm sure you can learn whatever language you want at this point

[hardgainerj]

Spanish is fairly similar to English, sharing many words. 

actually there a good quantity of falsefriends words

[galain]

Speak Spanish to God
Italian to women
and German to dogs

I said that to someone here (in Germany) and he just said "Ja - richtig."

Dutch is kinda cool though. It sounds like some English guy got drunk and tried to speak German.

[Donny]

Speak Spanish to God
Italian to women
and German to dogs

I said that to someone here (in Germany) and he just said "Ja - richtig."

Dutch is kinda cool though. It sounds like some English guy got drunk and tried to speak German.

well when i speak German.. a lot of Germans ask if i am Dutch because of my Scottish Accent...

[G_Thang]

88 weeks (2200 class hours)(about half that time preferably spent studying in-country)
Arabic

why, what's the reward vs. the risk for an american?

[Kilo Medic]

actually there a good quantity of falsefriends words

True!