Printer Friendly

Intricacies of Learning the German Language

German language, like English, is part of the same Indo-European group of languages that includes Latin and Greek languages also. English and German languages are somewhat similar in some words. For example “der Garten” means “garden”; “das Haus” means “house”. This does not mean that it is easy to learn it! German is reputed to be one of the toughest foreign languages to learn. There are vast differences in grammar, word order and verb utilization between German and English. These differences are compounded by a distinctive pronunciation that non-native speakers find it difficult to replicate. This article enunciates some of the pitfalls that a beginner in German language might encounter.

Dialects

The German language is divided into several regional dialects with differences in pronunciation and sometimes, even grammar. Two main groups of dialects occur: Low German and High German, with important variations within these two categories. A standardized German language also occurs across most of Germany and is spoken in major cities and other German-speaking countries. The beginner will probably be focusing on standard German but he should be aware of the existence of these differences.

Genders

Another important language difference from other European languages is that German has three genders instead of two: masculine, feminine and neutral. Every noun is attached with an article indicating its gender, that is, der (masculine), die (feminine) and das (neutral). The beginner has to learn the genders of each noun and attach the right article to it. It is therefore easier to learn each German noun with its article. For example, instead of learning “Garten” (Garden) only, learn “der Garten”.

Cases

There are four types of cases in German: nominative, genitive, dative and accusative. These cases are expressed by inflections in the nouns (that is different endings to nouns and adjectives); for example “-ung”, “-schaft”, “-heit” and “-lein”. Misuse of these cases can lead to much confusion.

Syntax

German syntax (word order) is very different than English. In fact, German is more flexible in the word order used. For instance, the subject is not always at the beginning of the sentence and verbs can be at the very end. The phrase: “the old man gave me the book today” can be translated into any of the following ways:

1. Der alte Mann gibt mir das Buch heute.
2. Der alte Mann gibt mir heute das Buch.
3. Das Buch gibt mir der alte Mann heute.
4. Das Buch gibt der alte Mann heute mir.
5. Das Buch gibt mir heute der alte Mann.
6. Heute gibt mir der alte Mann das Buch.
7. Mir gibt der alte Mann das Buch heute

Because of these complexities, learning German language takes a lot of time. It therefore should not come as a surprise for beginners that it takes more than a few years to fully master the language. Experts recommend that the learning process begin with a lot of passive activities, for example, listening to tapes and reading German-language books and newspapers. When the active phase is started (speech), a lot of practice should be thrown in. The learner should also be consistent in his work, otherwise he/she would tend to forget what he has learned.

From: www.germanphrases.org.uk