German language is a Germanic language, which means it shares an alphabet with most Western languages, including English. German language learning is easy to pronounce and you basically read what you see.
It has been pointed out to me that this “easiness” of pronouncing German Language depends on what your native language is. But in my opinion, for most Europeans, Americans etc. this should not be a problem to learning German language. I am a native speaker of Slavic language and I find it a delight.
Grammar may be tricky. It’s more complicated than English grammar but easier than the Russian. There are rules and there are a lot of exceptions.
- Nouns can be feminine/masculine/neutral. There are some rules to guess the gender (based on word endings, for example), but generally, you have to learn the word with its gender.
Example: “girl” is a neutral gender, so in German language it is called das Mädchen. - 2. Verbs are conjugated pretty much straightforward (with exceptions!). There are fewer tenses than in English, but German Language we have irregular verbs. The verb is positioned on second place in the sentence, but in subordinate sentences (because, that) it comes on the last place, which can be confusing but after learning the concept it is quite easy.
- There are 2 additional verb forms (“moods”) – Konjunktiv I and Konjunktiv II.
Konjunktiv I is used mostly by news anchors, or to retell what someone else has said. This form asserts neutrality, gives a feeling that the person speaking cannot engage with an opinion whether the statement is true or not.
Konjunktiv II is used for extra-polite requests (“kannst du bitte das Fensteröffnen” “könntest du bitte”) or when expressing wishes, dreams etc.
- 4. There are 4 cases (Nominativ, Akkusativ, Dativ, Genitiv) and this is theme where most people experience difficulties. Basically, the definitive/indefinite member of words and adjectives change, based on the gender of the word or I should say articles and the role it plays in the sentence. Example: “A kind boy” in Nominativ would be “ein netter Junge”, but in Dativ would be “einemnettenJungen“.
And the most important thing which I forget to mention is, small changes in sentences what you say can make a huge difference. And in the process of learning there would be more than one occasion where you would be utterly ashamed of yourself.
So how hard is it, actually?
In the beginning, German Language is a challenging language, it’s almost overwhelming, you would need to stop and think really hard what is the proper way to compose the sentence, place the verb, form the conjugation and declension, but it gets easier over time. I promise.