Laguage Course Abroad

[dianne]

I’ve just come back from a holiday which involved observing an English course Canada and really had a great time! Though English, and so clearly not needing an English course from a language learning perspective, given the fact I want to teach English as a foreign language (ideally being applying to be one of the EFL home tutors, it was really useful for me to be able to watch my cousin (my teaching inspiration!) in action – it gave me a good idea what to expect for when I finally qualify. It’s not just the English language that interests me though…and this is where I need your help…

I am interested in learning either Spanish or German and was wondering which would come in most useful, which would be easier to learn and which would help me in my career most. I will have the chance to take a 3 month language course abroad and so think I should be able to learn a decent level of either (I’m certainly willing to apply myself!). I realize German is probably more useful for industry and business but I suppose one has to consider that more German speak English than Spanish people do. And by learning Spanish, the whole of South America would open up to me too. I could always do a sprachkurs Sevilla – learning Spanish with German people in Spain in class and learning German my interacting with my German class mates out of class but I really do fell tat would be too much!

Please, if there’s any one who has learn and knows the relative difficulties of the languages then your advice would be more than welcome!

[dianne]

I'm from Philippines...

[dianne]

am open for your suggestion...from your country...

[vivek16]

Hrm...

You may be in the wrong forum... This is (debatably) a robotics forum.

There might be someone in here that might be able to help you out though.

thanks, Vivek

[kulisb]

Dianne,

I've actually had a bit of experience with both German and Spanish. I began learning basic Spanish in 3rd grade, and continued it all the way through high school. However, when looking into college, I decided to enroll in an International Engineering Program with German as the language instead of Spanish, to try something new. I took 3 years of German courses in college, and am now spending my 4th year studying abroad and interning in Germany. I've been here for about 9 months now, and have 3 more to go.

As far as which language is easier to learn, I felt as though Spanish was much easier to pick up. Even still, after 4 years of not speaking it, I've forgotten nearly everything. German has been a bit more difficult for me due to the difference in sentence structure and all of the adjective endings and the such. There's a whole lot to think about! But, if you put in the effort, it's more than doable.

Even though German has been tougher to learn, I actually like it a lot more. There are so many options if you are looking for a German engineering job or internship. As an added bonus, Germany is an awesome country, and a beautiful place to spend some time. I would definately recommend it!

As you mentioned, since being here, I've seen that most of the young German people can speak English. Nearly all of the college-aged students speak almost perfect english. But, With the older generations, that is not usually the case. German also comes in handy in other countries. While the dialect is much different, we had no trouble getting around Austria and Switzerland. Even in the Netherlands we could pick up a lot of words. But, if we were ever really stuck, someone around knew English. I have not been to Spain yet (will soon.....Malaga this weekend!), but many of my friends have. They said that it seemed like far less people in Spain knew English than people in Germany do. So, while Germany may be easy to survive in without German, Spain sounds harder to survive in without Spanish.

It's such a hard choice between the two languages, but I love Germany and would never change my decision.

Good luck with yours!

Brad

[Laura_587]

I don't speak German, but if you already speak a romance language (French, Italian, etc.), Spanish is a lot easier. Most of the verbs are similar, and words are often the same. Just something to keep in mind