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German language FAQ
Question. How difficult is it for an English-speaker to learn German?
English and German have both developed from the Germanic group of Indo-European languages, sharing the same common ancestor some two or three thousand years ago. Fortunately, despite the passage of time there are still close and obvious similarities between many common words such as, for example, the names of family members, 'Bruder' and 'brother', 'Mutter' and 'mother', 'Vater' and 'father', 'Schwester' and 'sister.
Question: How hard is it for an English-speaker to pronounce German?
The English-speaker has a great advantage in this respect. Similarities in stress and intonation make it easier for an English-speaker to produce passable pronunciation at a relatively early stage. Nevertheless, it is important to listen to native German speakers when learning German. All the audio in Linguata, our German language software is recorded by native speakers.
Question: What are the main difficulties of learning German?
Whereas English dropped much of its grammar in the form of verb endings and noun cases in the course of its development, German has retained a great deal. Consequently those who wish to become fluent in German have to master a great deal of grammar. However people whose main aim in taking up the German language is to achieve a practical level of communication and politeness will not find grammatical issues a significant problem, and we would recommend our software Linguata as an ideal way to start learning German fast.
Question: What is the best way to increase my German vocabulary?
A good way to increase your German vocabulary is to start with words that are easy to remember, either because they sound like English or because they have been borrowed from English. The Linguata program provides a good basic starting vocabulary. If you have a specialized interest you will almost certainly find that many technical words are substantially the same. In computing for instance German has not struggled to create its own versions of common terms so you will find words such as 'der Computer', 'der PC', 'das Laptop', 'die Hardware', 'die Software' and 'die DVD'. This makes it easier coping with less obvious renderings such as 'die Sicherheitskopie' (back-up copy), 'das Fenster' (window), and 'das Textverarbeitung' (word-processing).
Question: What is a German compound noun?
German lends itself readily, enthusiastically even, to the formation of big words from smaller words. So a pedestrian is a Fußgänger, a 'foot-goer'; a crossing is an Überweg, an 'across-way'; and a pedestrian crossing is a Fußgängerüberweg. If this is borne in mind, unfamiliar nouns can often be translated by splitting them into their components: for example, Handschuh, perplexing at first sight, separates into the words for 'hand' and 'shoe', i.e. 'glove'.
