German and Spanish are two of the most widely spoken languages in the world and are both worth learning. This article talks a little bit about both languages and tries to answer the question ‘which is the harder language to learn’?
In terms of worldwide rankings Spanish is the 3rd most spoken language in the world, with an estimated 500 million Spanish speaking people worldwide. Spanish is the dominant language in Central and South America with a significant Spanish speaking population in North America. From its origin in Northern Spain in Europe, the Spanish language has spread through the Americas with the expansion of the Spanish Empire. German is Europe's 2nd most spoken language and the 10th most spoken language in the world with over 185 million German speakers the world over. Both share official working-language status in the European Union and Spanish is also an official language of the United Nations.
Spanish and German both have a similar writing system based on the Roman alphabet. English speakers will be instantly familiar with the A to Z progression of the letters, but both languages have some minor differences with the English alphabet. German has the standard 26 characters found in English with three extra vowels that contain an umlaut (ä, ö and ü) and a sharp-s (ß). The umlaut vowels can also be represented as 'ae', 'oe', and 'ue' while the sharp-s character replaced the 'ss' sounds in some words. Certain dialects of German like Swiss-German don't use the sharp-s character. The Spanish alphabet has 29 characters, most of which are the same as their English counterparts, with a three additions - 'ch',’ll’ and 'ñ'. It may be interesting to note that in Spanish, the letters 'B' and 'V' are pronounced exactly the same and different dialects have special names for these two characters to tell them apart. German nouns can have one of three genders: masculine, feminine and neutral while Spanish nouns can be classified as either masculine or feminine.
As to the question of which language is easier to learn, that is up to the abilities of the individual student. English is actually classified as a Germanic language, deriving its roots from West Germanic languages brought into the British Isles by Germanic settlers and Roman troops from Europe. That being said, many might find mastering German grammar a challenge. Spanish, on the other hand, has a simpler grammar structure and many students find learning Spanish an easier task. Ultimately, there is no definitive answer.
A good place for a quick introduction to both languages would be the Spanish and the German pages at About.com's excellent language education portal. The BBC also has separate sections for Spanish and German at their languages site. Any well stocked library or bookstore should have plenty of books on learning both languages. Pimsleur offers audio cassettes or CDs of their highly regarded language teaching courses for both German and Spanish. There are countless sites on the Internet offering free help and guidance in learning German or Spanish, one merely needs the time and inclination to look for them.
Instead of thinking about which is the harder language to learn, the emphasis should be on the personal goals and aspirations of the individual. Which language interests them more? Which countries would they like to visit in the near future? Which language would benefit them more in their careers or school? As with most things in life, the choice of which language to learn comes down to personal preference.