15 Ways to Say Goodbye in German
Every ‘hallo’ ends with a ‘tschüss’.
Is German Really Hard to Learn?
It’s not as hard as many would think. German is easier to learn than its reputation suggests thanks to consistent pronunciation.
Simple answer: No.
The internet loves to paint German as a linguistic nightmare. Memes showcase impossibly long words, videos exaggerate harsh pronunciations, and language forums overflow with horror stories about German grammar. But here’s what the data actually tells us: over 60 million people worldwide have successfully learned German as a second language.
Considering that German is the 12th most spoken language worldwide with 135 million speakers (out of which only ~75 million are native), do you still believe the speculation? It’s important to find out what to really expect if you want to study German. So let’s find out: is German hard to learn? We’ll give an honest answer.
Like people, languages are very different but also sometimes similar. This doesn’t mean you can’t be friends. Read on to discover a fair evaluation of the complexity of the German language. If Deutsch is as hard as they say, we will reveal a safe method to make it easy.
Why is German considered hard to learn?
We can all probably agree that German has a bad reputation for being one of the hardest languages to learn. Society, entertainment, and memes in particular, always seem to maintain and even solidify our prejudices about the German language. The two most popular justifications are its neverending long words and their harsh pronunciation. Over the course of history, we had and still have a lot of preconceptions, but this one is particularly hard to break. So let’s shatter all the myths right here, right now.
1. German is impossible to pronounce
Reality check: German pronunciation follows consistent rules that make it more predictable than English.
You’ll probably be surprised to find out that German is actually easy to pronounce compared to a lot of other languages. In fact, it is one of the few languages where pronunciation makes sense. Most of the time, each letter sounds the same regardless of its place inside a word. For example, unlike German, English seems to have no rule whatsoever.
So rest assured, German pronunciation doesn’t really require twisting your tongue like a pretzel.
Verdict: false assumption.
2. German words are neverending
Or so they seem. The German language is famous for having some of the longest words in the world. But did you know that these words are, in fact, compounds? This means that German puts different words together to create a new word. In turn, English uses spaces or hyphens to make everything much easier to read. German, unfortunately, spells everything together. For example, rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz (63 letters) means “law delegating beef label monitoring”.
However, there’s an easy trick to overcome this problem. All you have to do is to mentally separate the awfully long word into smaller bits. The more short German words you know, the more long German words you’ll master. Easy as that!
Verdict: true assumption, but not as scary as it seems.
3. Multiple genders AND formal vs. informal language
Everyone who doesn’t speak English as a first language will probably groan at this one. The German language has three genders: feminine, masculine and neuter. But so do almost all the other languages. English just got lucky.
The same situation is true of formal vs. informal. German uses two forms for ‘you’:
- formal Sie when addressing strangers, coworkers, etc.,
- informal Du when addressing friends and family.
Then take Spanish, for example, which uses the word usted for informal interactions. If English doesn’t have it, it doesn’t mean it is hard to learn. Wouldn’t you agree?
Verdict: true assumption, but not as scary as it seems.
4. German grammar is too hard to learn
It’s true that German grammar is a bit more complex, but German is a very logical language. Once you will understand the basics, you’ll have no problem going forward with the rest of the curriculum.
English and German share Germanic roots that create unexpected advantages. Thousands of cognates (similar words) exist between the languages:
For example:
- Haus (house)
- Wasser (water)
- Finger (finger)
- Winter (winter)
- Arm (arm)
Doesn’t this sound familiar?
Verdict: false assumption.
The Real Numbers Behind German Learning
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Total German speakers worldwide | Approximately 130 million |
| Native speakers | Around 76 million |
| Second language speakers | Over 54 million |
| Countries where German is official | 6 (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, Liechtenstein) |
| Global language ranking | 12th most spoken language |
Is German hard to learn?
Compared to the very popular Romance language Spanish and French, German is regarded as hard to learn. But in truth, German is actually easier to learn than a lot of other languages.
The answer truly lies somewhere in between. While it is closely related to English because they both belong to the West Germanic group of the Indo-European language family, German is not necessarily easy to learn. It’s much easier for an English speaker to learn the Romance languages or other Germanic languages such as Afrikaans, Danish, or Dutch than to study German.
However, according to the FSI (Foreign Service Institute) of the US government, which ranks languages in terms of difficulty, German is a tier II language. Considering that there are five tiers in total, with tier V including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean, tier II doesn’t seem so daunting. This indicates that German is not hard to learn after all.
How long does it take to study German?
According to the FSI (Foreign Service Institute) of the US government, an English speaker would need about 750 class hours or 30 weeks of practice to become fluent in German. Of course, this is not 100% accurate for every individual. Some people have a knack for learning languages, and others don’t. It all depends on your determination and passion for the task at hand.
Moreover, your progress can also be influenced by the learning method you’re using. While dry memorization techniques used to be the norm until a few years ago, nowadays learning German can be much more enjoyable.
Beyond the Myths: The Real German Learning Experience
German challenges learners in specific ways while offering unexpected advantages. The case system requires attention but provides precision. Compound words seem overwhelming but follow logical patterns. Pronunciation appears harsh but operates consistently.
The truth about German difficulty: It demands more initial effort than Romance languages but rewards learners with systematic logic and rich cultural access. The internet’s horror stories reflect outdated learning methods and selective examples rather than typical learning experiences.
Most importantly, millions of people prove German’s learnability daily. They didn’t possess special talents or unlimited time. They applied consistent effort using effective methods while maintaining realistic expectations.
Hallo!