German orFrench?

snartie3

2

I'm picking a language for GCSE's but cannot decide which is to pick. German or French?

Thanks in advance

Reply 1

glowanti

14

Frenchhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Spoiler

Reply 2

Ahahabdi

8

French, it is so much easier, like 1000 times easier whereas German has undeniably long words and is filled with confusion. French is also easy to get a high grade or anyways that's what I think.

Reply 3

luciie

14

French is a lot easier :smile:

Reply 4

sue99

10

Original post by snartie3

I'm picking a language for GCSE's but cannot decide which is to pick. German or French?

Thanks in advance

I would definitely say German - I might say French if I had studied it but I didn't so it isn't really fair for me to say anything bias. I'm also taking German at the moment (AS) but unfortunately have to drop it because there's no way I'm going to be able to do 5 A-Levels. I chose German because I absolutely loved the language, more because it was very logical than anything else. According to my brother, French is terrible (he prefers Latin), especially because of the speed of their speech and how hard it is to recognise the individual words. However, you might find you like it. Have you studied either German or French before, in primary school perhaps?

Reply 5

username2088165

20

Which one have you enjoyed/done better in so far (if you've done them already)?

I would suggest German personally, I found it much easier than French as the German words were similar to English a lot of the time, which made it easier to understand and remember :smile:

Reply 6

Dapperblook22

8

Original post by snartie3

I'm picking a language for GCSE's but cannot decide which is to pick. German or French?

Thanks in advance

I personally found German much much easier than French. I hated all of the rules you had to learn, and found German rules easier. I took AQA GCSE German and got an A*, but take which ever one you enjoy more :smile:

Reply 7

snartie3

OP

2

Original post by caitlinford3

Frenchhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Spoiler

Original post by one_man_abdullah

French, it is so much easier, like 1000 times easier whereas German has undeniably long words and is filled with confusion. French is also easy to get a high grade or anyways that's what I think.

Original post by luciie

French is a lot easier :smile:

Original post by sue99

I would definitely say German - I might say French if I had studied it but I didn't so it isn't really fair for me to say anything bias. I'm also taking German at the moment (AS) but unfortunately have to drop it because there's no way I'm going to be able to do 5 A-Levels. I chose German because I absolutely loved the language, more because it was very logical than anything else. According to my brother, French is terrible (he prefers Latin), especially because of the speed of their speech and how hard it is to recognise the individual words. However, you might find you like it. Have you studied either German or French before, in primary school perhaps?

Original post by Leviathan1741

Which one have you enjoyed/done better in so far (if you've done them already)?

I would suggest German personally, I found it much easier than French as the German words were similar to English a lot of the time, which made it easier to understand and remember :smile:

Original post by Dapperblook22

I personally found German much much easier than French. I hated all of the rules you had to learn, and found German rules easier. I took AQA GCSE German and got an A*, but take which ever one you enjoy more :smile:

Thanks

Reply 8

Asolare

20

- Which one have you been doing the best in so far?
- Which of those do you personally prefer?
- Would you struggle more with a) pronunciation & spelling or b) grammar? - German grammar tends to be more difficult whereas French is more difficult in terms of pronunciation, spelling and verb conjugation.

It's true that German is a germanic language and thus in the same language family as English, but English has had a lot of influence from French and thus you will be able to identify similar words in both of these languages.

It's ultimately your choice. I prefer German more and a lot of people in this thread prefer French more, but you must decide for yourself :smile:

Reply 9

mk_cbc

13

well I do french and its going well so yeah, im being one-sided as i dont do german but loads of people say french is easier to learn.

Reply 10

gapyear2018

18

German is much better and easier

Reply 11

snartie3

OP

2

Original post by Inexorably

- Which one have you been doing the best in so far?
- Which of those do you personally prefer?
- Would you struggle more with a) pronunciation & spelling or b) grammar? - German grammar tends to be more difficult whereas French is more difficult in terms of pronunciation, spelling and verb conjugation.

It's true that German is a germanic language and thus in the same language family as English, but English has had a lot of influence from French and thus you will be able to identify similar words in both of these languages.

It's ultimately your choice. I prefer German more and a lot of people in this thread prefer French more, but you must decide for yourself :smile:

I think I find German easier but prefer both. However, I would like to do only one language for GCSE.

Reply 12

snartie3

OP

2

Original post by mk_cbc

well I do french and its going well so yeah, im being one-sided as i dont do german but loads of people say french is easier to learn.

Thanks

Reply 13

lostintrnslation

12

I do both French and German at GCSE, so here's what I think.
In terms of grammar, French is easier because there isn't as much to learn. In German, there are quite a lot of rules, but they are all very logical and they are not difficult to understand as long as you keep the basic structure in mind (time-manner-place, the verb is always the second idea etc).
As German grammar is harder, it will be much easier to score higher marks in your controlled assessments. If your work is accurate and complex, you're pretty much guaranteed an A/A* because a lot of German grammar is considered complex. French grammar isn't as hard so you can't just throw in high-level phrases to boost your grade. Your French would have to be incredibly accurate and varied, with a lot of detail, to score the highest marks for content and range of language.
German speaking is also a lot easier. If you can pronounce ich, you'll probably get 5/5 for pronunciation. For French, there are a lot of pronunication rules that you will have to master to get 5/5. The accent is also much more important in French than it is in German.
French reading is easier as there are a lot of cognates, although reading is fine in any language if you learn your vocab properly.
French listening is probably the hardest part of French GCSE. A lot of French words are cognates when written down, but when spoken, they're not. The recordings are also just harder to understand because French people speak a lot faster and have thicker accents. German listening is fine because everything is pronounced how it is spelt.
Overall, I would say that German is easier at GCSE level, even though the grammar may be hard to understand. If you understand grammar concepts easily, German is definitely the language to choose as it would be very easy to achieve the top grades. However, how easy a language is is only part of the discussion - choose a language that you feel passionately about. If you love French, pick French, and vice versa. Enthusiasm and a willingness to work hard will get you a long way when studying a foreign language. Or pick both! As I said before, I do both now (I'm in Year 11) and it's not actually that difficult. Studying one language gives you the exam techniques needed to do well in the other language, which gives you an advantage.
I hope I could help :smile:

Reply 14

niamhdoesmaths

21

I'd say German is easier (might be biased though :tongue:

) the grammar is harder but once you learn the rules it just becomes second nature and you don't really have to think about it. The vocab is really easy to learn - loads of cognates :biggrin:

. In terms of the exams for it, the listenings are really easy as its very easy to distinguish between the words (which my friends tell me it's hard in French) and most words sound unique to each other so it's hard to muddle them. The readings are harder I find, as the passages that they give you usually have some complex structures thrown in there, but it's still not hard to get a good grade. Controlled assessment is easy - as long as you can get your ch sound right you're guaranteed a good mark for pronunciation.
But this does come from no experience of GCSE French, I wish I'd picked both languages of I'm honest - I love German :smile:

Reply 15

ImagineCats

19

I did French and German GCSE!

The content for both is exactly the same, and easiness of a language as mentioned above is controversial. In your case I really reccommend looking into the cultural differences of the languages, so look into school systems and celebrations over there. I found I was more interested in the German way of life than French, so I worked harder and learnt things easier in German. I personally found German way easier, as if you know word order rules you can slam anything together- plus (independent article on this) German is ranked 1st for business language. I thought it would've been mandarin or another hardcore language but hey ho

If you need any more help feel free to ask! :h:

Original post by snartie3

I'm picking a language for GCSE's but cannot decide which is to pick. German or French?

Thanks in advance

Reply 16

username2355189

16

DON'T LISTEN TO THESE DIPWADS WITH THEIR OUI OUI MON AMI JEM APPELES FRANCOIS!

German is bloody amazing, and it's NOT hard. Quit your babbling you Frenchies, and yeah, I'm talking to you who's a Frenchie who's reading this. We don't need your little posh Que Lage a tu shizz here, so back off and let us sophisticated Germans speak sense to this confused child. Learn the vocab, and your home free. Deutsch ist VERY EASY!

Get a revision book that explains the grammar, download all the vocab sheets from your exam board's website, and your set.

Reply 17

Tcannon

18

German. I did French and German for GCSE. German is a precise language and I prefer German in key categories: writing, reading, listening comprehension and speaking.

Reply 18

ellsholliver

Honestly, it is just personal preference. You have to choose the language and culture that you personally prefer learning, as this will give you the motivation to become fluent and travel that country and the appreciation of the language and culture. Learning any foreign language will be difficult, there is no 'easy' option especially at A-level, and there will be difficult bits of both German and French! So just think about what would be best for you :smile:

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Reply 19

Sunethra

6

Original post by snartie3

I'm picking a language for GCSE's but cannot decide which is to pick. German or French?

Thanks in advance

German is a lot easier. I did French for an year and then I wanted to try smething new out so I joined German. Its so great I find it easier than French.

German orFrench?

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