Should I study portuguese, spanish or german?

Next autumn I'll begin my Chinese with International Relations course and I was thinking of also starting a new language.

I was thinking either spanish or portuguese as they are romance languages like my native language and therefore I'd thought they'd be easier to learn. Another option would be german but I already tried learning it once and while the grammar was manageable the vocabulary was really though.

What do you think? What are your experiences with these languages?

Reply 1

Everglow

I think Spanish would be your best option. Chinese Mandarin and Spanish are the two most spoken languages in the world, so it would be awesome being able to speak both and your employability would be excellent. It's also a great advantage that Spanish, as a romance language, is similar to your native language.

Reply 2

JazAna

Well I'd reccomend German because once you "get" the language it's all the same principe and it's not hard at all. Personly I love German though I disliked it when I was younger. And if you speak English you should have no problem with German :smile:

Reply 3

Yemiisii

German is very easy. I did it for 3 years loved it! Defo wanna pick it up again. but not many people speak it.
Spanish Is one of the most spoken languages so if I was you I would pick that.

Reply 4

JazAna

Well on the other hand Germany is an important country, you should consider German if you want to work in a field related ...

Reply 5

xmarilynx

Original post by Yemiisii

German is very easy. I did it for 3 years loved it! Defo wanna pick it up again. but not many people speak it.
Spanish Is one of the most spoken languages so if I was you I would pick that.

It's the most widely spoken language in Europe :curious:

Reply 6

Yemiisii

Original post by xmarilynx

It's the most widely spoken language in Europe :curious:

Really? Never knew that

Reply 7

xmarilynx

Original post by Yemiisii

Really? Never knew that

So don't let lack of native speakers put you off if you enjoyed German before :smile:

Reply 8

stewarte

I speak German and Spanish:

German is really hard to begin with (the grammar). When you get into it, you'll find out that it's a very logical language and once you understand it, it soon becomes very easy. It's very useful considering it's the native language of Germany (an economic powerhouse), Austria & Switzerland. The vocabulary can be tricky, but I find German a rewarding language to learn. Not many people opt to choose German to learn in comparison with the likes of French or Spanish, however. I would definitely recommend German, but you do need to be committed to learning it.

Spanish is easy in my opinion, in comparison with German. A lot of people do choose to learn the language and so it's very useful. I'm nearly sure the language has the second most native speakers (after Mandarin Chinese and before English). The grammar should be no problem for you, but I personally prefer German since it's more of a challenge.

I have never tried to learn Portuguese so I can't speak for it.

Choose German!

Reply 9

shedtheworld

I wouldn't let the number of people speaking the language influence your decision too much, or how 'hard' the language supposedly is. The important thing is your interest in the language and culture, since you will be dedicating hours upon hours of time studying it. It will be easier to study a language that you really enjoy, as opposed to one you have less enthusiasm towards.

I'm not sure what the fixation people have on how many people speak the language is about. Either of these three languages can provide good career opportunities, it's asinine to bring 'well, A language has X amount more speakers than B language' into the equation. I understand you're thinking about the practicality of the language for the future, but a command of any of these languages would be extremely beneficial. Figure out which one resonates with you the most and go for it.

Reply 10

Hitomi777

I know both Spanish and German (I'm Polish).
When you look at the number of people speaking it, Spanish is better (Spain, all South America- apart from Brazil- are spanish speaking countries). However, German speaking countries have better economics and standards of living (if you wish to work there).

If you look at the language... It's hard to say- German has harder accent than Spanish, but its grammar is much more easier. Spanish has a lot of exceptions, and the frequently used"Subjuntivo" is just freaked out- but its vocabulary is similar to English.

Reply 11

felipe87

I'm Brazilian and I think Portuguese and Spanish are similar. They are few differences! Both have several exceptions, like the Hitomi777 said.
But, the difference to english is logical, interferes in thinking:

en: database management system
es: sistemas gestores de bases de datos
pt: sistema de gerenciamento de banco de dados

Note through similarity that there is inversion of words:

en: moving objects traveling through geographical space.
es: objetos móviles viajan a través del espacio geográfico.
pt: objetos móveis viajam através do espaço geográfico.

Additionally, we have accents!

Even being my native language (Brazilian Portuguese) I do not recommend it. Spanish is more popular than the Portuguese. If you learn spanish you can communicate with someone who speaks Portuguese. The opposite is true too.

:smile:

(edited 9 years ago)