My daughter has less than 2 months to decide whether to learn French or German when she moves to secondary school in September.

She already knows some basic French but no German at all.

I don't know which language would be more beneficial to her in the long run. Once she has chosen she can't change.

When I was at school, I did both for 2 years before having to choose one. I found German hard and so did French.

I do I help her decide?

If it was me I'd choose French, but that's just me, as I've been to France twice but never Germany and probably never will go there.

I don't know how they expect them to choose at such a young age.

French is of much more use internationally IMO unless of course she wants to be an automotive engineer. Plus it's a much prettier language.

The school my daughter goes to is a language college and the dominant language there is french. Based on that, I'd say French.

Why not take a leaf of out the French psyche and refuse to speak any other language but your own?

Actually Germany is a bit of a hidden gem for British people. It is an extremely interesting country and a superb place to visit. Also not expensive for travelling or hotels. The south is catholic and the people are more like welcoming latin types, especially bavaria. And the north is protestant and not unlike England.

The most useful european language I believe is spanish, as it is the second language of USA and spoken widely in three continents.

But given the choise of french or german I would choose German.

My daughter has less than 2 months to decide whether to learn French or German when she moves to secondary school in September.

She already knows some basic French but no German at all.

I don't know which language would be more beneficial to her in the long run. Once she has chosen she can't change.

When I was at school, I did both for 2 years before having to choose one. I found German hard and so did French.

I do I help her decide?

I would also say French as they tend to get the hump if you don't attempt to speak French whilst there, whereas in my experience Germans are a bit more laid back and happy to speak English to you.

if she is thinking of the future it would be more beneficial to learn one of the Chinese languages

if she is thinking of the future it would be more beneficial to learn one of the Chinese languages

Contrary to popular belief, China is not the most powerful Country in the world.

That would be the USA.

Contrary to popular belief, China is not the most powerful Country in the world.

That would be the USA.

They've just bought a major share in the Weetabix company so expect a power shift soon.

German.

:.........

tbf they should teach Spanish. then you've got the majority of south America at your feet.

Does she not have a choice of other languages like Spanish, Japanese or Chinese? All of them would be significantly more useful than French or German in the future, although French would get you around quite a large proportion of Africa as well as France, just like Spanish would get you round much of South America and lots of the southern US states too.

Does she not have a choice of other languages like Spanish, Japanese or Chinese? All of them would be significantly more useful than French or German in the future, although French would get you around quite a large proportion of Africa as well as France, just like Spanish would get you round much of South America and lots of the southern US states too.

I did Spanish at School, hated every second of the lessons (mostly cos the teacher was a grumpy old git who didn't like me) and 20 years later I've forgotten nearly all of it, just get reminders from watching Manuel on Fawlty Towers! :P

If there's one language I want to learn though it's definitely Japanese, not entirely sure why, I just really like it for some reason.

French. While German is a useful language, if she learns French, Spanish and Italian will be easier for her, whereas German isn't so useful as a way into a language family.

For purely business purposes, if given the choice of any language I would go for Russian and out of French or German I would probably go for German. More people speak French as it's the first or only language taught in many schools so there may well be a smaller pool of German speakers vying for the jobs. While it used to be the case that Germans would speak English in business meetings that is apparently changing now.

If you are learning just to pass an exam French is easier. If you are learning to enhance job prospects German is more useful. Most northern European languages are Germanic based. One thing I learned is that if you go to the areas of Europe where the Germans go on holiday the locals will have learned German. I got by in Italy by speaking German. Bizarre.

I'd love to speak Italian, but given the two choices I'd probably pick French. But then again I hated learning languages and purposely picked a course at school which meant I wouldn't have to do a language lesson :D

French is a wise choice if one is planning on going into the diplomatic service or impressing dinner guests when ordering wine.
My choice would be Mandarin Chinese. As China continues to become a huge trading partner with the rest of the world there will be a definite demand for people as intrerpreters but most students in China are studying English anyway these days.

To be very basic, learn the one she likes the most. Once you've got one foreign language down then whole groups of others are easy to pick up.

Thank you for everyones opinion so far.

I've ordered her a basic German book (learning time, numbers and days of the week etc) to look at. Then hopefully she can decide which she prefers.

Definately German

My daughter has less than 2 months to decide whether to learn French or German when she moves to secondary school in September.

She already knows some basic French but no German at all.

I don't know which language would be more beneficial to her in the long run. Once she has chosen she can't change.

When I was at school, I did both for 2 years before having to choose one. I found German hard and so did French.

I do I help her decide? Next to English the best language to learn is Spanish, between the the two French is probably best one to learn,but having said that German is an easy language to pick up.

Does she not have a choice of other languages like Spanish, Japanese or Chinese? All of them would be significantly more useful than French or German in the future, although French would get you around quite a large proportion of Africa as well as France, just like Spanish would get you round much of South America and lots of the southern US states too.

Unfortunately not.

Her only choices are French or German and has about 6 weeks to decide which one.

It's a difficult one because she's only done a bit of French so far, so how is she supposed to know if she likes German or not? By then it will be too late because once she's choosen she wont be able to change it.

German, as it is more closely related to English as a language than English it is to French, and our culture is closer to Germany. Also German is very useful as a business language.
Guten Tag - Good Day
Ein Glas Bier - A glass of beer
Die Sonne scheint - The sun is shining
Meine Mutter/Vater/Bruder/Schwester - My mother/father/brother/sister
zehn, zwanzig, hundert, tausend -ten, twenty, hundred, thousand

There are many more examples I remember from A level but that's off the top of my head!

German, German, German...just don't mention the war

I learned both French and German in school and became fluent in both in time. Since then I am still fluent in French, but have lost a lot of my German through not using it.

German, as it is more closely related to English as a language than English it is to French, and our culture is closer to Germany. Also German is very useful as a business language.
Guten Tag - Good Day [Formal - but you can make good use of local dialects in the right circumstances. A well placed "Gruß Gott" in the south can work wonders. Don't ever use the north German platt dialect version "Moin" unless you really have the skill to pull it off]
Ein Glas Bier - A glass of beer [Uness you are stating the fact that there's one on the table, this should always be accompanied by "bitte" - that means please]
Die Sonne scheint - The sun is shining
Meine Mutter/Vater/Bruder/Schwester - My mother/father/brother/sister [Careful. Gender rules apply. Mein Vater -- the feminine e on the end is not used in that case]
zehn, zwanzig, hundert, tausend -ten, twenty, hundred, thousand
[Can you remember the rule where those have to be capitalized?]

There are many more examples I remember from A level but that's off the top of my head!

You did well though overall.

the main thing is which language she wants to speak, herself. French is probably better generally, ceteris paribus, but the way my life turned out my German is plenty better than my French.

of course if she'd have learnt Latin, the so-called dead language as a very small child, then later on, she would have found not only French, but also Italian and the whole host of other European languages much easier to learn later on. Unfortunately the hopeless educational system in the UK round about the 1970s, decided that learning Latin was something associated with clueless upper class gits, even though it gives somebody a superb introduction to ancient history, science, the arts, and modern languages. The goddamn communist hooligans have a hell of a lot to answer for.

German, German, German...just don't mention the war

:hihi::hihi::hihi::hihi:

I did French at school, terrible teacher had no language skills, she just concentrated on grammar 'out of a book'.
Conjugating the bloody verb..............I know what needed conjugating.......
Spanish would have been far more usefull................The use of the French language is limited, depending on where you go. English, German and Spanish will see you thru' anywhere.

French is useful if you are a wine snob...........
I work for the bloody French, 'nuff said.

the main thing is which language she wants to speak, herself.

If she's only ever learnt French and not German up to this point, then it's an impossible question to answer. How is she to know whether she would love learning German, or hate it?

Personally I prefer German; I don't think either language is all that "useful" in the modern world, which relies almost exclusively on American English and Mandarin Chinese.

German, as it is more closely related to English as a language than English it is to French, and our culture is closer to Germany. Also German is very useful as a business language.
Guten Tag - Good Day
Ein Glas Bier - A glass of beer
Die Sonne scheint - The sun is shining
Meine Mutter/Vater/Bruder/Schwester - My mother/father/brother/sister
zehn, zwanzig, hundert, tausend -ten, twenty, hundred, thousand

There are many more examples I remember from A level but that's off the top of my head!

au contraire. Never been to a cafe?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_French_origin

29% French origin, 26% Germanic languages. Even argue that the other big chunk,29% Latin, was closer to French than German.

Ask a german to say butterfly- "schmetterling!" just not a nice language at all. Hard on the ears. Comes a close second to Klingon in "world's worst sounding language" category.

Also, you'll rarely meet a German that doesn't know English. So the language for business is cobblers.

Last successful invasion of Britain was by French speaking Normans.

3 lions standard- Richard I - French.

France is much closer geographically.

I'd go with German.
Better for jobs and a brilliant place to travel. Inter-railed all over germany in 2004.

Spanish is also important ; you still need it in Latin America, and if you have Spanish, you're more than halfway to Portuguese and Brazil, Spanish and Portuguese are like French and Italian. Spanish is also easy to pick up. If I was suggesting somebody to learn a single European language, other than English, I would say Spanish would likely be the most useful.

au contraire. Never been to a cafe?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_French_origin

29% French origin, 26% Germanic languages. Even argue that the other big chunk,29% Latin, was closer to French than German.

Ask a german to say butterfly- "schmetterling!" just not a nice language at all. Hard on the ears. Comes a close second to Klingon in "world's worst sounding language" category.

Also, you'll rarely meet a German that doesn't know English. So the language for business is cobblers.

Last successful invasion of Britain was by French speaking Normans.

3 lions standard- Richard I - French.

France is much closer geographically.

This is true! Germans speak English, whilst the french refuse to in france.

the thing about the French is, they just can't understand why the United States and Canada, South Africa, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc aren't speaking French today.

the whole point of the French revolution was that they were going to bring about, all just exactly that sort of thing.

in the event, it didn't turn out that way at all.

obviously they're disappointed. However, French is a beautiful language and sounds beautiful, though not as beautiful as Italian.

I've just found out that If she does the accelerated learning course in either language, she can gain a GSCE at 14 (which is 2 years earlier). Then has the choice to either do her A level in that language or do the other language and gain a GSCE in that at 16.

Best of both worlds.

When she's done both languages she can then choose which one she wants to do the A level in (if she hasn't already done it)

The answer is probably either. Both give you a better chance at picking up other languages. Don't stress about it now you learn so little at that level anyway. I did both and got by in switzerland with a mixture. I like german much more and in an example of my hideous racism I prefer the general german mentality and much prefer holidaying in germany.

Maybe choose based on the language spoken in places she wants to visit as whatever happens she will learn more by visiting the country and talking to people.

My daughter is learning German at school and loves it. The only trouble is she practises at home and as i know no German at all i cant tell if its right. I would agree that it is useful to learn a less common language as it may help with getting a job in the future.

au contraire. Never been to a cafe?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_French_origin

29% French origin, 26% Germanic languages. Even argue that the other big chunk,29% Latin, was closer to French than German.

Ask a german to say butterfly- "schmetterling!" just not a nice language at all. Hard on the ears. Comes a close second to Klingon in "world's worst sounding language" category.

Also, you'll rarely meet a German that doesn't know English. So the language for business is cobblers.

Last successful invasion of Britain was by French speaking Normans.

3 lions standard- Richard I - French.

France is much closer geographically.

I think german sounds lovely

kopfkissen pillow
handschuh glove
kaninchen rabbit :love:

au contraire. Never been to a cafe?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_French_origin

29% French origin, 26% Germanic languages. Even argue that the other big chunk,29% Latin, was closer to French than German.

Ask a german to say butterfly- "schmetterling!" just not a nice language at all. Hard on the ears. Comes a close second to Klingon in "world's worst sounding language" category.

Also, you'll rarely meet a German that doesn't know English. So the language for business is cobblers.

Last successful invasion of Britain was by French speaking Normans.

3 lions standard- Richard I - French.

France is much closer geographically.

He wasn't french!:confused: was he?

Mandarin.

Why waste your time on anything else?

He wasn't french!:confused: was he?

He spoke French; it was for some two centuries or so the official language at court, since it was the native language of the Norman invaders who took the throne, and their descendants.

He spoke French; it was for some two centuries or so the official language at court, since it was the native language of the Norman invaders who took the throne, and their descendants.

yeah I know that, its the actual written line I was questioning "Richard I - French"

yeah I know that, its the actual written line I was questioning "Richard I - French"

Ah, okay ... I assumed that he was just referring to the language spoken by King Richard, and not intending to imply that he was French by birth. (If he was intending to imply that, he was of course wrong!)

Ah, okay ... I assumed that he was just referring to the language spoken by King Richard, and not intending to imply that he was French by birth. (If he was intending to imply that, he was of course wrong!)

he probably was! -my confusion!

Its just I happen to be reading a book about him now and nowhere did it imply his dad was french, his mother maybe. But yes I would assume he spoke mainly french.

he probably was! -my confusion!

Its just I happen to be reading a book about him now and nowhere did it imply his dad was french, his mother maybe. But yes I would assume he spoke mainly french.

I'm not sure at what point the Norman line of monarchs stopped thinking of themselves as Frenchmen who had conquered England, and began to consider themselves Englishmen who owned lands in France. Certainly, Richard was born in England and so were his father and grandfather, so by our modern standards he was quite definitely English.

I'm not sure at what point the Norman line of monarchs stopped thinking of themselves as Frenchmen who had conquered England, and began to consider themselves Englishmen who owned lands in France.
They wouldn't've considered themselves as Frenchmen. They were Norman, distinctly seperate from France. The English were also distinctly seperate still, between the Anglo-Saxon lands and the Danes. It was the relationship between Norman-Dane-Viking and the Anglo-Saxon groups that created William I's claim to the crown.

Richard the Lionheart is as much an Englishman as George Orwell was Indian. He happened to be born here - but his cultural grounds and most of his life was lived within French speaking aristocracy and he used England to fund his crusades. He spent about 6 months of his reign here in total, and didn't return.

The Robin Hood myth of protecting Richard's crown is a load of rubbish aswell. :)

This book [Link] (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Years-Annoying-French-Stephen-Clarke/dp/0552775746/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337267704&sr=8-1) is easy going if you want a bit more on Anglo-French relations.

French is spoken in many more countries around the world compared to German. BTW my wife does private French tuition if you require it (I am declaring an interest, but nonetheless stating a fact)

French is spoken in many more countries around the world compared to German.

True, but if that were your basis for choosing a language you would not learn anything other than English - except, possibly, Mandarin Chinese.

I don't think the question is as simple as has been suggested in this thread.

English - as in the language in common use - is imprecise.

French (and a dialect of Norman French was one of my mother tongues) tends to be somewhat verbose.

German is less prone to misinterpretation. A number of scientific texts are written German for that reason.

But who speaks German? Do you need to speak German?

I lived (for some years) in Baden-Württemberg. All of the people who lived where I lived could understand Hochdeutsch, but they spoke Badisch (and it was a different dialect to that spoken 25 miles away.)

I now live (for part of the year) in Bavaria. (Not Germany, Rupert! ;))

They can speak German - but they don't. 'Mia red'n Boarisch...'

The dialect spoken in my village varies significantly from that spoken 5 miles away - and the people who live 20 miles away speak an almost unintelligible language.

Back to the original question: It might be a good idea to look into how well each language is taught in your daughter's school and to check on 'teacher turnover' in the languages department. The school my son went to was pretty good - apart from in German, which he took in year 9.

There were 3 German teachers during the one year and there was a 4-month period when there was no German teacher at all. He didn't learn much. The school relied heavily on German Nationals employed (at lower than teacher pay scale rates.) They (unsurprisingly) didn't bother to stay.

French is spoken in a few countries internationally, in Africa, etc. German is just Germany, Austria & Switzerland. If she's already done some French & doesn't hate it, then it's probably best to stick with French.

Germany is quite a big important country too though, so I don't see any disadvantage if she hates French & decides to take German.

Spanish should be first choice though, it's 2nd or 3rd in the world after English & Chinese. It's also a good easy option.

My daughter has less than 2 months to decide whether to learn French or German when she moves to secondary school in September.
France and the UK are both bankrupt and Germany has money (real money, not debt).

Get her to learn German and buy her a shoeshine kit.

I now live (for part of the year) in Bavaria. (Not Germany, Rupert! ;))

They can speak German - but they don't.

True! ;)

My advice would be to start with French - it's not only the language of our nearest neighbours, but also spoken widely in Africa, especially in North Africa. For anyone with an interest in modern European history, French (the former diplomatic language) is very useful indeed. Once she has learnt the grammar of one language, she will find it easier to acquire additional languages. At this stage, the decision for one language does not preclude the learning of other languages - but it does pepare the ground.

It depends on her experience of learning French and how she sees a language(s) fitting in with her career/future.

If she enjoys learning a language and believes she may strongly wish to take it up above other things, then the option she has of doing French first at GCSE and then German may be something to consider.

If she's choosing a language because she has to and is not really bothered/interested in learning a language, then, if she finds the French difficult to pronounce, German might be the better option. It is easier for us northerners to pronounce as many of the sounds are the same.

If she has a career in law/journalism/medicine or of that ilk in mind, then, French could end up being most beneficial, as it is a more widely spoken, 'international' language.

If she is thinking of a technical/engineering based career then German would definitely be the one to go for.

Either way, once you've learned one language, it's easier to learn others as you build on patterns you have learned.

In my opinion I would say French, we are very close in countries and I think she will find it more useful in the long run!

French sounds nicer.. agreed.

But based on experience from Intl Sales, German.
We do business with lots of countries in Europe.. Germany, Austria, Belgium
German and English works fine in all over Europe - except for France and Poland..
French wouldn´t work any better in Poland, so the only reason i see to learn the language is to impress on dinner guests.. ( French dinner guests ).

If you think abt it.. its funny.. Everyone is considering if they might benefit form learning french, but the french doesnt seem to consider benefiting from learning english!!??

If Moses doesnt head for the hills...

In short..
13 times out of 10.. id choose German..

I dont think German is spoken anywhere outside Germany, whereas French is, with France being a one-time colonial power.

We are fortunate though that English is the most global language.

Why do threads asking a simple question always finish up with certain posters reaching for the history books?

Just answer the question.
It's German for me..

Why do threads asking a simple question always finish up with certain posters reaching for the history books?
Why do threads asking a simple question always finish in certain posters asking questions about what other people are doing when they talk about history?

Just answer the ... oh, you did. Très bien.

Why do threads asking a simple question always finish in certain posters asking questions about what other people are doing when they talk about history?

Just answer the ... oh, you did. Très bien.

For a fellow Waterthorper...You really are boring.Yawn.....

I am so admire that most of you can speak english at a high level because english is not my first language.I 'm still learning english through a variable of ways.

I am so admire that most of you can speak english at a high level because english is not my first language.I 'm still learning english through a variable of ways.


I am a bit you like as I English learn two.My thirst language is Finish and few peolpe learn starting this.I hope you are best wishes and a good aperitif.

I am a bit you like as I English learn two.My thirst language is Finish and few peolpe learn starting this.I hope you are best wishes and a good aperitif.

Is that' I am a bit like you as I am learning English too.My first language is French and few people start learning this.'

I am a bit you like as I English learn two.My thirst language is Finish and few peolpe learn starting this.I hope you are best wishes and a good aperitif.


Or even a fule set.:hihi:

I travel most of the world the language most widely spoke other than English IMO is Spanish, Forgive me if it has already bean said

I never learned about word 'fule set'. is that means a joke?

I travel most of the world the language most widely spoke other than English IMO is Spanish, Forgive me if it has already bean said

how many continents or countries have you ever been?

how many continents or countries have you ever been?

for me to answer that i need to know why you ask, countries to many to mention short answer, and you don't know who you are talking to

for me to answer that i need to know why you ask, countries to many to mention short answer, and you don't know who you are talking to

I don't care if you willing to answer or not you have the right to refuse to answer.I know I am talking to a person who has a post on this forum. I ask because I have some interest on it.

I'd say let your daughter choose whatever language she wants to. At that age it really doesn't matter whether it's French or German. Neither one is "better" in itself. For all you know she might get a taste for studying more foreign languages. Tons of transferable skills are to be gained in doing so.

And contrary to what some have written here, knowledge of foreign languages is notirrelevant from a business perspective. 60% of our trade is with the European continent. Even in South Yorkshire there are companies paying good money for customer service jobs for which German speakers and French speakers are required. Not to mention foreign language teaching jobs.

for me to answer that i need to know why you ask, countries to many to mention short answer, and you don't know who you are talking to
Oooooh. Are you James Bond?

how many continents or countries have you ever been?

An interesting question ... but would an accurate answer provide data which would be of any use?

Why worry about continents?

What about incontinents? - A preferred destination for many British tourists.

After all, as the sign says:

'HARWICH FOR THE CONTINENT' and underneath
'AND FRINTON FOR THE INCONTINENT'

Your comment in post #65 did surprise me however.

You said: "My first language is French and few people start learning this."

I'm intrigued. What language do French babies learn then?

I don't care if you willing to answer or not you have the right to refuse to answer.I know I am talking to a person who has a post on this forum. I ask because I have some interest on it.


O dear not another one

Look this forum is for people to have a discussion about things not for people to score points of each other

It started out pretending to be a fly fisherman.

It soon gave up the pretence and we were left in no doubt that its fishing technique involved trailing a line with a large number of (often poorly) baited hooks at low speed through the water.

A technique known as 'trolling'.

O dear not another one

Look this forum is for people to have a discussion about things not for people to score points of each other

Well,let's stop this and back to the topic