German or Mandarin?

most chinese people can speak better english than most of us, so really i don't think it's worth bothering with

How wonderful to read a question about someone who loves two foreign languages.

Could he not do both?

German is a great language to learn - it is very logical, easy to pronounce, easy to learn up to intermediate level. If you want to support him in German by exposing him to a bit of real German, a short trip to any German city will be easy, useful and not too expensive.

However, I am convinced that Manderin is one of the languages of the future. If he knows some Manderin, then a trip to China will be easier compared with not knowing anything. This could give him an advantage when it comes to employment.

If it were me making the decision, I would think about how good the teachers would be; whether it would be possible to expose him to real language; what grade he could be expected to get; whether he would be able to learn either of the languages at a later date; and his interest.

Good luck with the decision. I would be interested to read the points made by the teachers if you feel like coming back to report.

Your son should opt for which ever he enjoys the most. Simple. Learning a language is all about enjoying it, and building confidence so that you can use it; the more you use it, the more you enjoy it and vice versa. As a modern languages grad who chose her A levels (English Lit and two languages) and degree course (three languages) because I loved them, I really believe this. Nonsense about 'all Germans speaking English'; that's not true and even if it were, no 14 year old's GCSE choices should be swayed by that. Encourage him to think about which he enjoys and what HE wants to study, because he wants to study it. Knowledge of any other language will always be an asset, whatever he does in the future.

Definitely Mandarin. There will be much more call for this than German.

I'm currently doing GCSE Mandarin, and it is hard - not only do you have to learn different vocabulary (and how to pronounce it) but you also have to learn the characters as well.

But if he's already done a year, is doing well and enjoys it then there is no reason why it would be any harder than German. IMVHO, having done German O-level a million years ago, I think it is actually a more complex language - different cases make it more difficult from a grammatical perspective.

And Mandarin apparently also helps with the development of the right side of the brain - the more creative side.

does he know yet what he would like to do after school?

What is his learning style like?

Mandarin isn't that complicated a language to learn, but is is hard because you have to learn so much by rote (and learning to read and write is essentially "look and learn" with nothing reliably guessable or possible to deduce from knowledge of other European languages).

That said, I'd probably go for Mandarin - much for the reasons that OhDearConfused points out. But if you think that he is going to focus on languages for A Level or degree, then having a European language securely will be a huge advantage (as not that many schools do Mandarin, and so I expect it would be easier to find a beginners course later on).

Companies in this country have apparently got significant problems finding German speakers - which is an issue since Germany has a massive economy and we need to be able to speak to them. And while the big German companies do have English speakers, the smaller ones don't and it causes massive problems. Also, German is learned by many in Eastern Europe and also by Russians - so German can be a common language for working with more than just Germany.

Statistically as well - he is more likely to get a good grade at GCSE in the German. Mandarin GSCEs are notoriously hard for all but native speakers (there was a run of press articles about this a few yeas back).

Mandarin is useful if he wants to get a job dealing with China/move to China and if so he must learn to read and write well. While it is nice to be able to converse, companies will need him to communicate fluently in writing too - which is a big ask. In the jobs market, he will also be in competition with the Chinese children (millions of whom are learning English).

I would recommend the German at GCSE, and to find a native speaker to keep the Mandarin going on the side.

Mandarin is the way to go. If your DS becomes a professional, then all Germans he will deal with with speak English and none will expect or be impressed by any ability to speak German. However, if he speaks Mandarin (and keeps it up) it is likely to be a very unique and impressive (to both Brits and Chinese) selling point.