help from German speakers please

[wigglybeezer]

I learnt French at secondary school, however it looks as though DS1 may have to switch to German as he is going to an out of catchment secondary school and the catchmment kids are getting first choice of languages (they have 18 spare places for German).

DS1 is not that brilliant at languages full stop, dyslexia runs in DH's family. Am I right in thinking German doesn't have as many irregular verbs and has consistent spelling and grammar rules (in which case DS1 may be better off switching)?

I would be happy to go to a German evening class in order to help with homework (I enjoy learning languages!).

I would be grateful for your opinions on which language is easier for unconfidant spellers to learn.

IMO German is easier to spell than French

You are correct in thinking that German has many rules and that once these are learnt off by heart and thoroughly practised, the exceptions are comparitively few.

I wouldn't say that any language is really easy when you advance in it but I think generally people do say (rightly or wrongly) that German is easier to learn than French for the reasons you gave in the OP

Germany just had a spelling reform which is binding for schools in Germany and they have been gradually removing books from public libraries whihc still use the old spellings. I shouldn't think your ds would be affected by that since any textbook he uses now will include the spelling reform. Might be a bit annoying when he tries to read something pre-dating the reform but should not be a great hardship. The point of the reform was to make the spelling more phonetic and the changes (not universally welcomed and liked) serve that purpose.

Thanks Zen, very interesting about the spelling. DS1 is a very self conscious boy and would feels shy putting on a French accent, another plus for German.

German is a very structured language with many rules. The rules must be learnt by heart in order to progress. I teach French and German and have always found teaching Germman easier. The best thing you can do for your DS is to have a positive attitude yourself about learning languages. Parental support for languages is decreasing. How great for him if you were to learn it too. Take him to Germany if you possibly can, too. This will inspire him and give him confidence. Good luck.

I agree with the other posters. I found learning German much easier than learning French. My German DH complains that French is not logical, not structured.

4pinkbabies makes a good point. If he has the opportunity to speak the language (or even just hear it, if he is not confident about speaking) then he will be more keen on learning it. It makes it less abstract if he can visit Germany and hear people speak German.

Just don't go to an area like Bayern where they speak a strong accent. It takes me all my time to understand them.

I would say German is more about words, French about idioms/phrases so easier to get a "base" from which to explore.