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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

Langauages - french or german?

21 replies

innertiger · 01/04/2011 13:20

Does anyone have any advice on language options? My DS is starting secondary school in September and we have a chance to state a preference, before he starts, as to whether we prefer French or German. Once allocated, he would stay studying that language for GCSE.

He has done some French at primary school but doesn't seem particualrly interested. I studied French and I think it is quite tricky if you are not a natural linguist. He is very much a science and maths brain.

I have some idea that german is a more straightforward language - though I am not sure where I have got that from so please feel free to correct me!
Any views would be gratefully received!

OP posts:

ElsieR · 01/04/2011 13:51

Sorry to disappoint but both languages are quite tricky on their own way. The word order is harder in German than in French but the German language itself is closer to English and the pronunciation is more straightforward as, unlike French, you must pronounce every letter.
Learning French makes learning Spanish or Italian very easy as they are pretty similar.
German's popularity is declining so it could be a more desirable skill.
What both languages have in common is difficult grammar but, a bit like cycling, once you get it, it's not so bad.

TheDogsBollocks · 01/04/2011 13:57

my dc had a go at both, but found German easier, in fact quite enjoyed learning it and one is doing it for A level.

French became more of a trial for them.

circular · 01/04/2011 14:46

My DD (yr9) did a term each of French, German and Spanish in yr 7. then they continued with French and had to chose between German and Spanish for yr8 and 9. Although she had learnt French previously and enjoyed it, she never really took to Spanish. Her grades now in French and German are equal, although she says she finds German more difficult. She plans to only take French for GCSE.
Her best subjects are Maths, Music, Geography and Science . On paper she should have found German easier as it it meant to be more logical.
Similarly, I am mathematical and logical, but found French far easier than German.

Could be in both cases just that we started French earlier.

German is supposed to be more useful in business, also.

Dingle · 01/04/2011 15:21

My DS is in Y7 and we had to choose a preference from Spanish, German or French and the school picked his second language. He is having to study both French and Spanish. His grades are considerably lower in these subjects to all of his other subjects, but the school do acknowledge this is the norm!

Good luck in your choice.

Leverkusen · 01/04/2011 15:26

German is trickier, however the rules are rigid which is quite good. But adjective endings are ridiculous.

I think French is far easier, but I like German more.

crazycarol · 01/04/2011 16:35

My dd did french at primary school for 2-3 years, but then when she went to secondary school for the first 2 years they did french and german. Then for exam years she wanted to only pick 1 language ( 1 is compulsory, but she could have done 2 if she wanted), and really wanted to do german. I wasn't keen for her to do it as I don't know a word of german (I studied french at school) and she was marginally better at french (according to the school). Her reason for choosing german was that she found it easier than french.

You can argue the business or commercial benefits of both languages. Also are you likely to travel to either country on holiday? We were more likely to go to a french speaking country as I have a fear of not being able to understand! However in the end we allowed her to choose german because it was her choice. I now look upon it as we can now go to a german speaking country because she can speak the language.

if your ds has no 'need' for the language other than to fill his timetable I would allow him to choose, that way he can't say you forced him to do something he doesn't enjoy.

darleneconnor · 01/04/2011 17:28

Id pick french, because it is more of a global language than german.

cumbria81 · 01/04/2011 17:36

German is a very logical language but if you are not a natural linguist and don't have a good grasp of grammar it can be challenging. French is easier to "wing" I would say, although perhaps harder to speak well.

Bonsoir · 01/04/2011 17:40

French is a lot easier than German.

tropicalfish · 01/04/2011 21:33

I learnt German at school and slightly regret not doing French which I gave up at 13.
You are much more likely to go on holiday in France and the french dont/wont speak English. The Germans speak very good English.
The only place I have been to where German would be handy is the Italian lakes!

Original poster

innertiger · 01/04/2011 22:24

thanks all for your input - I do think its hard to make a choice now that we then have to stick to. Would be much easier to try them both and see if he has a leaning towards one in particular.
Crazycarol - I like your idea of passing the buck so to speak, and getting him to choose! Anything to reduce the list of things I am bound to be blamed for in later life.
They may ignore our preference anyway but thanks again for all your views - it certainly helps to make me see things in a more rounded way.

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IloveJudgeJudy · 01/04/2011 23:53

I speak both and would say that I have used french more than German (apart from when I lived in Germany), but that is because we live in the South and can easily go on a day trip to France, and we do go on holiday there.

German is easier to pronounce than French and you do have more endings, but you can hear them, unlike in French, but the word order of German is more different, but more logical.

kaumana · 02/04/2011 13:52

I did a language degree and I would vote for French, found it way easier. German can be easier to pick up at first but can be challenging grammatically as you study futher.
Are you likely to take family holidays to either France or Germany?

bitsyandbetty · 02/04/2011 13:58

German is harder at the beginning I would say based on my experience due to the grammer but once you leran the basics it is much easier. I did a German degree but found French much easier at the beginning. Germany is a very powerful country in Europe with lots of good developing companies so better for job prospects in the future. Having said that I work for a French company.

overthehill · 03/04/2011 23:48

I agree with those who opt for French as this is certainly a much more widely spoken language. It would also be useful if your ds ever wanted to learn Spanish, which is the most widely spoken language globally, as they both come from the same root.

stream · 04/04/2011 00:24

Can you get him to listen/try out some French and German here on the BBC languages home page? Then he might be able to decide which one he's got more of a feel for.

BarkisIsWilling · 04/04/2011 07:37

I just found a dcsf site which you may find useful.

My personal preference would be French because it has the added bonus that with it, you should be able to read some Spanish and Portugese and so never be entirely at a loss when in those places where either language prevails.

Bucharest · 04/04/2011 07:41

I did both, then dropped German at university, which tbh, I regret now.

IMO, French is much much easier......and as I started German 2 yrs later, influenced my acquisition of German and not in a good way....

If my dd were faced with that choice today, I'd probably advise her to do German, simply for the fact that everyone can get by with a bit of French, German is spoken by far fewer people and is therefore likely to be more useful to put on a CV. (I see a lot of CVs and I don't think I've ever seen one where the writer doesn't put that they speak French to some level)

Ideally, of course, both would be good!

Also, from an affective point of view, boys tend to like German more. French is very girly sounding.

Merlion · 04/04/2011 08:02

Bucharest I did exactly the same and started Spanish from scratch at Uni. I also regret to a certain extent as ended up working in Germany for 6 months on a project and my A Level German was a bit rusty by then!

I had heard that supposedly it's easier for boys to speak German than French but not sure exactly what evidence this is based on but at school and uni there were certainly more boys doing German (and also Russian) than the romance languages.

None of my languages particularly useful now (am in Singapore) now if I could have learnt Mandarin...

Bucharest · 04/04/2011 08:14

I did Spanish from scratch as well, and am now in Italy, so a fat lot of good my degree languages did me!!

Original poster

innertiger · 04/04/2011 14:00

stream and BarkisWilling - thanks for the links, we'll certainly look at those. I'm inclining towards French as its the language I'm most familiar with but DH learnt both. DH is from Italian stock so its a shame we dont have that option as we spend summers there and we have family in Geneva.
It's hard to know what path DS will take in life so its difficult to predict a valid choice now.......oh that hindsight was bottled and for sale!
Thanks again for all the input - it really does help to hear the wisdom of the MN!!

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