How to Choose Between Spanish and German for Your Next Language

There are many reasons why you might want to learn Spanish and German, but choosing which one, to begin with can be tough. Here are a few ways to help you narrow down your decision.

Spanish and German in Your Personal Life

Have you always dreamed of seeing La Sagrada Família with your own eyes? Have you imagined being in Mexico for el Día de los Muertos? Or do you want to experience the magical Christmas markets of Salzburg or Cologne? If you see yourself visiting a Spanish or German-speaking country in the future, it might be a good idea to learn the lingo.

Another personal motivation for learning a language is your entourage. If you have family members, friends, or acquaintances, such as neighbors, who speak Spanish or German, then that is a good reason to opt for that language.

Should I learn German or Spanish?

It is important to consider your professional life when choosing which language to learn. Firstly, think about the current opportunities available to you. Does your school have exchange programs in Spanish or German-speaking countries? Does your company have branches abroad?

Secondly, could the ability to speak Spanish or German provide career opportunities for you in the future?

Spanish is the second most spoken native language in the world, behind Chinese. Having the ability to communicate with over 400 million native Spanish speakers could open doors for you in a vast array of careers.

That said, Germany has one of the largest economies in Europe and therefore provides a huge amount of economic opportunities to those with knowledge of the language.

Learning resources

Before deciding whether to learn Spanish or German, find out what resources are available to you, for example, learning materials, local teachers, language schools, and online tutors.

Spanish tutor online

Due to the high number of native speakers, as well as the millions of people who speak it as a second language, Spanish teachers are readily available.

German tutor online

Despite the smaller number of speakers worldwide, you can easily find a German tutor for your academic or conversational needs on various websites.

German vs. Spanish: Key differences

Spanish is a Romance language, meaning it derives from Vulgar Latin. Despite the melodic flow and soft pronunciation of Romance languages, the name has nothing to do with love. Rather, it comes from the word “Romanice” meaning “in Roman.”

German is a Germanic language. These languages come from the Proto-Germanic languages spoken in Iron Age Scandinavia. What some people don’t realize is that English is a Germanic language. In fact, it is the most widely spoken Germanic language in the world.

Is German or Spanish easier to learn?

You may be thinking that another Germanic language would be easier to learn. However, that isn’t necessarily the case. English shares a similar composition to other Germanic languages, yet it also has many words that derive from Latin. This means that some English words are identical or very similar to the equivalent in Romance languages. Thanks to these cognates, you probably already know more vocabulary than you realize in both languages. For example, you can easily decipher una bicicleta in Spanish and ein Foto in German.

One thing that makes German challenging for beginners is the complex grammatical structures, including the word order which differs greatly from English. If you can master the difficult German grammar at the beginning, then it is pretty straightforward from then on.

Spanish, on the contrary, seems quite grammatically clear-cut at the beginning, which may be misleading. The more you progress, the more you will discover that there are exceptions to a lot of the rules you initially learned.It is generally considered that Spanish is the easier of the two languages for English natives to learn, although clearly, each one has its easy and difficult areas. Learning either language will give you a leg up in many lines of work, enable you to meet new people, travel more easily, and experience different cultures.