Very often, you can hear that the German language is too difficult to learn: incomprehensible rough pronunciation, complex grammar and in general, nothing is unclear there. As a result, it is believed that only natural geniuses with an indecently high IQ can master it. Nevertheless, in fact, course, this is not the case. The people a lot learn German and then use it in their lives, and them none has a Nobel Prize. If you are an ordinary person who has a desire to learn German, then you can do it. And all the prejudices are rather related to the unknown and the new usual fear, which overcomes us each at least once in our lives. In addition, all you need to overcome it is to start learning the language.

Let's start with the main thing - it's motivation. If there is no desire to learn a language, then you should not start. German, like any other language, will definitely seem too complicated, and all his training will be bent at the root. Therefore, motivation is the first thing you need to stock up on. When there is a specific goal, then there is a desire to do something for it.

And now let's get to the specifics. Here are some facts that prove that German is easier to learn than many foreign languages. In particular, English, which is very popular today.

In German there is case and gender a concept, so a person who knows Russian does not need to explain the difference between: подошел/подошла/подошло or betweenхороший человек/хорошему человеку. For most foreigners, whose grammar does not imply their presence, this is generally wildness. That is why it is sometimes so funny for us to listen to foreigners who confuse the endings and his/her. And those who know Russian have this understanding.

It is well known that mastering a new language requires memorizing new words, a large number. And it seems to many that until they learn at least one and a half to two thousand, you can forget about talking in a foreign language. In fact, this is just another common misconception. To explain yourself in the language with simple phrases, you need to know initially 150-300 words that can be easily learned in a short time. This also applies to German.

Today it is not difficult to find 100, 300 and 500 most used words lists on the Internet. And in general, it is enough to know about a thousand. If you think about it, it's not that much. For example, a first grade student knows the Russian language two thousand words, which a child learns for five to six years. In learning a new language, anyone can be considered a first-grader, but it is much easier for an adult, with his skills and experience, to learn this thousand in the end. Plus, many words from the German dictionary will be understandable anyway. For example:anecdote, gas, valuta etc..

Now let's talk about the similarity with English. At first glance, it seems that he can have nothing in common with German, but in reality, these languages have phonetic similarity: they have similar pronunciation, stress and intonation. In addition, the German language advantage is that all letters are pronounced. That is, the word is both written and read. English cannot please with this; the first letter is very often not read there, and in some words as many as four may be left out. Words a lot in these languages are similar. For example, apple and apfel (apple), which also facilitates vocabulary replenishment. Moreover, there are borrowings a lot from English in German. Nevertheless, words are not just borrowed, but also changed according to the German language rules. This gave rise to the so-called Denglish (English and German a mixture). Therefore, on the Germany streets you can often find signs on a similar "trasyanka".

As for grammar, indefinite and definite articles, the need for a copula verb, modal verbs, the verbs division into correct and incorrect (strong/ weak in German) and other features will not be new to everyone who knows English. In addition, the proposals themselves are very similar. German another advantage is the six tenses presence twelve English ones instead. Agree, this is a significant difference.

So if you decide to study German, feel free to get down to business and do not be afraid that it is too complicated, because it is not so at all. Sign up for courses from the DeutcherPapa and start learning!

As for grammar, indefinite and definite articles, the need for a copula verb, modal verbs, the division of verbs into correct and incorrect (strong/ weak in German) and other features will not be new to everyone who knows English. In addition, the proposals themselves are very similar. German another advantage is the six tenses presence' twelve English ones instead. Agree, this is a significant difference.

So if you decide to study German, feel free to get down to business and do not be afraid that it is too complicated, because it is not so at all. Sign up for courses from the DeutcherPapa and start learning!

A source: https://germanpapa.com/pochemu-uchit-nemeckij-legko/

Like most alphabets in Europe, the German alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet. It includes twenty-six letters. In addition, three umlauts are used (denoted as vowel letters with superscripts) and the ligature "escet" (outwardly similar to the Greek letter "beta").

The alphabet connection with runes, the writing development

The Germany modern inhabitants ancestors used runes as writing. The alphabet that was used for this was not yet remotely similar to the modern Latin alphabet. Moreover, different tribes also had different writing systems.

More than a thousand years ago, evolutionary changes began to occur, thanks to which the alphabet became practically unified at the state level. In addition, it has acquired forms that are already more or less similar to modern ones.

Although there are now twenty-six letters in the German alphabet, initially the Latin alphabet did not contain several characters. Among them: g, j, u. If everything remained the same, then the German alphabet with pronunciation would be much more difficult to learn. For example, using the letter i used to denote two sounds - [и] и [й]. Due to the letters lack to denote certain sounds, there were just such differences' an abundance between spelling and pronunciation in different languages.

Later the mentioned letters were added. There have also been other changes:

• The Latin alphabet has included the letters y, z based on Greek to make it easier to write primarily borrow;

• about five hundred years ago, the letter w entered writing, initially as two consecutive letters V a combination.

Although the modern German writing basis has become the same Latin alphabet as in most other Europe languages, German letters also have their own unique features.

German letters, umlauts and ligature

Separate combinations are letters made up, among which are ch, sch and several others. They can have different uses, although the main purpose is usually fixed (sch is used for the sound [w] and so on).
Umlauts are used to denote several sounds: with the ä help denote [э] in various variations;
The umlaut ö correspondence is the mean between [ё] and nasal [o];
• by ü means, the sound located between [y] and [ю] is transmitted.

The designated sound pronunciation may also depend on the position in which it is located. For example, the letter h after the umlaut because, the designated sound becomes longer.

Finally, with the ligature "escet" help, externally looking like ß, denote a short sound [c]. This, along with umlauts, must be taken into account when studying the German alphabet with transcription. This is the German writing unique features one.

How not to break the lang: rules for reading letter combinations in German
Before you get started with letters combinations in German, you need to know the alphabet and the rules for reading a transcription. As letters a combination is understood to be several letters a combination which, when pronounced, read as one sound. In addition, do not forget that the best way to practice the several letters pronunciation - are short phrases in German.

Sign up for German courses at DeutscherPapa 

A source: https://germanpapa.com/nemeckij-alfavit-lyubopytnye-fakty/