| You would think with a name like Wagenheim, I | | | | German, it is not always so cut and dry. |
| would have been a natural student in German. I | | | | Depending on the tense, verbs can either come in |
| was far from it. Even with my German heritage | | | | the middle of a sentence or at the end of |
| and background, I had the hardest time in school | | | | sentence. You don't have such distinctions in |
| with the language. Over the years, I have, in my | | | | English. I mean, nobody in English says, "He had, to |
| spare time between running several businesses, | | | | the store, gone." At least I know I don't speak |
| made a study, not of the language itself, but | | | | that way. So there are more complex rules of |
| WHY it's so hard to learn. I have come up with | | | | grammar that you need to learn in German, and |
| what I feel are the main reasons and then at the | | | | they're not easy. |
| end, point you to an amazing resource that will | | | | A third reason that I have decided why German |
| make learning German easier than you can | | | | is so hard to learn, is because quite honestly, in |
| possibly imagine. I just wish I had it when I was in | | | | this country, people just don't know how to teach |
| school 30 years ago. | | | | it to English speaking people. I had German and I |
| The main reason that German is so hard to learn, | | | | was a very bright student. I was 46th in my |
| especially for English speaking people, is because | | | | graduating class of 575 students. My daughter |
| of multiple noun constructions. In English, a noun is | | | | was Valedictorian of her high school graduating |
| a noun. It doesn't matter if it's a dog, a cat or a | | | | class and she just about understands a little |
| chicken. More than one dog is dogs, more than | | | | German. Well, at least that was the case in high |
| one cat is cats and so on. Yes, there are | | | | school before she stumbled onto something in her |
| exceptions, such as more than one mouse is | | | | first year of college. |
| mice. But learning a few exceptions is not that | | | | And finally, the key to learning German and why |
| hard. However, with German, it isn't just about | | | | so many people have problems is because they |
| the noun itself. There is the definite article that | | | | try to learn from reading textbooks. This just |
| comes before the noun. In English, its always the. | | | | can't be done, at least not easily. But there is a |
| The cat; the dog, the mouse. Even with the word | | | | better way. |
| mice, it's the mice. But with German, it all depends | | | | In my signature, is a site where I review a great |
| on whether the noun is masculine, feminine or | | | | resource for learning German. Like I said, I wish I |
| neuter, or der, die, or das. So, those are additional | | | | had it when I was in school. My daughter wishes |
| things we have to memorize for each German | | | | she had it when she was in high school, but is |
| noun. Imagine how many nouns there are and | | | | quite happy she has it for college, where she is |
| you can imagine how difficult this can be if it's not | | | | learning German from a history professor: |
| your native language and you're learning it late in | | | | Absolutely pathetic. |
| life. | | | | Yes, you don't have to beat your brains against a |
| Another reason that German is so difficult is word | | | | stone wall to learn the German language. |
| order. In English, word order is very easy. In | | | | Help is just a few steps away. |