German, Swedish, Dutch, or Norwegian? (Or Russian?)

[Acroticus]

Hello everyone. I would really like to learn a new language, and because I have extensive familiarity with many romance languages, I would like to try my hand at a Germanic language. However, I am unsure which one I should learn. Because of this, I would like to ask the NS community for help; should I learn German, Dutch, or Norwegian?

These three are the languages that seem most fun to me (I have already begun to look into each of them), but I can't decide which one exactly I should try to learn.

Because I am teaching myself, I would like the language to be relatively easy to learn as far as grammar and vocabulary goes. I have read that Norwegian is the easiest of the languages Grammar-wise, and that Dutch would be the easiest to pick up vocabulary. German, I have read is the most difficult in everything but possibly pronunciation.

Second, I would take into account utility. I understand that in Norway and Sweden, most people speak English, but I also have read that Norwegian is often mutually intelligible with Swedish and Danish. I also heard that, although most people in the Netherlands speak English, Dutch is also used in northern Belgium as well as is mutually intelligible with Afrikaans. Obviously German has the most speakers by far, as well as has the biggest presence on the internet.

Third, I would like to visit the country of the language I would learn. I like the cold, so obviously Norway, Germany and the Netherlands are all relatively cold countries, which I would enjoy. Because of this, it is culture that I feel is more important than necessarily the nation itself. Norwegian culture really intrigues me, but so does Dutch culture, and I suppose German would be the least interesting to me, although I am descended from Germans.

So, NS, please help me a bit. Is anyone here from Germany, the Netherlands, or Norway? Does anyone here speak these languages? What do you all think? I appreciate any advice that anyone could give me.

If you would like to suggest a different Germanic language, like Swedish, Danish, or Frisian, please do and explain why.

EDIT: I would also ask about Swedish, having recieved a few responses. IS Swedish less difficult than the other languages? What about pronunciation?

EDIT 2: I have decided to merge this thread with my other one on Eastern European Languages: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=301011

Because of this I was wondering; should I learn Russian or German?

[Allet Klar Chefs]

Way more people speak German, learn German.

[Carbon based lifeforms]

German is the most useful one, because it's spoken by more people, simple as that. It's also definitely the most difficult.

Dutch contains quite a few words borrowed from French, it's the most Romanized of the three, so that should make it easier for you.

I don't know Norwegian, but it's presumably quite similar to Dutch. A while ago, the Norwegian government specifically recruited Flemish people to repopulate remote Norwegian villages, because Flemish is the language closest to Norwegian. Which I found remarkable, but there you have it.

I'd like to point out that Dutch and Afrikaans are not entirely mutually intelligible. As a Dutch speaker, I have difficulty understanding Afrikaans.

Culture... That's not my specialty. If you just want to visit these countries though, you needn't speak the language. Most people will be able to communicate with you in reasonable English.

In any case, if you speak one of these three languages, you're already halfway there for the others.

[Kiruri]

Learn German because I think it's the most usefull

[Elke and Elba]

I would go with either Dutch or German since the higher difficulty of Norwegian, as well as the use of two different writing systems by the Norwegians (either Bokmal or Nynorsk) will make the entire journey a bit harder.

Given that there seems to be a bit more regional variations in German and obviously Norwegian (I don't expect people in Finnmark to speak the same as people in Bergen or Oslo), as well as the lower population of Norwegians to start with (I don't think moving on to Danish or Swedish is actually easy anyway - if you do get to mastering Norwegian), I'm more for German or Dutch.

But since Dutch is a bit more special, and have a bit more utility outside of Europe (say the former Netherlands Antilles in Caribbean or parts of South America), I'd go for Dutch.

[Arkolon]

Learn German because I think it's the most usefull

Way more people speak German, learn German.

It's also a bitch to learn. Unless you're seriously committed to it, comfortable with Latin grammar and word order, it'll take just under a decade to actually learn the language. Don't get me wrong, eine schöne Sprache ist, and it's very useful, but I regret signing up for it.

Part of me hopes I'll speak it in the end, but really, try Norwegian or Dutch out first. Norwegian is closer to English in some respects, so check it out first. It's pretty useless outside of Norway, though. English would be a Norwegian's second language anyway.

If you speak English, you don't really need any more to learn within today and the next five-ten decades.

[Veceria]

Learn Austrian

[Canaore]

If you're a native English speaker, Dutch is going to be the easier of those languages for you to learn.

[Bulgar Rouge]

I wouldn't go with either - all of them are more or less useless outside their respective countries. Try Arabic.

[Valerion]

1) Learn Dutch
2) Come to Belgium and speak Dutch
3) Watch in awe as people are surprised a tourist actually knows their language
4) ???
5) Many waffles and beer

[Elke and Elba]

I wouldn't go with either - all of them are more or less useless outside their respective countries. Try Arabic.

Which unfortunately because of the many variants between nations will not make the utility of learning (presumably one certain form of) Arabic go very far.

A lack of variance in Mandarin Chinese in China and Taiwan and elsewhere in the world would make me suggest it, but it's far too hard for one who is dependent on only English. One has a better chance with the Romance languages, imho.

EDIT: One might find Dutch very useful since it links up pretty well with Afrikaans in South Africa outside of the Caribbeans and Suriname, and I heard people who learn Dutch get Afrikaans more than the reverse, which is pretty good since you learn a language which have utility in two large nations (by population of course).

[Allet Klar Chefs]

Learn German because I think it's the most usefull

Way more people speak German, learn German.

It's also a bitch to learn.

No, it really isn't. It's just a language, and depending on your cadence in English it's very easy to understand and pick up.

Actually Tricky Tier is stuff like Arabic.

[Bulgar Rouge]

I wouldn't go with either - all of them are more or less useless outside their respective countries. Try Arabic.

Which unfortunately because of the many variants between nations will not make the utility of learning (presumably one certain form of) Arabic go very far.

Not really. Differences between dialects are really not that great. Levantine Arabic and most Middle Eastern dialects are quite close to the standard. I've only had difficulties with Moroccan and Tunisian, even Mauritanian and Sudanese are very comprehensible.

[Arkolon]

It's also a bitch to learn.

No, it really isn't. It's just a language, and depending on your cadence in English it's very easy to understand and pick up.

Actually Tricky Tier is stuff like Arabic.

Perhaps I'm just thick. And so is everyone I know.

It's hard to learn, full stop. The word order is completely different from the Romance languages, alongside English. You can't pick German up like you can Spanish, for instance. Spanish is so easy it's almost painful. Knowing any other Romance language could allow you to read a Spanish book. Latin was easier to learn than German, in my opinion, and they're relatively similar.

[Polkopia]

Luxembourgish.

Nah, but seriously, I'd suggest either Dutch or German. I took three years of German in high school and although the vocabulary itself isn't too difficult, the grammar definitely takes some time to get used to. I don't know much about the other two languages, so I couldn't tell you about their grammar, but if it's easier than German, I'd suggest going for it.

[Lindenholt]

Dutch, because Dutch is the language you can do the most with. Just think about it, if you speak Dutch in Amsterdam you can get your pot more easily...

[Arkolon]

Luxembourgish.

Nah, but seriously, I'd suggest either Dutch or German. I took three years of German in high school and although the vocabulary itself isn't too difficult, the grammar definitely takes some time to get used to. I don't know much about the other two languages, so I couldn't tell you about their grammar, but if it's easier than German, I'd suggest going for it.

As a resident in Luxembourg since conception, I've also got things to say about the dialect. Firstly, it's not considered a language by the European Union or its own people's government, but just a regional sub-division of the Mosellan tongue. Secondly, more on-topic, it's very, very useless. It's not hard to learn. If you know German, you could very easily converse with a Luxembourger in Luxembourgish. It's practically German in a really, really funny accent.

[Lindenholt]

Luxembourgish.

Nah, but seriously, I'd suggest either Dutch or German. I took three years of German in high school and although the vocabulary itself isn't too difficult, the grammar definitely takes some time to get used to. I don't know much about the other two languages, so I couldn't tell you about their grammar, but if it's easier than German, I'd suggest going for it.

As a resident in Luxembourg since conception, I've also got things to say about the dialect. Firstly, it's not considered a language by the European Union or its own people's government, but just a regional sub-division of the Mosellan tongue. Secondly, more on-topic, it's very, very useless. It's not hard to learn. If you know German, you could very easily converse with a Luxembourger in Luxembourgish. It's practically German in a really, really funny accent.

Wait... what is the national language of Luxembourg...

[Acroticus]

Wow! Thanks everyone for all the help!

I'm getting a general concensus of German or Dutch; German being more difficult.

So if the reason for not learning Norwegian is the two types of writing, what do people think about Swedish? I've been looking into it, and Swedish appears easier, if not only because of its fewer types of writing, and furthermore Swedish has double the speakers Norwegian does.

I really appreciate any and all responses!

[Risottia]

, I would like to ask the NS community for help; should I learn German, Dutch, or Norwegian?

German. Spoken by more people than Dutch or Norwegian, and also the language of the most influential EU country.

[Czechanada]

Just be a hipster and learn Flemish.

[Rebellic Xyrx]

well I say german, but other than that, Danish

[Acroticus]

well I say german, but other than that, Danish

Why Danish?

[Russian Socialist Soviet States]

You should learn German. It is the most epic language of all time!

[Acroticus]

You should learn German. It is the most epic language of all time!

How so?