OK, next year for school I want to change my language that I'm taking. I can't decide between Japanese or German. Which do you guys think? Like which would be easier or used more often

I would so go with japanese..im taking german now and its too hard..you gotta figure out everything and its so hard...why do you need three versions of "the" or whatever ein and das mean....well anyways go with japanese

hmm... between the two, Japanese is more exotic... I am Asian so, well...that is why I would love to let you know Japanese because I would definitely ask you how it would go since I don't know Japanese either... lol

All right, I'm just going on what I've heard. My school only offers three languages, and only an introduction to the third, so I really don't know that much when it comes to foreign languages.

Also, Japan is a very homogenous (if that is the correct word, if not, I apologize) nation. They speak an incredibly difficult language and seem to keep for themselves, not a good combination if you plan to being the world's economic powerhouse.

quote:

Are you kidding? How can you be so sure, assuming you aren't?

Germany is the economic powerhouse of Europe. It is spoken by more than 120 million people in Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and in parts of Belgium, Northern Italy and Eastern France. It's also one of the two key languages in the EU (the other being French).

You can't say the same of Japan's future in the Asian sector. Why? One word : China.

Take a look at these sources :
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4070/is_198/ai_n6063549
http://www.sjcc.ch/sjcc/FileCabinetPublication/Japan%20in%20Asia.pdf
http://journal.georgetown.edu/Issues/sf03/sf03_forum_seetharam.html

If you wanted to go into trade, I don't think janpanese or german would be the best choice.

Are you kidding? How can you be so sure, assuming you aren't?

quote:

If you plan to go into trade and commerce, japanese would be my suggestion.

Au contraire...

Germany will surpass Japan in the future as the second largest economy in the world.

If you plan to go into trade and commerce, japanese would be my suggestion. But if you're looking for an easier time in a class, I would recommend German. Maybe it was my teacher, but it just seemed so easy. It is a root of the English language, so that makes it easier to pronounce and understand and translate.

german is much easier to learn . But then o guess if you are going into engineering stuff Japanese should make more sense.

I can speak german flunetly, i also took spanish for 3 years.

GERMAN IS WAYYYYY EASY. id take german.

Actually, wavemaster, after studying German for a while, I've realized the whole "German sounds like military commands" thing is mostly a stereotype. But it's not a romantic beautiful language either.

In any case, if you would like to learn a new writing and work at a harder language (but that will ultimately impress others if you learn) go for Japanese.

Anyways, are there any other available choices? If so, consider them as well.

I would choose Finnish, but out of those two, Japanese. If you know Japanese, I'm sure the other coastal languages would come easier. German sounds crude, Japanese is fluent. Which do you like better; which are you willing to work at more?

German is easier to learn.

But I'd have to say that Japanese is more pleasing to the ear.

Celtic is right, Japanese is much harder. It takes many more years to be able to speak it fluently than German.

German is easier and more often used.