Should I learn German or Korean?

German

The German language, Deutsch, written in Latin script, is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. One of the major languages of the world, it is estimated to have approximately 90–95 million people speaking German as a first language, 10–25 million speaking it as a second language, and 75–100 million speaking it as a foreign language. This would imply approximately 175–220 million German speakers worldwide.

The language is known today as German is believed to have originated from Proto-Germanic, which began to develop around 2000 B.C., as people began to settle in western areas of the Baltic Sea. The first-ever record of the German language dates back to a time when the Romans came into contact with inhabitants of the Rhine-Danube area during their occupation in the first century BC. Since then German has gone through many changes, from Old High German (from about 700 AD to the eleventh century); Middle High German (from about 1050 to 1350); Early New High German (1350 to 1600) to New High German (from about 1600 to the present). Modern-day German, often referred to as “High German”, or Hochdeutsch, used as the language of administration, higher education, literature, and the mass media, is likely to be unrecognisable from the language that the Romans first observed.

It is the most spoken native language within the European Union. German ranks the sixth most popular language in the world, after Chinese, English, Hindi-Urdu, Spanish, and Russian. German is also widely taught as a foreign language, especially in Europe, where it is the third-most taught foreign language after English and French, and the United States. The language has been influential in the fields of science and technology, where it is the second most commonly used scientific language and among the most widely used languages on websites. The German-speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of annual publication of new books, with one-tenth of all books (including e-books) in the world being published in German.

German is an official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a co-official language of Luxembourg, Belgium and parts of southwestern Poland, as well as a national language in Namibia. It is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many varieties existing in Europe and other parts of the world. It is also recognised as a minority language in Brazil (9 municipalities), Czech Republic, Denmark (Syddanmark), Hungary, Romania, Russia (Azovo German National District),  Slovakia (regional).

As with many languages, German has evolved with society and sociopolitical factors have helped shape the language as it is today. New words from other languages have been adopted by German speakers. Others have been introduced into the German language due to more interaction with foreigners either due to migration, trade, war or the development of new technology from cinema to the Internet. 

Korean

On the other hand, Korean, Hangugeo in South Korean; and Chosŏnmal in North Korean, written in Hanguel, is an East Asian language (Altaic/Koreanic language family) spoken by about 82 million people. 

Modern Korean, the language we now know, is an honorific language that evolved around the 15th century, in order from Middle Korean, Old Korean, and finally the Original –  Proto-Koreanic language, that believed to have its linguistic homeland somewhere in Manchuria. The study suggests that the proto-Koreans, already present in northern Korea, expanded into the southern part of the Korean Peninsula at around 300 BC and coexisted or merged with the descendants of the homogeneous Japonic Mumun cultivators (or assimilated them); both had an influence on each other and a later founder effect diminished the internal variety of both language families leading to the evolution of a  single language during the unification of the sixth to the fourteenth century. Due to the ambiguity of the relationship between Korean and other languages, it is believed to be a member of the Altaic family or language isolate. Together with Korean and the Jeju language (spoken in the Jeju Province and considered somewhat distinct) form the Koreanic language family. Grammatically Korean is very similar to Japanese and about 70% of its vocabulary comes from Chinese. It is the official and national language of both Koreas: North Korea and South Korea, with different standardized official forms used in each country, also recognised as a minority language in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture and Changbai Korean Autonomous County of Jilin Province, China. It is also spoken in parts of Sakhalin, Russia and Central Asia.

Besides the Korean peninsula, there are many native Korean speakers living abroad. The regions with the biggest Korean populations are in the United States, China, Japan, Canada, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Russia, Australia, and Kazakhstan, of whom 51.6 million live in South Korea, 25.6 million in North Korea, more than 2.7 million in China, approximately 2 million in the United States, and about 800,000 in Japan.

While Chinese writing has been known in Korea for over 2,000 years, it was used widely during the Chinese occupation of northern Korea from 108 BC to 313 AD. By the 5th century AD, the Koreans were writing in Classical Chinese – the earliest known example of this dates from 414 AD. However, due to the differences between Chinese and Korean, Chinese characters could not adequately denote Korean speech, and, only the elite could afford the time necessary to study Chinese. So King Sejong (1397-1450) the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty, commissioned the invention of a phonetic script both more efficient and more accessible to the common people. 

Later three different systems were devised to write Korean with Chinese characters: Hyangchal (향찰/鄕札), Gukyeol (구결/口訣) and Idu (이두/吏讀). 

I recommend you learn German if:

You intend to do business or seek employment with German, Austrian, Belgium, Swiss, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg firms or firms based out of South Tyrol. Multinational business opportunities subsist throughout the Eastern European countries and the European Union where German is the second widely spoken language after Russian. German will strengthen your resume and improve your career prospects. Apart from this, fluency in German also throws up in numerous job possibilities in medicine and healthcare, education, logistics, automobile, power and utility, mass media, entertainment, tourism, information technology, financial services, outsourcing, etc.

Know that, German is a mother tongue to almost 75 million people and is spoken by a total of over 132 million people. Germany is Europe’s largest economy, fourth-largest by nominal GDP in the world, the world’s second-largest exporter, which makes it an essential language to study. It is a world leader in engineering. German powerhouses like BMW, Volkswagen, Bosch, Daimler, Adidas, Allianz, Deutsche Bank, Siemens, SAP, BASF, and Lufthansa are all established around the world.

You wish to keep ahead of the competition and work in German-speaking countries. Knowledge of a second language can be an extremely valuable asset to employers and employees alike. Modern businesses are always keen to have staff members who can help them with international trade and the German language is especially valuable in the current climate.

You seek the possibility of studying in a German-based academic institution. Since the states fund higher education in the country, a vast majority of Germany’s academic institutions are free for students, even international students. German has the biggest number of resident speakers in the European Union; it is far more than English, French, or Spanish. The German language is amongst the ten most normally spoken languages across the globe. Germany awards a generous number of scholarships and other support to study in Germany. Working holiday visas are available for young foreigners from a range of countries, and special visas are offered to skilled workers and professionals.

You look forward to States as your destination!

A good amount of the original immigrants to America were German who brought with them

many customs and traditions with them to America that have influenced American Culture.. Cultural mainstays such as kindergarten, the Christmas tree, hotdogs/hamburgers/ketchup, and founded many breweries as well as Levi jeans and Hershey’s chocolate were introduced by German immigrants to America. It is estimated that One out of every four Americans nationwide has a German heritage.

You look forward to realizing your dreams of building a startup from a great convincing idea. A new startup is created in the city every 20 minutes. Many of them have been hugely successful – check out SoundCloud, Delivery Hero and Clue. If you’ve got an idea that you’re convinced is the next big thing, Berlin may be the city where you see your dream come true.

You look forward to settling abroad in a country with good life and low cost of living! Germany’s capital, Berlin, is a city with a low cost of living and high quality of life. Along with the cheap rent, Berlin is known for liberal thinking and is the capital of cool in central Europe. 

You aspire to go to Germany, Austria or your dream destination, Switzerland for any reason, business or professional, for the short or long term. By Dec 2020 statistics, Germany had an economy of $3.86 trillion, making it the fourth largest economy worldwide, after China, the US and Japan. It is expected to be at 4.9 trillion by 2024. As far as world exports go, it once again sits comfortably at fourth on the list. Compared to economies in Europe, it has a comfortable lead against both the UK and France, which sat at $2.83 and $2.72 trillion respectively.

You are a budding historian, cultural anthropologist, linguist, archaeologist, and are specializing in German heritage, culture, language, prehistoric ruins respectively, German is a great addition to your repertoire and the destination Germany is a great addition to your travel bucket list.

You are a thorough traveller and you are planning to travel to destinations like Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and other Central and Eastern European countries. In general, those without the ability to speak the language will need to stick to tourist areas, which often means missing out on entire aspects of a country’s culture! Learning German will offer you one of the most enriching experiences you can ever have.

You want to enjoy quality entertainment and crave for a significantly enhanced experience of German movies, telenovelas such as like ‘The lives of others (2006)’, ‘The white ribbon (2009)’, ‘Victoria (2015)’, ‘The wave (2008)’, ‘Labyrinth of Lies (2014) by Giulio Ricciarelli’ and so many more that have been produced in past as many years, especially those, that have not been provided with subtitles. German language skills making Classical music more accessible (Bach, Beethoven, Mozart)!

You are a book lover and enjoy titles from genres such as Art (Kollwitz, Dürer, Klee, Kandinsky), Psychology (Freud, Jung), Philosophy (Kant, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Benjamin, Adorno). 18% of the world’s books are published in German, and few of these hardly appear in English translation.

You are a philologist, you will add a feather to your cap, with German literature that ranks amongst the best in the world from Goethe, Schiller, Thomas Mann, Kafka! 

You have an undying love and humongous appetite for knowledge especially learning new languages. German is fairly straightforward for an English speaker to pick up, as long as you are willing to put the effort in. It does not require students to learn a completely new alphabet and there is less emphasis on tone than many of the Asian languages, such as Korean. 

I recommend you learn Korean if:

You want to work in a recession-free economy. South Korean economy has been recognized by 

financial organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund, for its resilience 

against various economic crises, citing low state debt, and high fiscal reserves that can quickly be mobilized to address any expected financial emergencies. Financial organizations like the World Bank have described Korea as one of the fastest-growing major economies of the next generation along with BRIC and Indonesia. South Korea was one of the few developed countries that were able to avoid a recession during the global financial crisis, and its economic growth rate reached 6.2% in 2010, a sharp recovery from economic growth rates of 2.3% in 2008 and 0.2% in 2009 when the global financial crisis hit.

You seek employment with Korean firms and companies. Korean will strengthen your resume and improve your career prospects in countries such as South Korea, US, Japan, Canada, Russia, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Australia, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Brazil, etc. Thus, Learning Korean can not only connect you to 82 million people worldwide but your ability to speak good Korean could get you hired if a company has to pick one between nearly equal options.

You are focused on Korean markets and intend to do business with them. The economy of South Korea is a highly developed mixed economy dominated by family-owned conglomerates called chaebols. It is the 4th largest GDP in Asia and the 10th largest in the world. then, of course, you need to learn the language of that market. It’s the only way not only to do business with these countries but also to find friends there and create close and long-lasting relationships. South Korea remained one of Asia’s most productive economies and is ranked the 7th largest export economy globally. Through extensive technology development and the advent of the internet, globalization has resulted in the integration of world economies and thus, many South Korean multinationals are finding their way into the World market opening several avenues of employment.

You have an undying love and humongous appetite for knowledge especially learning new languages. Korean Hangul is very simple to understand. It also exposes you to catch up quickly with other areas of the Korean language and culture, bringing us to the hallmark of it all; the Hallyu phenomenon! Korean may look intimidating to English speakers due to its script but with time, learners realise, it’s not as tricky a language as they perceived. Learning Korean also helps open doors to learn other Asian languages such as Japanese and Chinese.

You seek the possibility of studying in a Korean-based academic institution.

You aspire to be in Korean speaking countries such as South Korea, US, Japan, Canada, Russia, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Australia, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Brazil, etc for any reason, business or professional, for the short or long term. According to the recent research report by South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are roughly 2.7 million speakers in China, 51.6 million in South Korea, approximately 2 million in the United States, and about 800,000 in Japan with sizable populations in Canada, Russia, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Australia, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Brazil, etc. 

You are a budding historian, cultural anthropologist, linguist, archaeologist, interested in Asian Studies specializing in Korean heritage, culture, language, prehistoric ruins respectively, then Korean is the way to go!

You are a thorough traveller and you are planning to travel to South Korea. South Korea has been becoming a popular destination for tourists in recent years with the number of travellers to South Korea increasing every year. In general, those without the ability to speak Korean will need to stick to tourist areas, which often means missing out on entire aspects of a country’s culture! Learning Korean will offer you one of the most enriching experiences you can ever have.

You want to enjoy quality entertainment and crave a significantly enhanced experience of Korean movies, K-Drama, and K-pop songs, TV shows, online games and interviews of your choice. Hallyu has swept the world for the past few years. Many Korean celebrities, singers, and groups like BTS, Wanna One, EXO, TWICE, SHINee, AoA, Blue Velvet, Big Bang, Girls Generation are quickly gaining popularity.

You are a philologist, you will add a feather to your cap, with literature written in an honorific that ranks amongst the best in the world! 

Multiple studies, including one from the University of Ghent in Belgium, show that acquiring a second language can help to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease and can postpone dementia symptoms. A similar study from the University of California, San Diego, found a correlation between language proficiency and the extent of the delay. It also helps you relieve yourself of stress, fear, anxiety, and any obsessive-compulsive disorder!

The easiest way to decide which language to choose between German and Korean is to figure out where you want to be. Broadly, if you want to be in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, German is the natural first choice, however, if you want to be in the South-East Asian region Korean it is then! The benefits are endless. 

However, the benefits do not end there. Psychologists Ellen Bialystok and Michelle Martin-Rhee conducted a study that found that bilingual children were better at problem-solving activities than monolingual kids. This is in line with repeated evidence that suggests learning a new language improves overall cognitive function.

There’s an amazing new way to learn German! Click here. and another to learn Korean! To learn Korean Click Here.