German vs Dutch: which should you learn?

Estimates for a native English speaker, following the US Foreign Service Institute’s groupings. Languages the Institute does not rank are placed beside their closest relatives. Your own pace will differ.

• You want access to Europe's largest economy, engineering and science, plus a head start on Dutch and the Scandinavian languages.
• You will use it in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Watch out for: cases, noun genders and verb position are the long part.

• You want an easy step from English and German, and a way into life in the Netherlands.
• You will use it in the Netherlands, Belgium (Flanders) and Suriname.
• You want the faster path: Dutch is the quicker of the two.

Watch out for: the Dutch g and a few vowels; most Dutch people reply in English, so you must insist on speaking.

German. Pronunciation is fairly regular and many words are close to English. Cases, genders and verb position are the real work, and they are easier to absorb as whole sentences than as rules.

Dutch. One of the easier languages for English speakers. Word order and a few sounds are the main things to practise.

In both, the quickest fix for pronunciation is the same: hear a whole sentence, say it out loud and check how close you were. That is the loop 4ToSpeak runs on every sentence.

German and Dutch are close relatives, so a lot carries over. Learn one, and the second takes noticeably fewer hours than starting from scratch. Start with whichever you will use sooner.

If you cannot decide, start both for a week at 15 minutes a day. After seven days you will know which one you look forward to, and motivation matters more than the difference in hours.

Start German or start Dutch, both free with no card.

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