German vs Italian: 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 music, food, art and travel in Italy, with a spelling system that matches how words sound.
• You will use it in Italy, Switzerland and San Marino, with communities around the world.
• You want the faster path: Italian is the quicker of the two.

Watch out for: double consonants and verb forms need steady practice.

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.

Italian. Fairly friendly for English speakers. Pronunciation follows the spelling closely. Verb forms and prepositions are the long part, and they stick better when you meet them in full sentences.

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 Italian are not close relatives, so learning one saves little time on the other. Pick the one you will use soonest, get to a comfortable conversation, and add the second later.

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 Italian, both free with no card.

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