Dyslexia and German language

zoby

Just wondering if anyone has any information about dyslexia and foreign languages.


My daughter is dyslexic and has an exemption from Irish. She is starting secondary school in September and will be doing French and possibly German. The school is really pushing German as the class size is small and the results to date have been impressive.


She is very bright and (apart from the obvious spelling problems) her english tests are excellent. Would i be correct in thinking that German would be suitable for her??

thanks

Daniel S

zoby wrote: »

Just wondering if anyone has any information about dyslexia and foreign languages.


My daughter is dyslexic and has an exemption from Irish. She is starting secondary school in September and will be doing French and possibly German. The school is really pushing German as the class size is small and the results to date have been impressive.


She is very bright and (apart from the obvious spelling problems) her english tests are excellent. Would i be correct in thinking that German would be suitable for her??

thanks

I'm in leaving cert now, my brother is in 3rd year now and also has dyslexia, but I guess it's a bit "mild" :rolleyes: He blames his teacher for everything (albeit she is hopeless) and he is finding reading hard, but speaking and listen very easy. German is very similar to English and my JC teacher and LC teacher (Who both speak French and German) both say German is much easier, especially for English speaking people as they are both Germanic languages. German can be quite logical so if she's that way orientated, I'd say go for it.

xxtattyberxx

German over French is an easier option, French verbs are very difficult. BUT if your daughter is excempt from Irish over her Dyslexia would she not be entitled to be except from learning languages?

Toyota_Avensis

as above, surely if she's exempt from Irish, she's exempt from her foreign language? Also, if she's a case of dyslexia which allows her to learn French or German, than she shouldn't really not be taking Irish. Just my 2Cs... Learning French myself and in hindsight I should have choosen German.

Chuchoter

Is there an option to do both for first year. A lot of people say German is the easier option, I found French much more intuitive. German grammar is hard and all the words sound the same.

mstorres

Having studied both French and German through secondary school and in first year of college, I decided to keep German on for the remainder of my degree, in fact I'm currently on ERASMUS in Germany. German was always my preferred language of the two, not because it is easier, just personal preference. German pronunciation is easier, but the grammar is much harder, for example, there are three genders in comparison to two in French, and the German system has a case system, meaning that the article and adjectives preceding a noun change depending on the sentence.

So for example,that is the good man -Das ist der gute Mann(nominative)
but, I see the good man - Ich sehe den guten Mann(accusative)
and, I give the book to the good man - Ich gebe dem guten Mann das Buch(dative)
and, that is the good man's dog - Das ist der Hund des guten Mannes(genetive)

Therfore you can see the same construction "the good man" varies. Der Man is a masculine word, therefore you also have feminine words (eg. Die Frau - the woman), and neuter (eg. das Kind- the child). These also have their own declension. German grammar is quite intricate.

I point this out, not to discourage your child from learning German, as I quite like to promote it! However, it is good to make an informed decision. I would reccomend that you talk to the German teacher, as s/he would be in a better position to advise you.

Good luck!:)

Zed1

zoby wrote: »

Just wondering if anyone has any information about dyslexia and foreign languages.


My daughter is dyslexic and has an exemption from Irish. She is starting secondary school in September and will be doing French and possibly German. The school is really pushing German as the class size is small and the results to date have been impressive.


She is very bright and (apart from the obvious spelling problems) her english tests are excellent. Would i be correct in thinking that German would be suitable for her??

thanks

My friend does German and is quite good at it but she's dyslexic too. She's, like your daughter, exempt from Irish. She says that words in German are said the way they're spelt (I forget what that's called...) unlike Irish and French, so that's why she's good at it. Not sure if your daughter's the same or not.

Personally I think it'd be wise if she does German instead of French as the language is easier than German (I've done both so...) but I could be biased. Are you able to test out the two languages? Like do French for two weeks and German for another two? I did that in September when I was deciding what optional subject I would choose.

If you ignore the spelling and grammar challenges in German, it's actually a fun and cool language to learn. I do it and I love it. Good luck.