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Yes, it is, most certainly. If you are fluent in English either as your first, second, or third language, German is your next best bet. Similarly, I notice Germans are very enthusiastic learners of English, possibly more so than for their next preferred foreign languages of French or Italian, which are also popular among Germans.
I have studied multiple foreign languages in my life, and I have to admit, that as a speaker of English as a first language, German was incredibly easy and intuitive, despite many of the obvious gaps between English and German. The biggest reason is that both originate from the Germanic language family and share a vast common vocabulary, possibly even grammatical concepts.
Now, for sure modern English is much farther removed from its Germanic roots compared to German. English is much more heavily Latin, even French influenced, and has moved closer along the spectrum to Romance languages. But it still does not change the considerable advantage English speakers have in learning German from scratch.
Consider the following:
Alone/Allein
Son/Sohn
Thick/Dick
Have/Haben
Hand/Hand
School/Schule
That/Das
Based on this sample, can you automatically realize how English and German are practically sisters that undergo simple changes in mere letters and nothing else? To an English speaker, German all but sounds like a funny version of English.
You have to also consider that German phonetics are nice and even like English phonetics, only containing certain harder sounds not found in English. So you also do not have the added problem of syllables running into one another, such as in Spanish or Italian, and wonder what was just said. On an auditory level, German is more reasonable on the English ear.
Now, I will make mention of a final point regarding the grammar. German grammar is notorious for being among the more difficult that often drives foreign learners away. There are certainly more grammatical rules and conventions in German which English speakers have no idea about. Some of the most glaring examples are the 3 articles, moreover keeping in mind which article goes with which noun, multiple ways to pluralize singular nouns, and the 4 cases and their corresponding declensions.
I agree that for a typical English speaker or any foreigner attempting to learn German, the combination of these unique grammatical facets in German can be a serious handful when you are so used to utilizing one case, one gender/article, and one pluralization the whole time, speaking language in a straightforward manner without many alterations.
That sure keeps your mind very busy when attempting to master German to near-native perfection and correction that will not put off the native speakers.
But the good news for you is, despite that multiple rules, most of the time, they follow set formulas which is you study the mechanics, you will fair a lot better in mastering the rules as a foreigner. If there are 5 different ways to pluralize nouns, there will be criteria as to when to use which plural. If there are 3 different articles or genders, there is a phonetic reasoning behind each. And the requirements for when to use each case are well established and completely logical.
Hence, these fancy rules actually continue to follow rules and regularity and are not arbitrary.
English speakers who study German and initially grapple with the grammar undergo this fascinating process of learning and discovery of how and why languages function in an acutely grammatical manner that led to the rise of all these rules in the first place. It's a next level of language science you just do not get to experience at least so consciously aware during everyday English.
As much as junior high students grapple with their assignments on transitive and intransitive verbs, direct and indirect objects in their English classes, they sure will be forced to pay attention in their German classes and understand grammar and linguistic logic far better. And then return to their English classes to hopefully ace all of the grammar assignments.
Happy learning!
Addendum: Now that I shared the perspective of an English speaker learning German and how German sounds or seems to us, I would most certainly now be interested in the reverse perspective of How German speakers view English or feel about English, learning it and how it sounds. As somebody who thinks constantly in German, how particularly do you feel about seeing the slight differences in letters or sounds in an otherwise very similar word? I would actually be interested in digging back into history on German-centric attitudes towards the Anglo sphere, say in early modern times of Shakespeare, Goethe, when Germans were first likely more in contact with Great Britain, before America came about into serious existence and took over the Anglosphere from its original seat in England. In other words, let me know how you feel about British English before offering thoughts on American English.
If you care to let me know in the comments below that would be wonderful! Thanks!
