· 7 min read
German vs Japanese: Which Should You Learn?
By Language Lab editorial team
German vs Japanese compared with official figures: about 828 class hours against 2,200 for English speakers. See grammar, scripts, exams and free courses.
German is much quicker for an English speaker to learn than Japanese. The US State Department allows about 36 weeks, or 828 class hours, for German, and 88 weeks, or 2,200 class hours, for Japanese, which it places in its hardest category. The reasons are different in kind. German's work is grammar: noun gender, four cases, separable verbs and word order. Japanese adds a new writing system on top of everything else: three types of characters, including 2,136 kanji on the official list for general use. Both have strong official exams, the Goethe-Zertifikat and TestDaF for German and the JLPT for Japanese, and both have free courses from public broadcasters. If time is your constraint, German; if Japan is your goal, the extra hours are simply the price.
The numbers
| German | Japanese | |
|---|---|---|
| State Department category | Category II | Category IV, super-hard languages |
| Class time | About 36 weeks (828 class hours) | 88 weeks (2,200 class hours) |
| At 10 hours a week | About 83 weeks | 220 weeks |
| Script | The Latin alphabet | Hiragana, katakana and kanji used together |
| Main official exams | Goethe-Zertifikat A1 to C2; TestDaF | JLPT N5 to N1 |
| Exam scale | 1.1 million Goethe exams taken in 2025 | About 1.9 million JLPT applicants in 2025 |
| Free public course | Deutsche Welle, A1 to C1 | NHK WORLD-JAPAN's Easy Japanese; the Japan Foundation's Irodori, A1 to B1 |
By the State Department's figures Japanese takes more than two and a half times as many class hours as German. Its timelines give the time usually expected for English-speaking students to reach a speaking and listening score of 3 on the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) scale, and it notes that actual time varies with ability, prior language-learning experience and time in the classroom.
Where German is hard
Deutsche Welle's grammar overview for learners shows where the effort goes.
- Noun gender and articles. Deutsche Welle runs a separate trainer just for der, die and das.
- Cases: the nominative, accusative, dative and genitive, plus prepositions that take two cases.
- Verbs: separable verbs, modal verbs and vowel changes in the present tense.
- Word order, with its own group of pages on statements, questions and subordinate clauses.
The Goethe-Institut's rough guideline is approximately 260 to 490 hours of instruction to complete B1, and 600 to 750 for C1.
Where Japanese is hard
- Three scripts. NHK's beginner course explains that Japanese uses hiragana, katakana and kanji; the first two are phonetic and each kanji stands for a meaning.
- Kanji. The government's Jōyō Kanji Table lists 2,136 characters for general use.
- Honorific language. NHK teaches keigo as its own topic, with lessons on speaking to and about a superior.
- Listening. The top JLPT level expects lectures and news at natural speed.
The exams
| German | Japanese | |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | One Goethe exam per level, A1 to C2; TestDaF reports TDN 3, 4 or 5 | One JLPT exam per level, N5 to N1 |
| Skills | Reading, listening, writing and speaking | Language knowledge, reading and listening; no speaking or writing section |
| Passing | Goethe B1: 60 points out of 100 in each module | An overall pass mark out of 180 and a minimum in each section |
| Modules | Goethe modules from B1 to C2 can be taken and certified individually | A minimum score is required in every section of the level |
| Sessions | Offered at Goethe-Instituts and exam partners worldwide | Twice in 2026: 5 July and 6 December |
What each opens up
- German: the Goethe-Institut says its certificates are used as proof of German for visa procedures, professional recognition and university registration. TestDaF at TDN 4 in all four parts admits you to almost all study programmes.
- Japanese: the JLPT's organisers list uses in Japan's immigration procedures, including points for N1 and N2 under the system for highly skilled professionals, N2 as a benchmark for higher education, and N4 for the Specified Skilled Worker (i) status.
Who else is learning
The Open University notes that almost 100 million people speak German as their main language, most of them in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The Japan Foundation's 2024 survey counted 4,000,750 people learning Japanese at institutions in 143 countries and regions, the highest figure it has recorded.
Free ways to try both
- German: Deutsche Welle's Nicos Weg, a video course for beginners at A1 with detailed grammar pages, free of charge.
- Japanese: NHK's Easy Japanese, 48 conversation lessons for beginners, with hiragana and katakana charts to download.
- Try a week of each. German will have you reading from the first day; Japanese will have you learning to read.
How to choose
- You have limited time and want to reach working level: German, at about 828 class hours.
- Your plans are in Germany, Austria or Switzerland: German.
- Your plans are in Japan: Japanese. JLPT levels are written into several immigration routes.
- You want the bigger challenge and enjoy scripts: Japanese, with open eyes about the 2,200 hours.
Language Lab offers both. Its German and Japanese courses are built around voiced real-life scenarios with an AI tutor.
Frequently asked
Is German easier than Japanese?
For English speakers, yes, by a wide margin. The US State Department allows about 828 class hours for German and 2,200 for Japanese.
How much longer does Japanese take than German?
More than two and a half times as many class hours by State Department figures: 88 weeks against about 36.
What is hard about German?
Grammar. Deutsche Welle's grammar overview lists noun gender, the accusative, dative and genitive cases, two-case prepositions, separable verbs and subordinate clauses.
What is hard about Japanese?
The writing system above all: hiragana, katakana and kanji used together, with 2,136 kanji on the official general-use list. Honorific language is a further layer.
Which exam tests speaking, Goethe or JLPT?
The Goethe-Zertifikat does: its B1 exam has Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking modules. The JLPT has no speaking or writing section.
Can I learn both for free to start with?
Yes. Deutsche Welle offers German courses free of charge from A1 to C1, and NHK WORLD-JAPAN offers the 48-lesson Easy Japanese course.
Sources: US Department of State, National Foreign Affairs Training Center, Foreign Language Training; Deutsche Welle, Learn German and Grammar Overview; Goethe-Institut, German examinations A1–C2, Goethe-Zertifikat B1 terms and London FAQ; TestDaF-Institut; The Open University, OpenLearn, Getting started with German 1; NHK WORLD-JAPAN, Easy Japanese and Learn Japanese; Agency for Cultural Affairs, Jōyō Kanji Table; Japanese-Language Proficiency Test, official pages; The Japan Foundation, Survey on Japanese-Language Education Abroad 2024 and Irodori. Checked on 13 October 2026. Photo: Neuschwanstein Castle from the Marienbrücke, Diego Delso / CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons).
