Learning Burmese, Learning German

Burmese is a tonal language with five tones, while German has a mostly analytic, non-tonal structure. Burmese has subject–object–verb word order, while German has a variety of different word orders, all of which are relatively flexible. Burmese has little inflection, while German has three genders and strong inflection of verbs, nouns and adjectives. Burmese has free word order and German has fixed word order.

Burmese is a member of the Sino-Tibetan language family, while German is a member of the Indo-European language family. Burmese is written in a script called Myanmar, which is derived from the Mon script, while German is written in the Latin alphabet.

The two languages also have different phonologies. Burmese has 37 phonemes, while German has around 30. The two languages also have different consonant inventories, with German having more fricatives and Burmese having more affricates.

Burmese has a complex system of honorifics and addressing people by their profession, while German has a simpler system of addressing people by their title and last name.

Finally, the two languages have different approaches to time. Burmese has a system of cyclical time, where events are seen as happening in cycles, while German has a linear view of time, where events happen in a straight line.