What's German like?

Describing a language is not easy, especially if you're describing it to someone who only speaks English, as there is no frame of reference. Here are a few of my observations:

• English is a Germanic language, so German and English have a lot in common. For example, some vocabulary is virtually identical.
• German is a very structured language with a much more complex grammer than English. I believe people can begin speaking English quickly (though imperfectly) because it is simple. I think German has a much steeper learning curve.
• Because of the complexity of German grammer, an understanding of English grammer is essential to understanding German. If you can't identify the subject, verb and object in an English sentence, I would assume that learning proper German will be difficult.
• German was influenced heavily by Latin both grammatically and in terms of vocabulary. Speaking a Latin language (Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian or Romanian) is an advantage.
• Pronunciation is much more consistant in German than in English. There are some sounds in German that aren't found in English (and vice versa of course).