Why Become More Fluent in German?

Some people say that there is no benefit to learning German and that Spanish is a much more important language. If you believe this is true, ask yourself these two questions:

1. How many companies or major corporations can you name which come from one of the 20+ countries in Latin America?
2. How many companies can you name that come from just Germany?

If you mentioned Adidas, Hugo Boss, DaimlerChrysler (Mercedes Benz and Chrysler), BMW, Porsche, Volkswagen, Audi, Lufthansa, T-Mobile (T-Mobile is part of Deutsche Telekom, which is Europe's largest telecommunication corporation.), Bayer, Siemens, and Krupp, these are just twelve of the 1,500 German corporations which conduct business throughout the United States.

CBS News Anchor, Dan Rather on the Importance of Learning German:

"If you haven't thought about it lately, now is as good a time as any to consider this. There are three and only three great, truly great economies in the world today. Three economic super powers. Two of them, the United States and Japan get plenty of attention, lots of ink and loads of airtime. The third does not. It is Germany. The U.S. and Japan are the world's leading economic super powers, one, two, in that order, but Germany is the third and not that far behind Japan, especially given the Japanese economy's current problems."

"With that in mind two points are worth pondering. One, Germany is about to enter a period where its economy figures to become bigger and stronger because it is the center, the heart of a new overall European economic entity. German banks, German industry and business is the engine, the center of gravity for this whole new effort at European economic integration."

"The second point is that Germany increasingly is buying into the U.S.A. Taking over in some cases, merging with in others, US banks, businesses and industry. Everything from publishing to auto making. The Japanese have been doing this for a long while. So have the Germans, but now the Germans are accelerating their investment in America. In the sweep of history, this is a major development. One that tends to get overlooked in the hurly-burly of daily headlines." Dan Rather, CBS News.

Other Important Reasons

German students score higher on the SAT than students who study other languages (1997 study)

The University of California System, which includes UCLA and UC-Berkeley, has 58 majors which require or recommend German as part of their program. Compare this to 45 for French, 27 for Spanish, and 7 for Japanese. Many other university systems in the U.S. follow the University of California's lead, because of its reputation for excellence.

http://www.monster.com/ , a great job search website, rated German one of the hot languages to learn. Russian and Chinese are included.

The average high school student studies Spanish. Be above average, study German! German will stand out on your college applications.

German is the 3rd most commonly spoken language in U.S. homes. (2000 U.S. Census)

German is closely related to English. English is actually a Germanic language. In other words, both German and English came from the same language family. Both Spanish and French are Romantic languages, not Germanic.

From the Princeton Review:

If you’ve always wanted to read Goethe’s Faust in its original language, can’t stand your translation of Nietzsche, or simply dream of going off to the Bavarian Alps to listen to Mozart, German might be the right major for you. In addition to learning the language inside and out, a German major is also an opportunity to explore the rich culture and history of Germany. Here you can learn about everything from Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation to Frederick Barbarossa and the Holy Roman Empire; from Otto von Bismarck and the Prussian Empire to Wilhelm II and the German Empire. In the process, you’ll expand your knowledge of some of the most significant events in world history.

German thinkers, writers, and artists have played pivotal roles in defining all aspects of Western culture. From music to philosophy to science to literature, you’ll find a German influence. A major in German is your opportunity to understand those influences up close and personal.

On a more practical level, with the global economy becoming more tightly interwoven, national corporations are becoming multi-national, creating a greater demand for people with foreign language skills and knowledge of foreign cultures. Germany is the largest, most powerful European economy (think BMW and DaimlerChrysler here), which means that the prospects for young German majors looking to get into business are good.

From a Grad Student in German at the University of Wisconsin:

Lots of people ask me: why German? Why German Literature? I don't have a pat answer to that, despite the number of times I've had to attempt a response. I simply started learning German in high school, caught the "language bug," as my teacher described it, and took up French, Italian, and a little Spanish, as well as some self-instructed Latin and a tiny bit of Swedish on the side. If it helps any, some people speculate that I'm rebelling against the prevailing norm in my family: my mother's a mathematician, my father's an engineer, my brother's a physicist, my other brother's a computer programmer, and even my grandmother had an intense interest in astronomy. So here am I, the sole liberal arts major. Ah well. I don't think it's rebellion, but I don't mind the characterization.