Why You Should Learn German
Posted by admin | Under accredited online universities Wednesday Jul 8, 2009Learning the German language is an excellent way to expand your personal and professional horizons. Popular reasons for people to start learning German are to make the most of holidays in Germany, be able to chat with German relatives and prepare for study exchange programs in Germany. While these are all good reasons to learn German, you might be surprised to discover just how many other great reasons there are that you’ve never considered. These are some that come to mind:
Germany has the largest population of all the European countries and the language is very widely spoken internationally. Learning German can connect you with 120 million native speakers around the globe and you might be surprised to learn that German is the 3rd most popular foreign language taught worldwide. Learning German will allow you to communicate with German speakers all across the world and not just the Germans, Austrians and the Swiss in their respective countries.
Germany is the economic powerhouse of the European Union and one of the biggest international exporters. Germany’s international trade earnings are proof of the high demand for German goods. Germany’s economic strength means business opportunities not only in Germany itself, but also throughout the European Union as well as in the United States. Germany exports more high-tech products than any other country apart from the U.S. so Germany is a country of innovation.
With ample disposable income and an average of 6 weeks of vacation a year, German’s have both the time and means to travel. Year after year the German’s spend more on foreign travel than any other nation. It’s understandable that the best way to profit from the German tourist industry is to speak the language.
Also don’t be fooled into thinking that German is a language of the past. The only language markets that produce more books annually than the Germans are the Chinese and English publishing industries. As very few German books are translated into English, the only way to appreciate these books is by learning to speak German.
German speaking countries have made a huge contribution to the world’s cultural heritage. The Germans are well known for their poets, classical musicians and great philosophers. The world of classical music is inseparable from the names of Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Strauss and Wagner to name a handful of the famous German speaking composers. The psychologists Freud and Jung forever changed the way we think about human behavior. Knowing German allows you to access the works of these people in their original language allowing you a more in depth appreciation of their work. Even if your not so interested in Germany on an intellectual level the high quality of life in German speaking countries may well be of interest to you.
You might be thinking that this sounds good in theory but the German language is too difficult to learn. Well you’re wrong! I think you’d be surprised to discover just how similar English is to German. Due to their common heritage, German and English share many similarities in both vocabulary and grammar. Also once you learn the German system of sounds, it’s easy to predict how the spoken word is written and how the word is pronounced. Besides learning German can be loads of fun, especially if you make use of resources like this free learn German podcast.
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