Why You Should Learn German

It’s a fact that if you learn to speak German you will be giving yourself huge advantages in your professional career not to mention expanding your personal horizons. Some popular reasons for people to start learning German include being able to talk with German family, preparing for an exchange program at a German institution and for taking holidays in Germany. But there are in fact so many other great reasons to learn to speak German that people never consider. 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. So German will not only allow you to build relationships with people in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein but also German speakers all over the world.  

Germany has one of the strongest economies and is one of the world’s top export nations. The competitiveness and desirability of German products is indicated by the country’s substantial trade surplus. Knowing German creates many business opportunities, not just in Germany itself but also internationally. If you’re in the field of research you will discover that Germany is a country committed to research and development.

While German workers are highly productive, it is clear they know how to play just as hard as they work. Year after year the German’s spend more on foreign travel than any other nation. Tourism companies, airlines, hotels and car rental businesses that can communicate in German will profit from the German tourism industry.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that the German language is dying. 1 in 10 books in the world is published in German, which is further proof that German is a country of researchers and scholars. Since only a small percentage of German books are translated into other languages, only if you learn the German language will you enjoy access to the vast majority of these titles.

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. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Thomas Mann, Franz Kafka and Hermann Hesse are just a few authors whose names and works are well known internationally. Scientists from the three major German speaking countries have won dozens of Nobel prizes in physics, chemistry and medicine. 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 the cultural significance of Germany is of minor importance to you, you may still be attracted to high quality of live in German speaking countries.

You might be thinking that this sounds good in theory but the German language is too difficult to learn. Well you’re wrong! If English is your native language then you already have a huge advantage when it comes to learning German. Modern German and modern English both evolved from the common ancestor language Germanic. Also convenient is that German words are spelled phonetically. Besides, learning German is fun when you make use of these German language podcasts.