Why You Should Learn German

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Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed

Learning to speak German is a great investment in both your social and business life. Some of the most popular reasons to learn to speak German are to communicate with relatives, to prepare to travel in Germany or to study in Germany as an exchange student. 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 is the most populous European nation and German is the most widely spoken language in Europe. 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 the 3rd strongest economy and is the number 1 export nation in the world. The competitiveness and desirability of German products is indicated by the country’s substantial trade surplus. 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. The Germans are great innovators and Germany is on the frontline of new technologies.

But all work and no play makes Jake a dull boy and the German’s also know how to enjoy themselves and are the biggest spenders of tourist dollars in the world. In 2007, the Germans spent a record 91 billion euros on international travel. It’s understandable that the best way to profit from the German tourist industry is to speak the language.

Don’t fool yourself by 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 a very rich 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. The philosophies of Kant, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche and numerous others have had lasting influences on modern society. 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. If that’s the case, you’d be 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. Also learning German can be really fun when you use resources like this free learning German podcast..

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