Why take German?
Relevance
Some people say that there is no benefit to learning German and that Spanish is much more important to Colorado. If you believe this is true, ask yourself these two questions:
1. How many companies or major corporations can you name which come from ANY of the more than twenty countries in Latin America?
2. How many companies can you name that come from German speaking countries?
If you mentioned: Adidas, Bosch, Hugo Boss, Daimler (Mercedes Benz and Freightliner), BMW, Porsche, Volkswagen, Audi, SolarWorld (the largest porducer of photovoltaic panals in the US), Lufthansa, T- Mobile, Bayer, SAP, Krups, Keurig, Siemens, Uber, ThyssenKrupp or Henkel (Right Gaurd, Dial Soap, Duck Tape, Purex belong to Henkel) these are just nineteen of the 1,500 German corporations which conduct business throughout the western part of the United States. Many of these same companies have business interests in Colorado. Maybe you even mentioned the Grand Junction companies D. T. Swiss Spokes, or Schauenburg Flexadux!
Important Reasons
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. Among the majors specifically recommending German are: Anatomy, Art History, Biochemistry, Biomedicine, Botany, Chemistry, Film Studies, Genetics, Linguistics, Logic and Methodology of Science, Molecular Biology, Music, Near Eastern Studies, Philosophy, Physical Science, Physics, Physiology, Religious Studies, Zoology. Many other university systems in the U.S. follow the University of California's lead, because of its reputaion for excellence.
The European Union has 29 Member States. The EU is rapidly becoming a huge economic rival that the United States cannot ignore. Germany is an extremely powerful member of the EU, if not the most powerful member. Knowing German will increase your opportunities for financial success in Europe.
For the second year in a row Angela Merkel, the first female Chancellor of Germany, ranks No. 1 on the Forbes' list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women. Reported by Elizabeth MacDonald and Chana R. Schoenberger on August 30, 2007.
More than 2/3 of the world's international trade fairs and congresses are held in Germany.
Germany was the largest world exporter in 2016 and 2017.
Germany was rated as the most popular country in the world in the annual BBC international poll, 2017
Germany was rated as the most popular country in the world in the annual BBC international poll, May 2013.
Angela Merkel is named the most influential woman in the world by Forbes Magazine in 2017.
Angela Merkel is named Time magazine's most Important Person of the Year for 2015.
Angela Merkel was ranked as the most influential woman in the world by Forbes Magazine in 2013.
Angela Merkel was ranked in the top 4 of Forbes' list of the World's Most powerful People for 2011.
Germany is the second most powerful country in the world when graded on 22 different criteria. Source: The Power Game, By: Sparks, John D., Gates, Guilbert, Newsweek, 12/22/2003, Vol. 142, Issue 25
According to the 2007 Mercer Human Resource Consulting's ranking of the world's top cities judged by quality of life, 7 cities in German speaking countries are ranked among the top 10: 3 in Switzerland, 3 in Germany, and 1 in Austria!
Over 120 million people in Europe learn German as their native language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein.
Forbes magazine named Angela Merkel (the German Chancellor) as the most influential woman in the world for 2011.
Germany has the largest population and economy in Europe.
Germany is again being named the world's largest exporter nation for 2007. This is the fifth year in a row!
Deutsche Bank is the world's 3rd largest bank and the second largest mortgage holder in the United States.
In a recent poll (2002), 58% of Europeans named German the most important European langauage after English.
Monster.com, a great job search website, rated German one of the hot languages to learn. Russian and Chinese are included.
German is the 3rd most commonly spoken language in U.S. homes. (2000 U.S. Census)
Study German! You will stand out on your college applications!
Examples why German is NOT difficult to learn!
German is not any more difficult to learn than Spanish or any other language. Because English and German are both Germanic languages, it might even be easier. Look at the list of words below. These are German cognates. Cognates are words that either look or sound nearly the same as the English meaning. The English is first followed by the German.
Family: father - Vater, mother - Mutter, brother - Bruder, sister - Schwester, aunt - Tante, uncle - Onkel, nephew - Neffe, cousin - Kusine, baby - Baby, man - Mann, hound - Hund, cat - Katze Food: salt and pepper - Salz und Pfeffer, sugar - Zucker, water - Wasser, banana - Banane, melon - Melone, apple - Apfel, orange - Orange, coffee - Kaffee, milk - Milch, apricot - Aprikose Verbs: dance - tanzen, sing - singen, swim - schwimmen, come - kommen, sit - sitzen, drink - trinken, bathe - baden, stink - stinken, ride - reiten, sail - segeln, reserve - reservieren Months: January - Januar, February - Februar, March - Mrz, April - April, May - Mai, June - Juni, July - Juli, August - August, September - September, October - Oktober, November - November, December - Dezember Days of the Week: Sunday - Sonntag, Monday - Montag, Tuesday - Dienstag, Wednesday - Mittwoch, Thursday - Donnerstag, Friday - Freitag, Saturday - Samstag Clothes: t-shirt - T-Shirt, shoe - Schuh, sock - Socke, blouse - Bluse, jacket - Jacke, ring - Ring, ear ring - Ohrring, belt - Grtel, hat - Hut School: school - Schule, P.E. - Sport, math - Mathe, biology - Biologie, chemistry - Chemie, physiks - Physik, English - Englisch, religion - Religion, band - Band, choir - Chor City: theater - Theater, bank - Bank, museum - Museum, park - Park, zoo - Zoo, house - Haus, swimming pool - Schwimmbad, cafe - Cafe, restaurant - Restaurant, bakery - Bckerei Adjectives: cold - kalt, old - alt, new - neu, windy - windig, sonny - sonnig, good - gut, wonderful - wunderbar, super - super, cool - cool, fair - fair House: house - Haus, bed - Bett, lamp - Lampe, book - Buch, chair - Stuhl, sofa - Sofa, computer - Computer, mouse - Maus, telephone - Telefon, paper - Papier, projector - Projektor The list of words could go on and on, but you get the idea. (Idea in German is Idee.)
Fun German Facts
1. Did you know ...
-The men's German Nation Soccer Team won the World Cup in 2014.
-2013 saw the first German-German match for the Champions League Soccer Final: Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund.
-The men's German National Soccer Team has been in 13 World Cup Quarter Finals, won the World Cup 4 times and came in 3rd place in the 2006 and 2010 World Cups.
-The woman's German National Soccer Team has won the World Cup in both 2003 and 2007!
-Germany (30) was just behind the USA (37) in the number of medals won in the 2010 Olympic Games.
-Germany was the most successful nation at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
-a German company was hired to clean Mt. Rushmore in 2005.
-a German company was hired to bore tunnels under NYC in 2012.
-The Skywalk in the Grand Canyon was built by a two German companies.
-the largest group of foreigns who vacation in Colorado is from German speaking countries!
-Leonardo DiCaprios grandmother is German? That his middle name is Wilhelm?
-Sandra Bullocks mother is German? That Sandra speaks German?
-basketball pros Dirk Nowitski & Detlef Schrempf are German?
-Shaquille O'Neal speaks German & considers himself the best German basketball player.
-supermodels Heidi Klum and Claudia Schiffer are also German?
-action film star and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in Austria?
-German film director Wolfgang Peterson made Das Boot, Air Force, One, The Perfect Storm, and other blockbusters?
-German film director Roland Emmerich made Godzilla, Independence Day, The Patriot, and more hit films?
-German is the second most popular language on the internet after English?
2. Have you ever ...
-visited the Denver Art Museum? It was designed by the German architect Daniel Liebeskind.
-eaten a Hershey bar or had a Hersheys candy kiss? Milton Hersheys ancestors came from Germany and Switzerland.
-eaten candy corn? You can thank Gustav and Albert Goelitz - German candymakers.
-eaten a Tootsie roll? You can thank Leo Hirschfield, an Austrian immigrant candymaker.
-eaten Riesen chocolates or Werther's Originals? They are German candies.
-had Heinz ketchup? H. J. Heinzs parents came from Germany.
-been x-rayed? You can thank a German - Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen - who discovered x-rays.
-known anyone who was saved by Chemotherapy? You can thank a German - Paul Ehrlich - who discovered it.
-watched a t.v. program and a doctor mentions EKG? EKG stands for Elektrokardiogram. It monitors the heart. A German invented it.
-heard of anthrax? You can thank Robert Koch, the German scientist who discovered it.
-been to a wedding? Then youve heard The Wedding March by German composer Felix Mendelssohn.
3. Have you read ...
-Bambi? It was written by Felix Salten, an Austrian writer.
-Little Red Riding Hood? Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty or any other fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm? They come from Germany.
-Curious George? It was written by Hans and Margret Rey, who grew up in Germany.
-Green Eggs and Ham? Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) grew up in a German-speaking family.
-Lord of the Rings? J. R. R. Tolkiens last name is originally German - Tollkhn.
4. Have you seen ...
-The Lion King? The musical score was written by Hans Zimmer, an Austrian.
-The Sound of Music? The whole story is about the von Trapp family and their escape from Austria, the music by Rodgers & Hammerstein - Oscar Hammerstein.
-The Parent Trap? The story is from a German story, Das doppelte Lottchen, by Erich Kstner.
-The Wizard of Oz? L. Frank Baum, the author of the book, had ancestors from Germany.
-The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus? The father of the Ringlings came from Germany.
5. Have you heard of ...
-The Ritz Hotel ? It was founded by a Swiss man, Cesar Ritz.
-Gummy bears? They come from Germany where theyre called Gummibren.
-Levis jeans? They were started by Levi Strauss, a German immigrant to America.
-Rottweiler dogs? They originated in Rottweil, Germany.
-Smuckers jelly? Originally named Schmucker - the family came to Ohio from Switzerland.
-Zinnias? This flower was discovered by J. G. Zinn, a German botanist.
6. Did you also know ...
-MP3 audio comptrssion technology was developed at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany.
-the worlds oldest zoo is in Vienna, Austria?
-the worlds largest zoo is in Berlin, Germany?
-the Brooklyn Bridge was designed by Johann Roebling, a German?
-PEZ candy & dispensers were first created by Edward Haas, an Austrian?
-velcro was invented by a Swiss scientist, George de Mestral?
-Time magazines Man of the Century was Albert Einstein, a German physicist?
-Johannes Gutenberg - a German - was chosen Man of the Millennium for inventing the printing press?
-Stanford University has a German motto ? Its "Die Luft der Freiheit weht." (Sign up for German to learn what it means!)
-The last two words asked at the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee were "weltschmerz" and "ursprache." Knowing those brought the winner $42,000!
Testimonials
The testimonials below are from people who have experienced or witnessed the value and importance of learning German.
CBS News Anchor, Dan Rather on the Importance of Lerning 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 stronge because it is the center, the heart of a new overall European economic entity. One that will have among other things, eventually its own currency. German banks, German industry and business will be 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, as we head into the 21st century, this may be a major development. One that tends to get overlooked in the hurly-burly of daily headlines."
Dan Rather, CBS News, (January 5, 1999) I have a friend David, who is working for General Motors and has been transferred top the plant in Honeoye Falls, NY (South of Rochester) to work as a lead engineer on the fuel cell car. One of the reasons he got that assignment was that they have a parallel venture in Germany, and his knowledge of German helped! He was told he had to get a passport and he would be spending quite a bit of time in Germany as well as accompanying German engineers here in the states when they come over to check out our developments! You never know when a foreign language is going to come in handy! (I'm sure you have heard this type of story several times before, but I thought I'd add one more to your store house!). Larry Crutchley of New York (2002) I have another example of learning German and its importance for employment. My daughter is in her second year of law school at Columbia University. At this time, the law firms hire students as next year's summer associates. The associateships are meant to lead to permanent employment when students finish their degree. After interviews, my daughter had the pick of several big NY law firms. She finally settled for one rated among the top 5 US law firms. Her ability to speak German was a major asset in this process. Just about every top law firm has branches in Frankfurt, Munich or Berlin or in several of these cities. The companies took her language proficiency so seriously that, among others, they sent German speakers to interview her. When I asked my daughter recently how much she thinks her knowledge of German has helped her, she answered: "Tons!! Both with getting admitted to law school and getting hired." German is not the only language that can help students in a law career. Companies have offices from Paris to Bejing, but German language ability is definitely one of the most desirable and is becoming rare enough to make candidates stand out. After three years of law school, working for a New York company, these students start with a base salary of $125,000. Not bad. And the ability to communicate fluently is definitely more important than making zero mistakes. DJ Kiernan from California (2002)
Reasons to Learn German by Pazifischer Rundschau
Some people say that there is no benefit to learning German and that Spanish is much more important to Colorado. If you believe this is true, ask yourself these two questions:
1. How many companies or major corporations can you name which come from ANY of the more than twenty countries in Latin America?
2. How many companies can you name that come from German speaking countries?
If you mentioned: Adidas, Bosch, Hugo Boss, Daimler (Mercedes Benz and Freightliner), BMW, Porsche, Volkswagen, Audi, SolarWorld (the largest porducer of photovoltaic panals in the US), Lufthansa, T- Mobile, Bayer, SAP, Krups, Keurig, Siemens, Uber, ThyssenKrupp or Henkel (Right Gaurd, Dial Soap, Duck Tape, Purex belong to Henkel) these are just nineteen of the 1,500 German corporations which conduct business throughout the western part of the United States. Many of these same companies have business interests in Colorado. Maybe you even mentioned the Grand Junction companies D. T. Swiss Spokes, or Schauenburg Flexadux!
Important Reasons
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. Among the majors specifically recommending German are: Anatomy, Art History, Biochemistry, Biomedicine, Botany, Chemistry, Film Studies, Genetics, Linguistics, Logic and Methodology of Science, Molecular Biology, Music, Near Eastern Studies, Philosophy, Physical Science, Physics, Physiology, Religious Studies, Zoology. Many other university systems in the U.S. follow the University of California's lead, because of its reputaion for excellence.
The European Union has 29 Member States. The EU is rapidly becoming a huge economic rival that the United States cannot ignore. Germany is an extremely powerful member of the EU, if not the most powerful member. Knowing German will increase your opportunities for financial success in Europe.
For the second year in a row Angela Merkel, the first female Chancellor of Germany, ranks No. 1 on the Forbes' list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women. Reported by Elizabeth MacDonald and Chana R. Schoenberger on August 30, 2007.
More than 2/3 of the world's international trade fairs and congresses are held in Germany.
Germany was the largest world exporter in 2016 and 2017.
Germany was rated as the most popular country in the world in the annual BBC international poll, 2017
Germany was rated as the most popular country in the world in the annual BBC international poll, May 2013.
Angela Merkel is named the most influential woman in the world by Forbes Magazine in 2017.
Angela Merkel is named Time magazine's most Important Person of the Year for 2015.
Angela Merkel was ranked as the most influential woman in the world by Forbes Magazine in 2013.
Angela Merkel was ranked in the top 4 of Forbes' list of the World's Most powerful People for 2011.
Germany is the second most powerful country in the world when graded on 22 different criteria. Source: The Power Game, By: Sparks, John D., Gates, Guilbert, Newsweek, 12/22/2003, Vol. 142, Issue 25
According to the 2007 Mercer Human Resource Consulting's ranking of the world's top cities judged by quality of life, 7 cities in German speaking countries are ranked among the top 10: 3 in Switzerland, 3 in Germany, and 1 in Austria!
Over 120 million people in Europe learn German as their native language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein.
Forbes magazine named Angela Merkel (the German Chancellor) as the most influential woman in the world for 2011.
Germany has the largest population and economy in Europe.
Germany is again being named the world's largest exporter nation for 2007. This is the fifth year in a row!
Deutsche Bank is the world's 3rd largest bank and the second largest mortgage holder in the United States.
In a recent poll (2002), 58% of Europeans named German the most important European langauage after English.
Monster.com, a great job search website, rated German one of the hot languages to learn. Russian and Chinese are included.
German is the 3rd most commonly spoken language in U.S. homes. (2000 U.S. Census)
Study German! You will stand out on your college applications!
Examples why German is NOT difficult to learn!
German is not any more difficult to learn than Spanish or any other language. Because English and German are both Germanic languages, it might even be easier. Look at the list of words below. These are German cognates. Cognates are words that either look or sound nearly the same as the English meaning. The English is first followed by the German.
Family: father - Vater, mother - Mutter, brother - Bruder, sister - Schwester, aunt - Tante, uncle - Onkel, nephew - Neffe, cousin - Kusine, baby - Baby, man - Mann, hound - Hund, cat - Katze Food: salt and pepper - Salz und Pfeffer, sugar - Zucker, water - Wasser, banana - Banane, melon - Melone, apple - Apfel, orange - Orange, coffee - Kaffee, milk - Milch, apricot - Aprikose Verbs: dance - tanzen, sing - singen, swim - schwimmen, come - kommen, sit - sitzen, drink - trinken, bathe - baden, stink - stinken, ride - reiten, sail - segeln, reserve - reservieren Months: January - Januar, February - Februar, March - Mrz, April - April, May - Mai, June - Juni, July - Juli, August - August, September - September, October - Oktober, November - November, December - Dezember Days of the Week: Sunday - Sonntag, Monday - Montag, Tuesday - Dienstag, Wednesday - Mittwoch, Thursday - Donnerstag, Friday - Freitag, Saturday - Samstag Clothes: t-shirt - T-Shirt, shoe - Schuh, sock - Socke, blouse - Bluse, jacket - Jacke, ring - Ring, ear ring - Ohrring, belt - Grtel, hat - Hut School: school - Schule, P.E. - Sport, math - Mathe, biology - Biologie, chemistry - Chemie, physiks - Physik, English - Englisch, religion - Religion, band - Band, choir - Chor City: theater - Theater, bank - Bank, museum - Museum, park - Park, zoo - Zoo, house - Haus, swimming pool - Schwimmbad, cafe - Cafe, restaurant - Restaurant, bakery - Bckerei Adjectives: cold - kalt, old - alt, new - neu, windy - windig, sonny - sonnig, good - gut, wonderful - wunderbar, super - super, cool - cool, fair - fair House: house - Haus, bed - Bett, lamp - Lampe, book - Buch, chair - Stuhl, sofa - Sofa, computer - Computer, mouse - Maus, telephone - Telefon, paper - Papier, projector - Projektor The list of words could go on and on, but you get the idea. (Idea in German is Idee.)
Fun German Facts
1. Did you know ...
-The men's German Nation Soccer Team won the World Cup in 2014.
-2013 saw the first German-German match for the Champions League Soccer Final: Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund.
-The men's German National Soccer Team has been in 13 World Cup Quarter Finals, won the World Cup 4 times and came in 3rd place in the 2006 and 2010 World Cups.
-The woman's German National Soccer Team has won the World Cup in both 2003 and 2007!
-Germany (30) was just behind the USA (37) in the number of medals won in the 2010 Olympic Games.
-Germany was the most successful nation at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
-a German company was hired to clean Mt. Rushmore in 2005.
-a German company was hired to bore tunnels under NYC in 2012.
-The Skywalk in the Grand Canyon was built by a two German companies.
-the largest group of foreigns who vacation in Colorado is from German speaking countries!
-Leonardo DiCaprios grandmother is German? That his middle name is Wilhelm?
-Sandra Bullocks mother is German? That Sandra speaks German?
-basketball pros Dirk Nowitski & Detlef Schrempf are German?
-Shaquille O'Neal speaks German & considers himself the best German basketball player.
-supermodels Heidi Klum and Claudia Schiffer are also German?
-action film star and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in Austria?
-German film director Wolfgang Peterson made Das Boot, Air Force, One, The Perfect Storm, and other blockbusters?
-German film director Roland Emmerich made Godzilla, Independence Day, The Patriot, and more hit films?
-German is the second most popular language on the internet after English?
2. Have you ever ...
-visited the Denver Art Museum? It was designed by the German architect Daniel Liebeskind.
-eaten a Hershey bar or had a Hersheys candy kiss? Milton Hersheys ancestors came from Germany and Switzerland.
-eaten candy corn? You can thank Gustav and Albert Goelitz - German candymakers.
-eaten a Tootsie roll? You can thank Leo Hirschfield, an Austrian immigrant candymaker.
-eaten Riesen chocolates or Werther's Originals? They are German candies.
-had Heinz ketchup? H. J. Heinzs parents came from Germany.
-been x-rayed? You can thank a German - Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen - who discovered x-rays.
-known anyone who was saved by Chemotherapy? You can thank a German - Paul Ehrlich - who discovered it.
-watched a t.v. program and a doctor mentions EKG? EKG stands for Elektrokardiogram. It monitors the heart. A German invented it.
-heard of anthrax? You can thank Robert Koch, the German scientist who discovered it.
-been to a wedding? Then youve heard The Wedding March by German composer Felix Mendelssohn.
3. Have you read ...
-Bambi? It was written by Felix Salten, an Austrian writer.
-Little Red Riding Hood? Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty or any other fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm? They come from Germany.
-Curious George? It was written by Hans and Margret Rey, who grew up in Germany.
-Green Eggs and Ham? Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) grew up in a German-speaking family.
-Lord of the Rings? J. R. R. Tolkiens last name is originally German - Tollkhn.
4. Have you seen ...
-The Lion King? The musical score was written by Hans Zimmer, an Austrian.
-The Sound of Music? The whole story is about the von Trapp family and their escape from Austria, the music by Rodgers & Hammerstein - Oscar Hammerstein.
-The Parent Trap? The story is from a German story, Das doppelte Lottchen, by Erich Kstner.
-The Wizard of Oz? L. Frank Baum, the author of the book, had ancestors from Germany.
-The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus? The father of the Ringlings came from Germany.
5. Have you heard of ...
-The Ritz Hotel ? It was founded by a Swiss man, Cesar Ritz.
-Gummy bears? They come from Germany where theyre called Gummibren.
-Levis jeans? They were started by Levi Strauss, a German immigrant to America.
-Rottweiler dogs? They originated in Rottweil, Germany.
-Smuckers jelly? Originally named Schmucker - the family came to Ohio from Switzerland.
-Zinnias? This flower was discovered by J. G. Zinn, a German botanist.
6. Did you also know ...
-MP3 audio comptrssion technology was developed at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany.
-the worlds oldest zoo is in Vienna, Austria?
-the worlds largest zoo is in Berlin, Germany?
-the Brooklyn Bridge was designed by Johann Roebling, a German?
-PEZ candy & dispensers were first created by Edward Haas, an Austrian?
-velcro was invented by a Swiss scientist, George de Mestral?
-Time magazines Man of the Century was Albert Einstein, a German physicist?
-Johannes Gutenberg - a German - was chosen Man of the Millennium for inventing the printing press?
-Stanford University has a German motto ? Its "Die Luft der Freiheit weht." (Sign up for German to learn what it means!)
-The last two words asked at the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee were "weltschmerz" and "ursprache." Knowing those brought the winner $42,000!
Testimonials
The testimonials below are from people who have experienced or witnessed the value and importance of learning German.
CBS News Anchor, Dan Rather on the Importance of Lerning 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 stronge because it is the center, the heart of a new overall European economic entity. One that will have among other things, eventually its own currency. German banks, German industry and business will be 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, as we head into the 21st century, this may be a major development. One that tends to get overlooked in the hurly-burly of daily headlines."
Dan Rather, CBS News, (January 5, 1999) I have a friend David, who is working for General Motors and has been transferred top the plant in Honeoye Falls, NY (South of Rochester) to work as a lead engineer on the fuel cell car. One of the reasons he got that assignment was that they have a parallel venture in Germany, and his knowledge of German helped! He was told he had to get a passport and he would be spending quite a bit of time in Germany as well as accompanying German engineers here in the states when they come over to check out our developments! You never know when a foreign language is going to come in handy! (I'm sure you have heard this type of story several times before, but I thought I'd add one more to your store house!). Larry Crutchley of New York (2002) I have another example of learning German and its importance for employment. My daughter is in her second year of law school at Columbia University. At this time, the law firms hire students as next year's summer associates. The associateships are meant to lead to permanent employment when students finish their degree. After interviews, my daughter had the pick of several big NY law firms. She finally settled for one rated among the top 5 US law firms. Her ability to speak German was a major asset in this process. Just about every top law firm has branches in Frankfurt, Munich or Berlin or in several of these cities. The companies took her language proficiency so seriously that, among others, they sent German speakers to interview her. When I asked my daughter recently how much she thinks her knowledge of German has helped her, she answered: "Tons!! Both with getting admitted to law school and getting hired." German is not the only language that can help students in a law career. Companies have offices from Paris to Bejing, but German language ability is definitely one of the most desirable and is becoming rare enough to make candidates stand out. After three years of law school, working for a New York company, these students start with a base salary of $125,000. Not bad. And the ability to communicate fluently is definitely more important than making zero mistakes. DJ Kiernan from California (2002)
Reasons to Learn German by Pazifischer Rundschau