Why You Might Want To 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 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. But there are in fact so many other great reasons to learn to speak German that people never consider. Here 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 is the economic powerhouse of the European Union and one of the biggest international exporters. 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.

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. If you are a world traveler, you are sure to encounter Germans wherever you go since nearly 3 out of every 4 vacations by Germans are spent in other countries. Tourism companies, airlines, hotels and car rental businesses that can communicate in German will profit from the German tourism industry.

Don’t fool yourself by thinking that German is a language of the past. As prolific researchers and scholars, German speakers produce nearly 80, 000 new book titles each year. As very few German books are translated into English, the only way to appreciate these books is by learning to speak German.

The cultural heritage of German speaking countries is very rich. Germany is often referred to as the land of poets and thinkers. 10 Nobel prizes have been awarded to German, Austrian and Swiss German authors. 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 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. 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 convenient is that German words are spelled phonetically. Also learning German can be really fun when you use resources like this free learning German podcast..