Why You Should Learn German

Without a doubt, learning German is an excellent investment in both your personal and professional 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. There are however many other great reasons to learn German that many people never even consider. Here are some that come to mind:

Germany has the largest population of all the European countries and the language is very widely spoken internationally. German is the third most popular foreign language internationally and by learning German you are able to connect with 120 million native German speakers. 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. 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. Given Germany’s commitment to innovation, it’s perhaps not surprising that two-thirds of the world’s leading international trade fairs take place in Germany.

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. 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. In number of books published, Munich is second in the world only to New York. As few of these books are translated into English, the only way to profit from this information is to learn German.

German speaking countries have a very rich 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. Anyone interested in any of these fields automatically expands their knowledge and skill by knowing German.  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 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..