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Why learn German? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| administrator Hexaglot Forum Admin Switzerland FXcuisine.com Joined 7377 days ago 3094 posts - 2987 votes  12 sounds Speaks: French*, EnglishC2, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian Personal Language Map | Message 1 of 119 09 August 2005 at 2:21pm | IP Logged |
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Please forgive my asking but why would one want to learn German?
For me German was a mandatory language in school and I recall actually meeting only a handful people who chose to learn it rather than being obliged to do so. I am not saying that there are no reasons to learn German - far from it. But I wonder what motivates people to learn this language. Edited by administrator on 09 August 2005 at 2:22pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Nephilim Diglot Senior Member Poland Joined 7146 days ago 363 posts - 368 votes Speaks: English*, Polish | Message 2 of 119 09 August 2005 at 4:02pm | IP Logged |
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Good question administrator. Here are 10 possible reasons for learning German.
http://www.goethe.de/ins/de/ler/deu/enindex.htm 7 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Seth Diglot Changed to RedKing’sDream Senior Member United States Joined 7225 days ago 240 posts - 252 votes Speaks: English*, Russian Studies: Persian | Message 3 of 119 09 August 2005 at 4:38pm | IP Logged |
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I'm interested as well.
I like the sound of German, but the high degree to which many Germans already speak English and their demand for perfection scares me away from the whole ordeal. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| jradetzky Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom geocities.com/jradet Joined 7208 days ago 521 posts - 485 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2, GermanB1 | Message 4 of 119 09 August 2005 at 5:37pm | IP Logged |
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These are my two reasons:
1. Personal admiration (I'm a big fan of the German-speaking world, from Franz Beckenbauer to Adolf Hitler and Mozart, and from Mercedes Benz to Bayer and SAP) 2. It is spoken in developed countries only, so it means money. Edited by jradetzky on 09 August 2005 at 5:37pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Qbe Tetraglot Senior Member United States joewright.org/var Joined 7136 days ago 289 posts - 335 votes Speaks: English*, Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew Studies: Japanese, German, Mandarin, Aramaic | Message 5 of 119 09 August 2005 at 8:04pm | IP Logged |
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I work for a company which has a branch in Germany. One of my coworkers is frequently on the phone speaking German with their helpdesk: apparently not all Germans are fluent in English.
German may be an important language for students of theology and/or philosophy as well, depending on their interests. Many notable theological books, both old and new, have never been translated and may only be reached by knowing German. I was required to take German for my first 2 years in college. I slacked off for a year, then did the math: I wanted to read Martin Luther, but the (incomplete) English translation of his works costs upward of $1500. However, complete German sets are frequently available for free. As a penniless student, I realized that I was already paying for the opportunity to learn German, so I took it for another 2 years. I've recently met a person locally whose native language is German, so I'm toying with the idea of brushing up my speaking skills using Pimsleur for pronunciation help and other resources for grammar and vocabulary. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Farley Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 7093 days ago 681 posts - 739 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, GermanB1, French Studies: Spanish | Message 6 of 119 09 August 2005 at 8:51pm | IP Logged |
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Your question makes me laugh, when I think of the hours I have spent on German just to get to a proficient level. I have spent a number of years, off and on, studying German. Right now my German is in bad need of repair, but there was a day when I could fool a German for being Dutch (I’m American).
When I started College/University in 1988 my career plans included joining the US Army. During the Cold War the Army encouraged anyone joining to study German, the language of the Stasi, or Russian, the language of the KGB. German was the most practical choice of the two, for me. Of course four years later in 1992, when I graduated, the world was a different place -- the Berlin Wall was down, the Cold War over, and BMW and host of other German industries moved to my home state South Carolina. German suddenly became practical skill to have on your CV. Still practical reasons would not have been enough for me to try and speak a language as complex as German. During the short time that I was stationed in Germany with the Army, I was impressed that I taught myself more of the language with a phrase book and practical conversation than I did the whole two years of academic training. After that, learning German turned into somewhat of an obsession. I did not know about FSI or other methods at the time, but I did know about the Goethe Institute. I later returned to Germany, as a student, to take 4 months of intensive training at the Goethe Institute and passed the ZDF with “good marks” (Certificate of German as a Foreign Language). I found from experience that if you learn the “basics” well, you will be able to speak German to the half of Germans who forgot their English and about 5 minutes of German to the rest who can speak English better than you can speak German. You will also find that once you learn German, every German will ask you the same thing “Why did you want to learn German?” However, I also found Germans practical about communicating in their language, if you can get the verbs right, they will forgive you on gender errors. Also my father was a professor of church history and philosophy, German was one of the languages he studied. 6 persons have voted this message useful | |
| andee Tetraglot Senior Member Japan Joined 7078 days ago 681 posts - 724 votes 3 sounds Speaks: English*, German, Korean, French | Message 7 of 119 09 August 2005 at 8:55pm | IP Logged |
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Yeah, I have often wondered why others would learn German. My reasons behind wanting to learn German are: I like the sound, it opens the doors to other Germanic languages, I get a little head start with vocabulary from English, I have Polish family (and I have to go through Germany to get to them), and I also have a number of German friends (and I don't like making them speak English all the time), plus as the Goethe.de website suggests - many tourists are German.
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| vincenthychow Tetraglot Senior Member Hong Kong Joined 7105 days ago 136 posts - 145 votes Speaks: Cantonese, English, GermanB1, Japanese Studies: French | Message 8 of 119 10 August 2005 at 1:29am | IP Logged |
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I am also learning German, because I would like to read some academic articles in German for my future study.
1 person has voted this message useful |
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