Why learn German? Let's consider the notion of German as both a "World Language" and a "Heritage Language." The latter is easily done through inclusion of German-American Studies components in the course of language instruction. It reduces the "foreign" aspect of language study because German is embedded in American cultural history. After all, with 1 out of 4 Americans claiming some form of German ancestry there is lots of common ground. Also, proponents of the "natural approach" to foreign language study maintain that a foreign language can be best acquired when met and used in a naturally occurring text and context.
German was widely taught in the U.S. until World War I, when it was banned in 26 states. In the general population the regard for the culture of the German-speaking peoples was high. Not only its composers were well known, but also writers and poets like Goethe, Schiller, and Heine were part of the general education requirements in higher education. Their works were found in public libraries. After WW I German returned to the classroom, however it never regained the importance it held prior to the war.
1. German and English share thousands of the same words. German and English come from the same West Germanic language family. Both have expanded their vocabularies, especially with Greek, Latin and French words.
2. German is a leading language of science, business, literature, philosophy, theology, history, music and art. Becoming acquainted with artists, composers, scientists and great thinkers and their contributions to the world is doubly rewarding if done through their language. There is a rich Central European culture to be explored, both with a capital "C" and lower case "c."
3. Whether realizing any of the various possibilities for visiting a German-speaking country as an exchange student in high school or college, or simply traveling for enjoyment, a knowledge of German language and culture greatly enhances the overseas experience.
4. International engineering and business are crucial for the economic health of the U.S. The Federal Republic of Germany is America's largest trading partner in Europe and its third largest partner in the world. More than 1,100 companies from German-speaking countries have subsidiaries in the U.S. and more than 750 U.S. companies do business in Germany.
The EU, the 12-member European Union, absorbed nearly one-quarter of American exports in 1993. A significant share of U.S. exports to Germany are shipped via the Dutch port of Rotterdam and are thus counted as U.S. export to Holland. Germany is the ultimate destination of many of these products.
Outside of Europe, the greatest German investment in 1995 was in the United States with DM 6 billion (The Week in Germany--May 1996). Many U.S. companies participate in joint ventures with Germany. Microsoft's Bill Gates recently reached a cooperation agreement with Daimler Benz which, beyond its auto production, deals with the improvement of electronic traffic flow technology. "Completely new products" are also to come down the pipeline (Deutschland, April 1996).
German and Japanese are the pilot languages for new Microsoft products that will eventually be brought onto the market. In the 1994 survey conducted by the German American Chamber of Commerce, 64.9% of all respondents conducting business with Germany "specifically ask for German and English bilingual skills when conducting a search for new employees."
"German is the language of commerce in the EC (European Community) and especially important as the bridge language into the former east block countries," says Manfred Reimann of Ballantrae International, LTD, in Seattle, Washington.
Germany and China host the most trade shows. Trade shows are an excellent way to sell products to distributors all over the world, not just in the host countries. The World Fair 2000 was held in Hannover, Germany.
5. Almost half of all U.S. pharmaceuticals come from Germany and Switzerland. Medical research continues to thrive in Germany and many American companies have affiliates in German-speaking countries. German continues to be one of the main languages of scientific publications.
Germany has made tremendous strides in pollution control, oceanography, forestry, agriculture, fisheries, and wildlife management. American and German research scientists often cooperate, as in JOIDES, the Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth sampling. The creation of the international Nautical Almanac is another cooperative venture, as is the SPACELAB.
6. Germany's educational system is a leading model for our current emphasis on school-to-trade partnerships and mentoring, with businesses providing summer jobs and internships and retired business people serving as mentors to the young. It can be seen in the new emphasis on a dual system, both in high school as well as in college, which stresses not only preparation for college, but also vocational/technical education. It is the source of some of our own educational traditions: kindergarten, education for the deaf, technical training, graduate school and physical education.
7. Travel is an industry for pleasure, employment and economic development. The largest group of foreign tourists to the U.S. is German-speaking and Germans have money to buy products while they travel.
Travel in Europe is easier with a knowledge of German. According to the German Foreign Office, German as a foreign language is again becoming increasingly important in the countries of Middle and Eastern Europe, where elementary school students chose German (49% over English (44%). The number of German students in the Czech Republic rose 33% in the past four years now that Russian is no longer required. If one travels in Japan and English should fail, German might help: 68% of all Japanese students learn German.
Since 1945, more Americans have lived and worked in Germany than in any other country in the world. Still, there are over 100,000 American military personnel stationed in the Federal Republic of Germany. Many also have their families with them.
8. Not to forget--Personal enjoyment: German continues to offer rich rewards for personal enjoyment. Students studying music are helped greatly by knowing the language of the great composers and by visiting their homes, walking in their towns, and woods, and attending performances of world class orchestras in central Europe. A music lover, who has visited Salzburg, eaten their food and talked with Austrians, has a better understanding of Mozart and feels a stronger connection with his music.
While all of that is true, it is also true that German is for America
German is an American "Heritage Language." It allows understanding of authentic German texts in family, community, and nation. Our mainstream culture, our way of life, has been markedly influenced by millions of German-speaking immigrants and their descendants. In "multicultural America" German is a "Heritage Language" of major importance. A vast amount of early records, letters, diaries, etc. were written in German, and America's German-language press had an output that was greater than that of all other foreign-language presses combined. (Some newspapers, like the Nord-Amerikanische Wochenpost and the New Yorker Staats-Zeitung are still available today.) Both the written and the printed legacy are important sources for an understanding of local, state and national history and culture.
Americans are interested in their roots and the lands of their ancestors. One fourth of all Americans claim some form of German ancestry. Knowing German makes family history even more meaningful.
In some of our most successful programs in Indiana (and in other parts of the country), teachers are using the "natural approach" to language teaching. This language acquisition theory stresses communicative competency, where communication is fostered by texts, rooted in a local/regional cultural reality. These projects are usually a part of 3rd and 4th year German instruction, and follow an emphasis on mastery of language as form, and expressions of everyday culture, emphasized in the earlier grades.
The "natural approach" integrates different sources of German text. It places the language in meaningful contexts close to home, using authentic texts, such as letters, travellogs, diaries, proceedings of town and church meetings, hymnals, bibles and other books, and of course, newspapers and journals, written or edited by German- Americans. Included are also photographs, artifacts and cemeteries. Activities in the classroom focus on topics which are of local, regional, and national relevance. Use of texts based on the authenticity of situations in which the language is produced (Wallenberg) has a high motivational value and leads to a better retention rate in the language classroom.
In the Midwest and other German-American settlement areas, German- language texts, first-person accounts of the immigrant experience, the history and culture of the immigrants, abound in local historical and heritage societies, at Max Kade institutes, in churches, basements and attics of Americans of German descent. They provide fascinating teaching materials.
Most German handwriting prior to 1941, was done in "old German script." At the 1996 Society of German-American Studies Symposium in Madison, WI, teachers presented units involving German script. They used fonts and applications based on the work of Prof. D. A. Becker who makes available for the asking Sütterlin TrueType font for Microsoft Windows. It provides the capability of creating exercises for teaching and learning of script. Becker describes applications and instruction of Sütterlin and Fraktur for computer in an article on Silicon Sütterlin (see Donald A. Becker, Dept. of German at University of Wisconsin-Madison, in Unterrichtspraxis, 1995, No. 1.)
Thus we have a broad array of reasons, both international and very American, as to why German is a language to be cherished, studied and enjoyed by Americans.
In "multicultural America" German is a "Heritage Language" of major importance. It allows doing research using authentic German texts in family, community, and nation. Our mainstream culture, our way of life, has been markedly influenced by millions of German-speaking immigrants and their descendants.
Students study German for many different reasons. They may want to enlarge and deepen their knowledge of the German-speaking countries and their peoples and gain a better understanding of their own ancestry and ultimately of themselves as individuals. Other's realize that learning German not only acquaints them with one of history's great cultures, but also gives them a new perspective on their own society and culture and thus helps them to become more aware of the world around them. Still others take German because they find the language essential for research in fields such as history, comparative literature, musicology, art history, anthropology, sociology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics.
The 3rd and 4th year of German is especially well suited for its inclusion as a "Heritage Language" in the instructional process, with the use of German-American Studies components and independent research projects. Since this approach is embedded in the historical American reality and provides independent study and research projects significant benefits can be derived for the students and for the field of German language and culture studies. Americans are interested in their roots and the lands of their ancestors. One fourth of all Americans claim some form of German ancestry.
A vast amount of early records, letters, diaries, etc. were written in German, and America's German-language press had an output that was greater than that of all other foreign-language presses combined. (Some newspapers, like the Nord-Amerikanische Wochenpost and the New Yorker Staats-Zeitung are still available today.) Both the written and the printed legacy are important sources for an understanding of local, state and national history and culture.
In some of our most successful programs in Indiana (and in other parts of the country), teachers are integrating the "natural approach" to language teaching into their instruction. This language acquisition theory stresses communicative competency, where communication is fostered by texts, rooted in a local/regional cultural reality. Research projects are usually a part of 3rd and 4th year German instruction, and follow an emphasis on mastery of language as form, and expressions of everyday culture, emphasized in the earlier grades.
The "natural approach" integrates different sources of German text. It places the language in meaningful contexts close to home, using authentic texts, such as letters, travellogs, diaries, proceedings of town and church meetings, hymnals, bibles and other books, and of course, newspapers and journals, written or edited by German-Americans. Included are also photographs, artifacts and cemeteries. Activities in the classroom focus on topics which are of local, regional, and national relevance. Use of texts based on the authenticity of situations in which the language is produced (Wallenberg) has a high motivational val and leads to a better retention rate in the language classroom.
In the Midwest and other German-American settlement areas, German- language texts, first-person accounts of the immigrant experience, the history and culture of the immigrants, abound in local historical and heritage societies, at Max Kade institutes, in churches, basements and attics of Americans of German descent. They provide fascinating teaching materials.
Most German handwriting prior to 1941, was done in "old German script." At the 1996 Society of German-American Studies Symposium in Madison, WI, teachers presented units involving German script. They used fonts and applications based on the work of Prof. D. A. Becker who makes available for a nominal sum Suetterlin TrType font for Microsoft Windows. It provides the capability of creating exercises for teaching and learning of script. Becker describes applications and instruction of Suetterlin and Fraktur for computer in an article on Silicon Suetterlin (see Donald A.Becker, Dept. of German at University of Wisconsin-Madison, in Unterrichts-praxis, 1995, No. 1.)
If you would like to have some of our teachers' models on how to infuse heritage research projects into your classroom send us your school address and we will send you materials free of charge.
Eberhard and Ruth Reichmann
Heritage Language Research Priorities
Suetterlin and other scripts with tutorials are available from my German-Americana page.
Last updated September 14, 1996 and Feb 2017
Eberhard and Ruth Reichmann
Max Kade German-American Center
Indiana Univ.-Purdue Univ. Indianapolis
Return To German-American Page.