Why Study German?

Germans were among the earliest settlers in the United States. In 1863, the first group arrived from Krefeld and founded Germantown, Pennsylvania. Since 1683 more than seven million German-speaking immigrants have come to this country. Today, forty-nine million people, or about 20% of the population, reported that they were at least partly of German, Swiss, or Austrian descent.

Everywhere, there are remainders of those early settler: towns such as Hanover, North Dakota; Berlin, Wisconsin; and Potsdam, New York; and German family names such as Klein, Meyer, and Schneider are very common. Many traditions, such as the Christmas tree and the Easter Bunny, as well as Kindergarten, and those “typically American” foods such as hamburgers, pretzels, and frankfurters were brought over by German-speaking immigrants and have become a part of our everyday like and language.

Perhaps German will play an important part in your future. Many exciting jobs and careers require knowledge of a foreign language, and many employees consider it to be a great asset. You could use German in many ways in your future—as a teacher, librarian, lawyer, buyer for a large company, economist, writer, publisher, financial expert, reporter, translator, sportscaster—and of course tour guide to name a few possibilities. More than 1,200 American companies have offices in the German-speaking countries, and over 140,000 Americans live and work there. German is particularly useful in technological fields. Many high-tech companies name German as the language they would prefer prospective employees to have studied.

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