The Benefits Of Learning 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 popular reasons for people to start learning German include being able to talk with German family, preparing for an exchange program at a German institution and for taking holidays in Germany. While these are all good reasons to learn German, you might be surprised to discover just how many other great reasons there are that you've never considered. Here are a some others for you to think about:

Germany has the largest population of all the European countries and the language is very widely spoken internationally. 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. Learning German will allow you to communicate with German speakers all across the world and not just the Germans, Austrians and the Swiss in their respective countries.  

Germany has the 3rd strongest economy and is the number 1 export nation in the world. Germany's international trade earnings are proof of the high demand for German goods. This means that if you speak German you will have excellent international employment and career opportunities. If you're in the field of research you will discover that Germany is a country committed to research and development.

With ample disposable income and an average of 6 weeks of vacation a year, German's have both the time and means to travel. In 2007, the Germans spent a record 91 billion euros on international travel. It's understandable that the best way to profit from the German tourist industry is to speak the language.

Also don't be fooled into thinking that German is a language of the past. The only language markets that produce more books annually than the Germans are the Chinese and English publishing industries. As few of these books are translated into English, the only way to profit from this information is to learn German.

The cultural heritage of German speaking countries is very rich. Germany is known for being a country of poetry and great thinkers. 10 Nobel prizes have been awarded to German, Austrian and Swiss German authors. Philosophy and the sciences would be unthinkable without the contributions of German speakers. Anyone interested in any of these fields automatically expands their knowledge and skill by knowing German.  Whether you're interested in cultural and intellectual heritage of these countries or not, the fact remains that Switzerland, Austria and Germany all offer a very high standard of living, which make these countries very attractive to many people.


You're probably thinking that's all well and good, but German is too hard 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. Besides, learning German is fun when you make use of these German language podcasts.