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Why should I learn German? Important Reasons Examples why German is NOT difficult to learn! Fun German Facts Testimonials Reasons to learn German by Dartmouth College Reasons to learn German by the University of Georgia Reasons to learn German by the Radford University Reasons to learn German by Pazifischer Rundschau Some people say that there is no benefit to learning German and that Spanish is much more important to Oregonians. If you believe this is true, ask yourself these two questions: 1. How many companies or major corporations can you name which come      from ANY of the more than twenty countries in Latin America? 2. How many companies can you name that come from just Germany? If you mentioned: Adidas, Hugo Boss, DaimlerChrysler (Mercedes Benz, Chrysler, and Freightliner), BMW, Porsche, Volkswagen, Audi, Lufthansa, T-Mobile (T-Mobile is part of Deutsche Telekom, which is Europe's largest telecommunication corporation.), Bayer, Siemens, ThyssenKrupp, and Trader Joe's which is owned by German company Aldi are just thirteen of the 1,500 German corporations which conduct business throughout the western part of the United States. Many of these same companies have business interests in Oregon. Although Nike is an American company, it does millions of dollars worth of business in Germany every year. Important Reasons German students score higher on the SAT than students who study other languages (1997 study) The University of California System, which includes UCLA and UC-Berkeley, has 58 majors which require or recommend German as part of their program. Compare this to 45 for French, 27 for Spanish, and 7 for Japanese. Many other university systems in the U.S. follow the University of California's lead, because of its reputaion for excellence. The European Union, which has 25 Member States, is currently preparing for the addition of 4 more countries. The EU is rapidly becoming a huge economic rival that the United States cannot ignore. Germany is an extremely powerful member of the EU, if not the most powerful member. Knowing German will increase your opportunities for financial success in Europe. Germany is the second most powerful country in the world when graded on 22 different criteria. Source: The Power Game, By: Sparks, John D., Gates, Guilbert, Newsweek, 12/22/2003, Vol. 142, Issue 25 Over 120 million people in Europe learn German as their native language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. Germany has the largest population and economy in Europe. In a recent poll (2002), 58% of Europeans named German the most important European langauage after English. Monster.com, a great job search website, rated German one of the hot languages to learn. Russian and Chinese are included. German is the 3rd most commonly spoken language in U.S. homes. (2000 U.S. Census) The average high school student studies Spanish. Be above average, study German! German will stand out on your college applications. Examples why German is NOT difficult to learn! German is not any more difficult to learn than Spanish or any other language. Because English and German are both Germanic languages, it might even be easier. Look at the list of words below. These are German cognates. Cognates are words that either look or sound nearly the same as the English meaning. The English is first followed by the German. Family father - Vater, mother - Mutter, brother - Bruder, sister - Schwester, aunt - Tante, uncle - Onkel, nephew - Neffe, cousin - Kusine, baby - Baby, man - Mann Food salt and pepper - Salz und Pfeffer, sugar - Zucker, water - Wasser, banana - Banane, melon - Melone, apple - Apfel, orange - Orange, coffee - Kaffee, milk - Milch, apricot - Aprikose Verbs dance - tanzen, sing - singen, swim - schwimmen, come - kommen, sit - sitzen, drink - trinken, bathe - baden, stink - stinken, ride - reiten, sail - segeln, reserve - reservieren Months January - Januar, February - Februar, March - März, April - April, May - Mai, June - Juni, July - Juli, August - August, September - September, October - Oktober, November - November, December - Dezember Days of the Week Sunday - Sonntag, Monday - Montag, Tuesday - Dienstag, Wednesday - Mittwoch, Thursday - Donnerstag, Friday - Freitag, Saturday - Samstag Clothes t-shirt - T-Shirt, shoe - Schuh, sock - Socke, blouse - Bluse, jacket - Jacke, ring - Ring, ear ring - Ohrring, belt - Gürtel, hat - Hut School school - Schule, P.E. - Sport, math - Mathe, biology - Biologie, chemistry - Chemie, physiks - Physik, English - Englisch, religion - Religion, band - Band, choir - Chor City theater - Theater, bank - Bank, museum - Museum, park - Park, zoo - Zoo, house - Haus, swimming pool - Schwimmbad, cafe - Cafe, restaurant - Restaurant, bakery - Bäckerei Adjectives cold - kalt, old - alt, new - neu, windy - windig, sonny - sonnig, good - gut, wonderful - wunderbar, super - super, cool - cool, fair - fair House house - Haus, bed - Bett, lamp - Lampe, book - Buch, chair - Stuhl, sofa - Sofa, computer - Computer, mouse - Maus, telephone - Telefon, paper - Papier, projector - Projektor The list of words could go on and on, but you get the idea. (Idea in German is Idee.) Fun German Facts 1. Did you know ...      -the North American headquarters for the German shoe company Adidas in is Portland?      -Portland's TriMet MAX trains are manufactured by the German company Siemens in San       Francisco? Siemens also produces many other goods such as: mobile telephones, appliances,       and computers.      -KGW's chief meteorologist Matt Zaffino became interested in weather forcasting after his German       teacher would predict the chances of school closure because of snow?      -KATU's meteorologist Julia Radlick grew up in Luzern, Switzerland?      -Leonardo DiCaprio’s grandmother is German? That his middle name is Wilhelm?      -Sandra Bullock’s mother is German? That Sandra speaks German?      -basketball pros Dirk Nowitski & Detlef Schrempf are German?      -supermodels Heidi Klum and Claudia Schiffer are also German?      -action film star and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in Austria?      -German film director Wolfgang Peterson made Das Boot, Air Force, One, The Perfect Storm, and        other blockbusters?      -German film director Roland Emmerich made Godzilla, Independence Day, The Patriot, and        more hit films? 2. Have you ever ...      -eaten a Hershey bar or had a Hershey’s candy kiss? Milton Hershey’s ancestors came from        Germany and Switzerland.      -eaten candy corn? You can thank Gustav and Albert Goelitz - German candymakers.      -eaten a Tootsie roll? You can thank Leo Hirschfield, an Austrian immigrant candymaker.      -eaten Riesen chocolates or Werther's Originals? They are German candy.      -had Heinz ketchup? H. J. Heinz’s parents came from Germany.      -been x-rayed? You can thank a German - Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen - who discovered x-rays.      -watched a t.v. program and a doctor mentions EKG? EKG stands for Elektrokardiogram. It        monitors the heart. A German invented it.      -heard of anthrax? You can thank Robert Koch, the German scientist who discovered it.      -been to a wedding? Then you’ve heard “The Wedding March” by German composer Felix        Mendelssohn. 3. Have you read ...      -Bambi? It was written by Felix Salten, an Austrian writer.      -Little Red Riding Hood? Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty or any other fairy tales by the        Brothers Grimm? They come from Germany.      -Curious George? It was written by Hans and Margret Rey, who grew up in Germany.      -Green Eggs and Ham? Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) grew up in a German-speaking family.      -Lord of the Rings? J. R. R. Tolkien’s last name is originally German - Tollkühn. 4. Have you seen ...      -The Lion King? The musical score was written by Hans Zimmer, an Austrian.      -The Sound of Music? The whole story is about the von Trapp family and their escape from Austria,        the music by Rodgers & Hammerstein - Oscar Hammerstein.      -The Parent Trap? The story is from a German story, Das doppelte Lottchen, by Erich Kästner.      -The Wizard of Oz? L. Frank Baum, the author of the book, had ancestors from Germany.      -The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus? The father of the Ringlings came from        Germany. 5. Have you heard of ...      -The Ritz Hotel ? It was founded by a Swiss man, Cesar Ritz.      -Gummy bears? They come from Germany where they’re called Gummibären.      -Levi’s jeans? They were started by Levi Strauss, a German immigrant to America.      -Rottweiler dogs? They originated in Rottweil, Germany.      -Smucker’s jelly? Originally named Schmucker - the family came to Ohio from Switzerland.      -Zinnias? This flower was discovered by J. G. Zinn, a German botanist. 6. Did you also know ...      -the world’s oldest zoo is in Vienna, Austria?      -the world’s largest zoo is in Berlin, Germany?      -the Brooklyn Bridge was designed by Johann Roebling, a German?      -PEZ candy & dispensers were first created by Edward Haas, an Austrian?      -velcro was invented by a Swiss scientist, George de Mestral?      -Time magazine’s “Man of the Century” was Albert Einstein, a German physicist?      -Johannes Gutenberg was chosen “Man of the Millennium” for inventing the printing press?      -Stanford University has a German motto ? It’s Die Luft der Freiheit weht. (Sign up for German        to learn what it means!) Testimonials The testimonials below are from people who have experienced or witnessed the value and importance of learning German. "Yes, mein freund, it's a matter of language." Want to better understand the English language? Learn German. That's the unexpected message of the recently completed 2006 National Spelling Bee finals. America's new national champion, Katharine Close, won by spelling ursprache. The runner-up, Finola Hackett, tripped up on weltschmerz. Another favorite lost on heiligenschein. Katharine might be excused for a shade of schadenfreude as she watched her friends falter because behind all the prime-time glitz and angst was a simple lesson. German and English are both Germanic languages. They share many word origins and characteristics. That makes German a good choice for every English-speaking mensch, whether you are a kindergartner, a student or just one of the familie. You don't have to be a wunderkind to learn a little German. Once you learn the basics, words that stumped the super-spellers are a piece of kuchen. Here's the leitmotiv: German is very American. It has worked its way into our world. While some worry loudly about too much Spanish, German has become everyday English. We check the weather on the doppler radar and the temperature in fahrenheit. If your neighbor chokes on his bratwurst, you give him the Heimlich. German also helps us make our way in American pop culture. How can one understand the deeper meaning of "Shrek" without some personal insight into Teutonic fairy tales? And "you're a Harvard historian, for God's sake, not a pop schlockmeister," Dan Brown exclaims in "The Da Vinci Code." German can be helpful wherever the zeitgeist may take you. J.K. Rowling took some good old German Sturm und Drang and turned it into Durmstrang for Harry Potter's "tri-wizard" tournament. It sounds a bit creepy, but it's a whole lot better than Hogwarts. I can only imagine how she came up with that. German can also help in diplomacy, even if the inconvenient truths of realpolitik sometimes get in the way of America's idealpolitik. In the early 1980s our ambassador to Germany, Arthur Burns, was called in by Chancellor Helmut Schmidt to explain the Reagan administration's overarching concept, its gesamtkonzept, for American foreign policy. Without missing a beat, Burns replied, "Of course, Mr. Chancellor. Would you like the gesamtkonzept from this week or from last week?" Knowing some German can be practical if your auto is kaputt, you have some wanderlust or you want to explore the hinterland with your rucksack. See how handy German can be? In fact, in German handy is a mobile phone. Handy. I think they've got something there. It is handy. "Cell phone" sounds like a germ spewer. Sure, English is a must. But German is a plus. So let's take a cue from Katharine Close and improve our English by learning a little German this week. After all, last Freitag the biggest sports event on the planet started in Germany -- the soccer World Cup. Grab your bier, settle back and repeat after me: Tooooooooooooooor! It's wunderbar. And if you find you have celebrated a bit too much, just take some aspirin and call me in the morgen. Gesundheit. Dan Hamilton ("The Oregonian" Monday, June 12, 2006) Dan Hamilton is a professor of international relations at Johns Hopkins University. Former CBS News Anchor, Dan Rather on the Importance of Lerning German "If you haven't thought about it lately, now is as good a time as any to consider this. There are three and only three great, truly great economies in the world today. Three economic super powers. Two of them, the United States and Japan get plenty of attention, lots of ink and loads of airtime. The third does not. It is Germany. The U.S. and Japan are the world's leading economic super powers, one, two, in that order, but Germany is the third and not that far behind Japan, especially given the Japanese economy's current problems." "With that in mind two points are worth pondering. One, Germany is about to enter a period where its economy figures to become bigger and stronge because it is the center, the heart of a new overall European economic entity. One that will have among other things, eventually its own currency. German banks, German industry and business will be the engine, the center of gravity for this whole new effort at European economic integration." "The second point is that Germany increasingly is buying into the U.S.A. Taking over in some cases, merging with in others, US banks, businesses and industry. Everything from publishing to auto making. The Japanese have been doing this for a long while. So have the Germans, but now the Germans are accelerating their investment in America. In the sweep of history, as we head into the 21st century, this may be a major development. One that tends to get overlooked in the hurly-burly of daily headlines." Dan Rather, CBS News, (January 5, 1999) I have a friend David, who is working for General Motors and has been transferred top the plant in Honeoye Falls, NY (South of Rochester) to work as a lead engineer on the fuel cell car. One of the reasons he got that assignment was that they have a parallel venture in Germany, and his knowledge of German helped! He was told he had to get a passport and he would be spending quite a bit of time in Germany as well as accompanying German engineers here in the states when they come over to check out our developments! You never know when a foreign language is going to come in handy! (I'm sure you have heard this type of story several times before, but I thought I'd add one more to your store house!). Larry Crutchley of New York (2002) I have another example of learning German and its importance for employment. My daughter is in her second year of law school at Columbia University. At this time, the law firms hire students as next year's summer associates. The associateships are meant to lead to permanent employment when students finish their degree. After interviews, my daughter had the pick of several big NY law firms. She finally settled for one rated among the top 5 US law firms. Her ability to speak German was a major asset in this process. Just about every top law firm has branches in Frankfurt, Munich or Berlin or in several of these cities. The companies took her language proficiency so seriously that, among others, they sent German speakers to interview her. When I asked my daughter recently how much she thinks her knowledge of German has helped her, she answered: "Tons!! Both with getting admitted to law school and getting hired." German is not the only language that can help students in a law career. Companies have offices from Paris to Bejing, but German language ability is definitely one of the most desirable and is becoming rare enough to make candidates stand out. After three years of law school, working for a New York company, these students start with a base salary of $125,000. Not bad. And the ability to communicate fluently is definitely more important than making zero mistakes. DJ Kiernan from California (2002) Reasons to Learn German by Pazifischer Rundschau German is the most widely spoken language in Europe. (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, as well as parts of Eastern Europe, the Balkans, France, Luxembourg, Italy, Belgium, and Russia.) German is the official language of many international conferences. The Federal Republic of Germany is the third largest trading partner of the United States of America. More than 1,500 German companies have subsidiaries in the U.S.A. and pay top salaries to their employees who are able to speak German. The state of Washington exports $2.6 billion in goods to Germany in one year. More than 25 percent of the population traces its ancestry back to Germany, more than any other country. The German-speaking countries are among the most popular destinations for American travelers. One out of every ten books published in the world today is published in German. There are 20 million people in the world currently learning German. German and Japanese are the pilot languages for MICROSOFT. Next to English, German is the most popular language in the INTERNET.