German is spoken as the official or co-official language in 7 European countries with a
combined population of approximately 119 million.
German ranks 12th in terms of the number of speakers of German but its international
status as a language when measured in terms of GNP places it in third position at $1,090
billion behind only English ($4,271 billion) and Japanese ($1,277 billion).
Goethe, Freud, Einstein, Bach, Plank, Leibnitz, Nietzsche, Kant, Schiller, Kafka, Jung,
Dürer, Luther, Brecht, Beethoven and Kepler all wrote in German. Wouldn't it be neat to
read them in the original?
American universities have study abroad agreements in a wide variety of academic areas
with German universities for students who can communicate in German. The German government
provides financial support for deserving students through scholarships from the DAAD
(German Academic Exchange Agency) and other agencies.
Germany is a leading international business force, which has invested extensively in
the emerging economies of eastern Europe. German is the language of business in central and
eastern Europe.
In 1992 foreign investors invested 185 billion DM in Germany. The United States was the
largest investor with a total of 53.9 billion DM.
In 1991 the largest part of all German foreign investments went to the United States.
Germany invested 53.4 billion DM in the United States-more than twice as much as the second
largest investment country.
In 1991 the US was the number one world exporter with $422 billion. Germany with $401
billion was second.
German continues to be an important academic language. One out of every ten books
published in the world is in German.
The study of any language involves time and concentration, but you will recognize many
words, because German and English belong to the Germanic family of languages. You will not
have to start at point zero.
According to the 1990 census 57.4 million, or one in four, Americans are of German
heritage. Wouldn't it be neat to speak the language of your ancestors?
Political scientists predict that a unified Germany will play a central geopolitical
role in the international community of the 21st century.
