Why Learn German?
 
Living language
  • More than 101 Million speakers (2,1% of world population, 12th rank worldwide), most spoken language in the EU (24% of European Union population)
  • Official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Northern Italy
  • German speaking communities in Denmark, France, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Rumania, USA, Australia, South Africa
  • German is on second rank as foreign language taught at schools in Europe
  • German is a global language: with 12% it is the secondly most spoken language in the European Union, after English (34%, French 11%, Spanish and Russian 5%)
  • German will be increasingly important in multilingual contexts: important member of the European Union, Germany as immigration country

Econony

  • German speaking countries are the most important economical and financial region in Europe
  • Not only large companies, but also small and medium size enterprises expand
  • For many companies in North America skills in German are an asset
  • Important business language for markets in eastern Europe
  • Largest exporting country worldwide
  • Products made in Germany
  • International fairs

Research and sciences

  • Important as scholarly language in social sciences,
  • Second most spoken language in science
  • Main language at German, Austrian and Swiss universities
  • German publications in natural sciences at only 1%

Media

  • 18% of all books are published in German, third rank in worldwide book publishing sector
  • 7,7% of all internet homepages are in German, second rank after English with 56,4%
  • German media is the most rich and diverse worldwide

Culture and literature

  • German gives access to many literary works of world literature

Tourism

  • German is important for traveling in Europe, especially southern Europe, many Mediterranean regions in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Greece 

Easy to learn

  • German is an easy language: only four cases (in Russian 6, in Polish and Czech 7 cases); only one plural article; relatively easy expression of tenses; no complicated aspects