Why should you learn German ?

• More than 1,100 companies from German-speaking countries have subsidiaries in the U.S. There are over 200 German-based firms in Michigan alone.
  
• Germany exports the most products of any country in the world



• 18% of books worldwide are written in German



• Learning German helps students get better SAT and ACT scores. At the University of California, more majors require the study of German than other languages (German 56 majors, French 43 majors, Spanish 21 majors, Japanese 7 majors)


• Among many academic programs requiring or recommending German are: anatomy, art, history, biochemistry, biology, biomedical physics, botany, chemistry, design, engineering, film studies, genetics, linguistics, logic and methodology of science, molecular biology, music near eastern studies, philosophy, physical science, physics, physiology, religious studies, zoology


• German is a key language in the European Union and in the rapidly growing markets of Central and Eastern Europe


• German is America's largest European trading partner with more than 800 major American firms doing business in Germany with 300 companies in Berlin alone.


• In a 1994 survey conducted by German-American Chambers of Commerce, 65% of all respondents stated they were looking specifically for German/English bilingual skills


• German companies in the US pay the German-speaking employees premium salaries


• Many people dont realize that German is the most widely spoken language in Europe


• NONE of the G7 (8) countries speak Spanish. While they are BOTH important world languages, an enormous amount of material is made available first and sometimes only in German academic fields such as banking, engineering, the sciences, ANY humanities field, medicine, social sciences, etc. German companies and research institutions are world leaders in many of these areas. (Try to think of the name of a Spanish-speaking multinational with representation in the US - then think of a German one - it's easy... V W, Mercedes, BMW, Bayer, Adidas, BASF, Mentos(!), etc. ) In the US when you talk good-paying jobs and $$$ people listen. the world is only going to get smaller and German is NOT just a regional language with cute Volkslieder.