Is learning German a waste of time?
The German language, Deutsch, written in Latin script, is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. One of the major languages of the world, it is estimated to have approximately 90–95 million people speaking German as a first language, 10–25 million speaking it as a second language, and 75–100 million speaking it as a foreign language. This would imply approximately 175–220 million German speakers worldwide.
The language is known today as German is believed to have originated from Proto-Germanic, which began to develop around 2000 B.C., as people began to settle in western areas of the Baltic Sea. The first-ever record of the German language dates back to a time when the Romans came into contact with inhabitants of the Rhine-Danube area during their occupation in the first century BC. Since then German has gone through many changes, from Old High German (from about 700 AD to the eleventh century); Middle High German (from about 1050 to 1350); Early New High German (1350 to 1600) to New High German (from about 1600 to the present). Modern-day German, often referred to as “High German”, or Hochdeutsch, used as the language of administration, higher education, literature, and the mass media, is likely to be unrecognisable from the language that the Romans first observed.
It is the most spoken native language within the European Union. German ranks the sixth most popular language in the world, after Chinese, English, Hindi-Urdu, Spanish, and Russian. German is also widely taught as a foreign language, especially in Europe, where it is the third-most taught foreign language after English and French, and the United States. The language has been influential in the fields of science and technology, where it is the second most commonly used scientific language and among the most widely used languages on websites. The German-speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of annual publication of new books, with one-tenth of all books (including e-books) in the world being published in German.
German is an official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a co-official language of Luxembourg, Belgium and parts of southwestern Poland, as well as a national language in Namibia. It is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many varieties existing in Europe and other parts of the world. It is also recognised as a minority language in Brazil (9 municipalities), Czech Republic, Denmark (Syddanmark), Hungary, Romania, Russia (Azovo German National District), Slovakia (regional).
As with many languages, German has evolved with society and sociopolitical factors have helped shape the language as it is today. New words from other languages have been adopted by German speakers. Others have been introduced into the German language due to more interaction with foreigners either due to migration, trade, war or the development of new technology from cinema to the Internet.
Learning a new language is never a waste of time; the same goes for German! Let's know why?
- A new language introduces a whole new intricate system of grammatical rules, structures, and terminology. As a result, our brain is forced to cope with complexity and with time it starts to sense and absorb new patterns. While our brain is working on an overdrive figuring out the meanings, planning to communicate, it empowers a learner with key learning skills such as cognitive thinking, enhanced problem-solving, improved verbal and spatial abilities, improved memory function (long & short-term), enhanced creative thinking capacity, better memory, enhanced, flexible and creative thinking that benefit a learner both personally and professionally!
- Multilingual people develop the ability to quickly recollect information and connect with a fact, situation or information they may have been exposed to in the past, such as names, directions, facts, figures and a lot more. The brain is an organ that functions better the more it’s trained and used.
- Multi-tasking isn’t something that comes naturally to everyone. A study from Pennsylvania State University proves that multilingual speakers can efficiently multi-think and multi-task! By learning a second language they become proficient at switching from one language system to another.
- Multilingualism empowers learners with the super ‘observing’ abilities and this enables them to easily spot anything that is out of place or suspicious. This is emphasised in a study from the Spain’s University of Pompeu Fabra.
- Language learning inspires creativity in the student. It not only goes beyond the regular vocabulary, grammar, into learning a new culture, new beliefs, value system and traditions, but also opens up avenues for visual and audio entertainment. And if it’s Germany we are in luck!
- Multilingual ability is definitely a competitive edge in today’s world. Advancements in technology and the internet have stimulated companies worldwide to expand their businesses and secure a better share of the global markets ahead of their competition(especially the KPOs and BPOs). Such organizations are looking out for bilingual or multilingual staff to work with their global teams, partners and clients across the world. Thus, a bilingual or multilingual person opens us with better career choices for ourselves!
- Having the ability to speak different languages points out some of the most sought after traits in an employee, companies look for! It declares you to be motivated, open to accept new challenges, and efficient to work in a multicultural environment. Ever thought of working in a German-speaking country?
- Being bilingual is no longer a good add-on in CV, but has become a necessity. Acquiring a new language will enable you to stay relevant in the hyper-connected world and remain competitive in the workplace.
- Learning a new language helps you overcome challenges related to travel, manoeuvre around easily in a new place and also helps you get an experience of a lifetime by being able to break rules of sticking around the tourist places and exploring the unexplored beauty of the respective language speaking country. As an example, learning Portuguese will help you safely explore the Lusophone countries. Your linguistic ability may also help you secure a job as a tour guide in the ever-growing travel, tourism, hospitality, and leisure industry. Mind you Switzerland is one of the most beautiful countries in Europe, delighting avid travellers and ski enthusiasts. Worth exploring all heights and depths!
- German language in your repertoire will make you confident enough to travel to Germany, Austria, Switzerland to secure a job or strike business deals.
- Bilingualism blesses learners with the ability to make quick and informed decisions easier than others. A new language also introduces learners to the nuances and regional expressions that a student of language can judge for appropriateness and hidden meanings.
- Learning a new language makes you a better listener. In order to interpret the meaning and judge nuances a learner’s mind remains alert to receive the spoken words correctly and be ready to switch between languages.
- Learning a new language makes you more conscious of details you may have never observed in your own first-learnt language. It has been globally acknowledged that learning another helps improve learners’ understanding of and insights into their native language.
- Learning a new language makes one more tolerant and appreciative of things such as others’ actions, opinions, art, literature, cultures, traditions, beliefs, value system, religion, etcetera. Your learning will help you see through the world from a different perspective and you gain a broader and better knowledge about things you’ve never known before. And if it’s German, trust me you are in for an audio-visual treat!
- The cognitive skills that are enhanced as a result of learning a new language also result in catapulting the learners understanding and grasp on the other academic areas such as math, comprehension and vocabulary enabling him to score higher and do well in problem-solving tasks
- Every new language makes your brain sharper and healthy. Studies have shown that people who utilise their brains more through furthering their language tend to have lower rates of dementia and memory problems later in life regardless of education or health levels, gender or occupation. As more research is being done, it is increasingly apparent that learning at least 1 more language can delay or stall the development process of Alzheimer’s and dementia. In the past, studies have shown that people who are bilingual show symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia around 4.5 -5 years later than people who speak just one language. For monolingual adults, the mean age for the first signs of dementia is 71.4. For adults who speak two or more languages, the mean age for those first signs is 75.5.
Finally,
Language learning helps develop strong cognitive skills, such as better concept formation, mental flexibility, multitasking, listening skills and problem-solving, in addition to improving social interaction and encouraging connection between peers. Thus, acquiring a second language enables us to develop various mental abilities at all ages.
Your linguistic ability may also help you secure a job as a tour guide in the ever-growing travel, tourism, hospitality, and leisure industry.
So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and start learning German right from today!
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