Weekly Update from the Director - September 29, 2023

9/29/2023

Why Learning and Speaking the German Language Matters in the Global Job Market

I recently stumbled across fascinating research from the University of Portsmouth (United Kingdom) that analyzed UK job postings and revealed that there exists “a high demand for language skills that is now often unmet in secondary school settings.” Here in the United States, most colleges and universities expect students to have studied another language for two years – a significantly lesser amount than the norms and requirements in European nations, and frankly, represents such little time that most US students begin their university studies with little – if any – knowledge of another language.

The research from the University of Portsmouth shows that during one month of analyzing all job ads in the United Kingdom, German emerged as the most requested language (followed by French and Spanish). Similarly, the German language is in high demand here in the US as well, showing up as the third most important and advantageous language for job prospects, according to job posting service indeed.com. “If you’re interested in living or working in Europe, German is a great language to know for your career development. German is the official language of several countries in the European Union and has a massive economy […] Learning German can qualify you to work for one of the many top-tier companies that have headquarters in Germany [...]”

Based on the scope of the German economy, it is indeed hard to argue about the advantages of becoming proficient in the German language. According to the Boston University College of Arts & Sciences:

Germany is the world’s second-largest exporter.
The German economy ranks number one in Europe and number four worldwide. Its economy is comparable to that of all the world’s Spanish-speaking countries combined.
Germany is home to numerous international corporations.
Direct investment by Germany in the United States is over ten billion dollars.

We are extremely proud of our students’ German language development at GISC. The majority of our students who graduated from 8th grade last school year (Class of 2023) started in our preschool many years ago without any prior German language skills. Their progress was amazing as they held presentations about the Fall of the Berlin Wall or Growing up as a Child in the Former GDR. It is not a surprise that they all passed their Deutsches Sprachdiplom I (DSD I) with flying colors.

We are also excited to share that two of our first 8th grade graduates (Class of 2019) are now studying at the University of Mainz and the University of Toronto after successfully graduating from 12th grade with an IB Diploma.

Our students’ German language skills will truly open doors for them all over the world.

Thank you,

Ben

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