Learning German in the United States
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Authors
Zuhlke, Lindsay
Issue Date
2008-06-01
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Considering the current status of English as a world language, it is not surprising that very few Americans consider learning a foreign language important and necessary. Although many people take a couple years of a language in high school or middle school, the importance of learning about other cultures and being able to communicate with people in other countries is not stressed enough, shown by a lack of language requirements at many schools as well as a general reluctance to enroll in language classes. I have heard countless people complain that they are being “forced" to learn a foreign language, as if it is a useless skill that will never benefit them in the real world. There is a resistance in our society as a whole to learning about something foreign, be it a language or just a cultural tradition or idea, despite the perception of our country as a "melting pot" of many nationalities. Young children and students are constantly exposed to the idea of globalization and told how many people in the world are learning and can speak English. Yet we expect them to be motivated to learn foreign languages and understand why this is a necessary skill for them to obtain. Because of the close proximity of Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries to the United States, Spanish is the most commonly learned foreign language in this country. This fact is obvious to anyone because of the large differences in enrollments between Spanish and all other languages taught in schools across the country. Although one could argue that Spanish is by far the most useful language for an American to learn because of the number of speakers and prevalence of the language in our society, there are benefits to learning any foreign language, including an increased awareness of cultural differences around the world. For the same reasons that English is a useful language for anyone in the world to learn, Americans can find it useful to be able to communicate with people from other countries in their native languages. In areas of international business and relations, any American can benefit from being able to speak the language of a foreigner with whom they would like to do business. Germany has one of the world's top economies and many German companies do business with Americans. The same thing is true of France. In addition to the practical benefits of learning a second language, there are other positive results from studying a foreign language, including general cognitive development and improved critical thinking and reading skills. Despite these benefits, foreign language enrollments are low. In this paper, I will look at language enrollments in general, and specifically one of the more neglected languages, German.
Description
70 p.
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