German Studies Resources

 
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The Significance Of German Studies

Introduction

In a globalised world, knowledge of one language is inadequate for personal or career life. However, it can be daunting to choose a language to study amongst the wide range of languages in the world offered at schools.

Here is an overview of German as a foreign language learnt as part of German studies and reasons why German studies is a good choice.

Definition

German Studies is a field of study that research and documents facts about German language, its history and culture as well as literature. While there are other benefits of undertaking German studies, the most significant benefit of this course is the knowledge of German language.

German language is now the 3rd most popular language on the internet and it is fast becoming a popular choice for international students seeking to learn a second language. There are over 100 million German native speakers spread across the globe, increasing to 200 million when speakers of German as a foreign language are added. German language is the official language in Germany, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Austria, and Luxembourg. As a written language, there is uniformity in German grammar with difference in German word spelling as in British and American English. However, there are varying dialects in spoken German with difference in the sound systems classified as a High or Low German. While so many people have expressed difficulty in learning German language, below are a few reasons why you should overlook such comments and be more determined in learning German.

Reasons to Learn German Language

1. To Increase Your Competitive Advantage In The Employment Market

While employers look out for a foreign language skill, a German skill put you above others with another foreign language skill. Other than international organisations such as, the United Nations (UN) or the International Labour-Organisation (ILO), that look out for applicants with German language skill, more businesses are now looking out to employ candidates with German skill because of the large investment prospect in the economy of German-speaking countries.

2. Migration Purposes

German-speaking countries with high Standard of living such as Switzerland and Luxembourg are now popular destinations for migrants. But a skill in German language is a minimum requirement for migrating to these German-speaking countries. Knowing German increases chances of gaining residency in these countries.

3. Enjoyable Travels

Travelling is more interesting when you are able to communicate with local people. Inability to communicate basic things such as the food you want to order or request direction to a place you want to go can be frustrating. Knowledge of German language is therefore crucial for enjoyable travel to German-speaking countries.

4. Studying And Funding

German-speaking countries, especially Germany, is now an attractive destination for graduate or undergraduate studies in Europe due to the attractive scholarships offered by the Government and the prospect for gaining residency at the end of degree programs. A skill in German makes student life and subsequent adaptation to work easy.

5. Research

As more and more German speakers become prolific in writing, more German literature is produced yearly. Also, results from online search for books or articles are written in German. Knowledge of the German language will give you access to a vast majority of these books and articles.

6. Easy Support In Learning German Language

A plus for enrolling in German studies as a University degree program is the wide range of learning support available. Materials and resources are accessible on the web or in institutions such as the Goethe Institut.

7. Knowledge Of German Rich Cultural Heritage

Cultural heritage greatly influences a writer’s work. Knowing German allows you to have access to the works of German literature writers in its original language without any distortion from translation and to fully understand the culture buried in those writings.

Conclusion

Are you still contemplating what foreign language to learn? German is a viable option for you. You will surely get a great return for your investment in learning German language.

Check our useful sources for German Studies subject:

• • Gateways
    German Studies Web

    http://wess.lib.byu.edu/index.php/German_Studies_Web

    from the Western European Studies Section (WESS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries in the US

    Intute: German

    http://www.intute.ac.uk/cgi-bin/browse.pl?id=200014

    web resources for German and the online tutorial Internet for Modern Languages

    iLoveLanguages

    http://www.ilovelanguages.com/index.php?category=Languages%7CBy+Language%7CGerman

    your guide to languages on the web – German

    PORT (Postgraduate Online Research Training)

    http://port.igrs.sas.ac.uk/resources.htm

    from the School of Advanced Study, University of London

    Voice of the Shuttle: German literature

    http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=2719#id1226
• • Discussion groups
    The Linguist List

    http://linguistlist.org/

    free subscription service to professional and research information, including mailing lists

    JISCmail

    http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/index.htm

    national academic mailing list service facilitating discussion, collaboration and communication within the UK academic community and beyond
• • Organisations
    Arts and Humanities Research Council

    http://www.ahrb.ac.uk/

    supporting research into the arts and humanities

    British Academy

    http://www.britac.ac.uk/

    the national academy for the humanities and the social sciences

    Call@Hull

    http://www.fredriley.org.uk/call/

    a collection of online Communications and Information Technology (C&IT) resources for teachers and learners of languages in higher education.

    CILT (Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research)

    http://www.cilt.org.uk/

    collects and disseminates information on all aspects of modern languages and the teaching of modern languages, open to everyone.

    German Historical Institute

    http://www.ghil.ac.uk/

    The Institute promotes research on modern history, in particular on the comparative history of Germany and Great Britain, on the British Empire/Commonwealth and on Anglo-German relations within the context of the international system.

    German Studies Association

    https://thegsa.org/

    US-based international association of scholars in all fields of German Studies.

    Goethe Institut

    http://www.goethe.de/ins/gb/lon/enindex.htm

    Home page of the London centre, with links to Cultural Events, Learning and Teaching German, and their Information Centre, with further links from the latter to other related German sites.

    Institute of Germanic & Romance Studies

    http://igrs.sas.ac.uk/

    part of the University of London School of Advanced Study, it includes the Research Centre for German and Austrian Exile Studies.

    Institute of Translation and Interpreting

    http://www.iti.org.uk/indexMain.html

    independent professional association of practising translators and interpreters in the United Kingdom

    Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies

    http://www.llas.ac.uk/index.aspx

    from the Higher Education Academy
• • Individual authors
    Austrian Culture: Literature

    http://www.aboutaustria.org/literature/literature.htm

    from About Austria

    Heinrich Böll

    http://www.heinrich-boell.de/HeinrichBoellUebermich.htm

    Leben und Werk

    International Brecht Society

    http://german.lss.wisc.edu/brecht/

    Internationale Alfred Döblin-Gesellschaft

    http://www.alfred-doeblin.de/

    Centre Dürrenmatt Neuchâtel

    http://www.bundesmuseen.ch/cdn/index.html?lang=de

    The Goethe Society of North America

    http://www.goethesociety.org/

    Hermann Hesse Portal

    http://www.hermann-hesse.de/eng/

    Franz Kafka

    http://www.themodernword.com/kafka/index.html

    Das Schloss, from the Modern Word

    Internationale Rilke-Gesellschaft

    http://www.rilke.ch/

    Vertigo: collecting & reading W.G. Sebald

    http://sebald.wordpress.com/

    on literature and book collecting, with an emphasis on W.G. Sebald and novels with embedded photographs
• • Other sites of interest
    AustriaN Newspapers Online (ANNO)

    http://anno.onb.ac.at/anno.htm

    historische österreichische Zeitungen und Zeitschriften Online

    The Berlin Wall

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/berlinwall/

    A city divided between East and West by the Cold War, from the BBC Archive

    Bibliothek Digital

    http://www.ub.uni-bielefeld.de/diglib/

    from the University of Bielefeld

    Deutsches Filminstitut

    http://www.filminstitut.de/

    links to the cinema in Germany and beyond

    Deutsches Wörterbuch

    http://germa83.uni-trier.de/DWB/welcome.htm

    von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm

    Deutschland.de

    http://www.deutschland.de/home.php

    das Deutschland-Portal ist der zentrale, nichtkommerzielle Eingang zu Deutschland im Netz.

    DigiZeitschriften

    http://www.digizeitschriften.de/

    das Deutsche Zeitschriften Archiv

    Euro Studies: Germany

    http://www.intute.ac.uk/socialsciences/eurostudies/

    from the Social Science Information Gateway

    Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft

    http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/news_events/fbg/contents.html

    digital exhibit of the earliest German learned society, founded in 1617

    German Bookshop

    http://www.german-bookshop.com/

    online mail order site

    German Embassy, London

    http://www.london.diplo.de/Vertretung/london/en/Startseite.html

    and Information Centre with links to facts and figures about Germany, culture, business, news and more

    German life and letters

    http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/glal/

    online cumulative index, 1936-2006

    German

    http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelplang/german/

    a guide to resources from the British Library

    Grant and Cutler

    http://www.grantandcutler.com/

    London based foreign language bookshop for German, French, Spanish and many more languages, spoken word cassettes, videos etc.

    History of Germany

    http://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/History_of_Germany:_Primary_Documents

    primary documents – from Eurodocs at Brigham Young University, Utah

    New books in German

    http://www.new-books-in-german.com/english/91/91/129002/liste9.html

    regular reviews of new titles

    Online Literary Criticism Collection

    http://www.ipl.org/div/litcrit/

    From the Internet Public Library, can be browsed by author, by title, or by nationality and literary period.

    Projekt Gutenburg-DE

    http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/

    includes many full-text German titles

    Sophie

    http://sophie.byu.edu/

    a digital library of works by German-speaking women

    Verzeichnis Lieferbarer Bücher

    http://www.buchhandel.de/

    German Books in Print online, searchable by keyword, author and publisher.

    Warwick German Studies Web

    http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/german/resources/

    the Internet links page of the Department of German Studies, University of Warwick. Maintained by Richard Parker, Warwick University Library.