DAN RATHER on THE IMPORTANCE OF THE GERMAN LANGUGE

Dan Rather, CBS News, January 5, 1999:

"If you haven't thought about it lately, now is as good a time as any to consider this. There are three and only three great, truly great economies in the world today. Three economic super powers. Two of them, the United States and Japan get plenty of attention, lots of ink and loads of airtime. The third does not. It is Germany. The US and Japan are the world's leading economic super powers, one, two, in that order, but Germany is the third and not that far behind Japan, especially given the Japanese economy's current problems."

"With that in mind two points are worth pondering. One, Germany is about to enter a period where its economy figures to become bigger and stronge because it is the center, the heart of a new overall European economic entity. One that will have among other things, eventually its own currency. German banks, German industry and business will be the engine, the center of gravity for this whole new effort at European economic integration."

"The second point is that Germany increasingly is buying into the USA. Taking over in some cases, merging with in others, US banks, businesses and industry. Everything from publishing to auto making. The Japanese have been doing this for a long while. So have the Germans, but now the Germans are accelerating their investment in America. In the sweep of history, as we head into the 21st century, this may be a major development. One that tends to get overlooked in the hurly-burly of daily headlines."

"A person who does not know a second language does not truly know his own."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

• German is the most widely spoken language in Europe (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, as well as parts of Eastern Europe, the Balkans, France, Luxembourt, Italy, Belgium and Russia.
• German is the official language of many international conferences
• The federal Republic of Germany is the 3rd largest trading partner of the USA
• More than 1,100 cGerman ompanies have subsidiaries in the USA and pay atop salaries to their employees who are able to speak German.
• The state of Washington exports $2.6 billion in goods to Germany in one year.
• There are 58 majors requiring German at many colleges and universities compared to 43 for French and 21 for Spanish.
• More than 25 percent of the population traces its ancestry back to Germany, more than any other country.
• German is user friendly - it is more closely related to English. Many words are identical or very similar.
• The German-speaking countries are among the most popular destinations for American travelers.
• One out of every 10 books published in the world today is published in German.
• There are 20 million people in the world currently learning German.

• German and Japanese are the pilot languages for MICROSOFT.
• Next to English, German is the most popular language in the INTERNET.

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1. German is important for school. For many majors, you need at least two years of a foreign language to study. Other colleges highly recommend it. And consider this: at the University of California, German is by far the most frequently recommended and/or required language. This is generally true for most other universities as well. Among the majors specifically recommending German are: Anatomy, Art History, Biochemistry, Biomedicine, Botany, Chemistry, Film Studies, Genetics, Linguistics, Logic and Methodology of Science, Molecular Biology, Music, Near Eastern Studies, Philosophy, Physical Science, Physics, Physiology, Religious Studies, Zoology.

2. German and English are both Germanic languages. They both started out as the same language. They share many of the same words, word origins and grammar characteristics. That makes German a good choice for English speakers.

3. German is important to our American heritage. One out of every four Americans nationwide has German heritage. German-Americans are the largest ethnic group in America today. They have made innumerable contributions to our country. The United States government sponsors exchange programs with Germany.

4. Over 120 million people speak German as their native language. German is spoken in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein, as well as parts of other European countries such as Italy, France and Belgium. Twice as many people speak German in Europe than any other language. And after English, German is the most popular foreign language to learn in Europe.

5. German is important in the global economy. Germany also has the world's third biggest economy (after the USA and Japan). Germany is the largest economic and political influence in Europe. Germany has the highest paid workers in the world. Germany is also the leading export nation in the world in proportion to its population. And Switzerland, another German-speaking country, is the world's richest country. The standard of living in German speaking countries is among the highest in the world.

6. German is very important for business. Many American companies are owned by German companies. Brown Printing in our town is a German-owned company. Corchran's Metal Fabrication also does much business with Germany. More Americans have lived and worked in Germany than in any other foreign country since 1945. Germany and the USA invest $40 billion in each other's businesses per year. Many companies name German as the language they would most like their employees to know. When American car company Chrysler and German car company Mercedes merged, a lot of Chrysler employees needed to learn German. Take a look at the Netscape Career Center, type in the search word German, and you will find well over 800 jobs requiring or recommending German on any given day.

7. German is important for science. Most of the world's scientists have come from or studied in German-speaking countries. Many new scientific discoveries happen in German-speaking countries, and some scientific information is only available in German. The newest elements on the Periodic Table were just discovered by a German scientist. Universities encourage science majors to learn German.

8. German is important in music. Most of the world's famous composers and musicians came from German-speaking countries. Think of Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Schubert... Vienna, the capital of Austria, has been the world center of music for hundreds of years. Classical musicians learn German.

9. German is important for the tourist industry. Germans are the most traveled people in the world. You will find German tourists everywhere. In the USA, they will especially be at the top tourist spots like Florida, New York, and California. Many American tourists go to German speaking countries, which are some of the most beautiful countries in the world. Plus, German is widely spoken throughout Europe.

10.Worldwide, German is one of the most popular languages to learn.The importance of German may not seem as obvious to Americans because we are separated from the rest of the world by ocean. We tend to notice only what's in our backyard. In Europe, it is the second most popular (after English). The world sees the importance of German. We really do live in a global society, and we need to look at more than what's right around us. We need to see the entire picture.

Sources: American Assoc. of Teachers of German, Dartmouth College, Goethe Institut, National Council for the Social Studies, St. Olaf College, Univ. of St. Thomas, US News & World Report, World Book Encyclopedia