Foreign languages

Learning has always been a vital part of survival. From learning how to walk to get around to collect food, learning how to collect the food and what food to collect. Some of the basic masterpieces of learning, that are also cliche: learning how to make fire, learning to create tools, and learning how to make a wheel. A lot of ideas, inventions and other things have evolved from thousands of years of learning. One of the most used, vital, and diverse thing to come from these thousands of years of learning is language.

It is estimated that there are nearly 7,000 distinct languages spoken throughout the world. Within all of these languages there are dialects, of which can make the same language seem entirely new. Throughout the past 9 months I have been teaching myself German. I often get questioned: “Why are you learning German?” As if learning something for the sake of learning it is taboo anymore, I often answer with multiple reasons. I enjoy the culture, I think the country is beautiful, I think the language is cool, etc.

The journey has been a rough one, spending half of the time trying to ensure I know what a pronoun, an adverb, or an independent clause is in English before I even begin to worry about what they are in German. One of the main benefits I've gained from learning a foreign language is I've become more fluent in my native language by reinforcing the structures, grammar, and vocabulary.

Most people are unaware that in other countries throughout the world, most people are bilingual. In America, it is typically unusual unless you are from another country or you teach a foreign language. These foreign languages unite us and allow us to communicate with each other unlike any other way. German itself has many similarities to the English language as parts of English come from the Lower German language. However besides that German is considered the “language of inventors and innovators.” Germans have received over one hundred Nobel Prizes in physics, medicine, chemistry, literature, and many other ways. Not to mention the Nobel Prizes awarded in German-speaking countries Austria and Switzerland. Germany also the biggest economy in the European Union and the fourth largest in the world. Germany is quickly becoming the global market leader, with Berlin often considered Europe's Silicone Valley as if is the central hub for start-ups. As well as start-up companies Germany is also home to Siemens, Volkswagen, Adidas, and Lufthansa (the largest airline in Europe). Simply having German on your resume could get you an interview as an international company. Simply knowing German allows you to communicate with approximately 100 million additional people.

Thinking about wanting to learn German but scared you won't be able to find resources online? Well think again, Germany's domain ending, “.de” instead of the generalized “.com”, is the most popular domain on the internet, seconded only to “.com” which is far above anything else. Not counting German sites using a “.com”, “.org”, or “.net” domain there are 15 million websites created in German.

Scared you won't ever use the language without traveling to Germany or Austria or Switzerland? You're most likely wrong. For most of modern history Germans have been considered the most traveled people in the world. In 2012 they spent $84 Billion USD on traveling alone. They are everywhere and most times you don't even have to look for them. Not to mention German is the most widely spoken native language in Europe and for centuries was considered the language that unified different peoples throughout large parts of the European continent.

Not a people person and you prefer to remain alone in your room listening to music or reading a book, quietly. Well again German has you covered. Often Germans are considered “left-brained”, analytical, and love logic; however the German world has produced some of the best literary, musical, artistic, and philosophical names in their area of human history. Some literary geniuses being Goethe, Kafka, Brecht, and Mann; which while slightly unknown generally in America they are well known throughout Europe and other parts of the world. A simple Google search will result in a plethora of results. Some more widely known geniuses from Germany are Mozart, Bach, Schubert, Beethoven, and Wagner. Whether you enjoy classical music or not these names are known throughout the world. Wouldn't it be great to be able to experience these works in there original state and their wholeness without losing the meaning through translation?

Still not interested? Because 'Merica? Well how about this handy fact, the direct investment by German in the United States is over $10 Billion USD. Bits of Germany are here as well. They are invested in our economy, and not to mention that Germany is the second biggest exporter in the world, meaning not only are they invested in our economy they are part of our economy. Germans are also here in America, learning German will allow you to understand and appreciate the culture and history of the U.S. There are many family names and city names in America that indicate the presence of Germans. In 2000 the census reported 15.2% of Americans having German ancestry, making German-Americans the largest single heritage group in the U.S. Germans migrated to America over centuries in waves and they brought with them traditions and their culture of which still exist to this day that you may not know about. German immigrants introduced kindergarten, the Christmas tree, hot dogs, and hamburgers to America. On top of all of this they also founded several breweries (go figure), created Levi's jeans, invented ketchup, and created Hershey's chocolate. German, believe it or not, held such a fundamental part to the founding of the United States that a German version of the Declaration of Independence was printed only a few days after it was adopted. Well this quickly turned into a U.S. History class, anyways the point is German culture and language holds a pivotal role in the development of our culture and country.

For any of you that I have convinced to maybe even check out the German language there are a multitude of resources that you can use to get yourself started. Most of them are free, but as anything else there are paid options if you desire or become a hardcore German-maniac. The language is incredibly straightforward and mostly logical, as it reflects those “left-brained” Germans thought process. There are so many more people, some interesting cultural events you can attend (I mean who doesn't want to go to Oktoberfest and drink beer from a one-liter stein), and so much history to experience. I am about to prove to you how easy it is to understand German with no previous knowledge.

“Meine Schwester hat grüne Haar. Sie ist intelligent. Sie kann gut singen.”

There I proved you already know some German, no matter how little it may be. Maybe give it a try and see how interesting and how fun it can be. Also the funny looks you get in public when your phone speaks German or you are reading a German news article. I hope I convinced some of you to give German a try or made some gears turn in your head. None the less you learned something about your country, and for those of you thinking about giving it a try; Viel Glück!

Resources for anyone wanting to give it a try:

Phone apps:

• Duolingo
• Memrise
• Babel
• Anki

Websites:

• http://www.deutsch-lernen.com/
• http://www.dw.com/en/learn-german/s-2469
• http://www.ielanguages.com/German.html
• http://www.dartmouth.edu/~deutsch/Grammatik/Grammatik.html