Programs for Learning GermanPhoto courtesy of m00by at Flickr.com With the ever increasing power of the European Union both in economic strength and number of member states, it makes sense for a person wanting to learn a foreign language to choose one spoken in the European Union. At the heart of the EU not only geographically, but economically as well, is Germany. That being the case, a student who chooses to learn German has excellent prospects for future employment in jobs which require the ability to speak a foreign language. Many top universities offer excellent German departments, but there may also be a very strong German department at a lesser-known university near you.
.The Facts
Aspiring German students can get a feel for the quality of various German departments by reading "The Gourman Report", the brainchild of author, political scientist and professor Dr. Jack Gourman. According to "College Confidential," the report ranks the quality of a German department using "dozens of criteria, from faculty salaries to how well the mission of the department is defined, to produce the quantitative rankings."
Many well-known schools make Gourman's list, including Yale, Princeton and Indiana University (Bloomington). They offer scholarships and have large, well-funded departments plus a slew of study abroad opportunities. But these schools are not the only place an aspiring German learner can go to learn the language.
Considerations
It isn't always possible for students interested in learning German to attend one of the biggies. However, that doesn't mean that the student attending the local university can't get a quality education in the German language. The most important considerations to keep in mind when selecting a German program are whether or not the program emphasizing the learning of all of the key components of language acquisition---reading, writing, speaking and listening comprehension.
Additionally, the department should offer a well-stocked language lab with access to movies, educational CDs, interactive exercises, German television via the web and other tools for improving language acquisition. There should be a requirement for students to attend language lab with a native or near native speaker of German in order to practice the language on a weekly basis. The student's progress should be monitored.
Finally, no German department hoping to encourage students to really learn the language should be without a study abroad option. Very often, a university will offer a direct exchange program which means that it costs the same amount in tuition to live and study in Germany as it would to live and study in the United States.
Benefits
Very often a small school that offers a degree in German is a good option. Not only is the education usually more affordable, but very often, the class sizes as well as the department are smaller. Many times departments such as these have a more family-like atmosphere, because students have spent a number of years learning German together and have taken a number of classes together.
Misconceptions
Very often, the student interested in studying German is advised to study a more practical language, like Spanish, the idea being that a German student will not find work upon graduation. This simply isn't true. Many companies are going international and very often people who speak German and other less commonly spoken languages in the United States command higher salaries, because there are fewer of them.
Expert Insight
In terms of receiving money to study abroad, German students at smaller, less known schools often fare better than those who come out of larger programs. The year that I received the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study abroad in Germany, seven people from Boise State University (my alma mater) were awarded the grant. Of the seven, two of us were from the German Department. That year BSU ranked in the top 20 for schools for students who had received the Gilman---ranking us higher even than Cornell for the number of students receiving the grant.
The point in all of this is, of course, that the best programs for learning German are not always the biggest ones, but ones where students have a chance to really immerse themselves in the language and culture on a daily basis.
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