7 reasons why learn German

Author: Zuzana Kocáková

Lifestyle

8 reading minutes

There are many reasons to learn German. Find out which ones they are.

It is said “As many languages you know, as many times you are a human being”. Nowadays, it is not uncommon to know more than one foreign language. There are indeed many reasons to learn languages. The main one, however, is that knowing the language of other nations can bring you great opportunities (not just career opportunities). In addition, a foreign language gives you the opportunity to meet new people, keep an open mind and perceive the world from a different perspective.

German language is used even in Africa

Despite all the jokes you’ve heard about German so far, the language is indeed well represented in Europe. In the European Union, it is the most widely spoken mother tongue. German is spoken in 38 countries around the world and for 7 countries German is the official or dominant language. There are also significant German-speaking populations in the USA, Canada, Brazil and Argentina. A few German-speaking regions could even be found in Africa – in the former German colonies.

Even if you’re not travelling to German language speaking countries or regions, German language will find you literally around every corner thanks to tourists. In fact, Germans are considered eager tourists and lead in the ranking of spending money on travel. Not counting 2020, which affected tourism worldwide, Germans spent more than €80 million on foreign travel in 2019.

German will make it easier for you to learn other languages

The days of contrastive linguistics are long gone. Referring to another foreign language can support the learning of a new language, as evidenced by research from recent decades. German belongs to the West Germanic subgroup of the Germanic languages. If you can speak it, it makes it easier to learn other Germanic languages such as Danish, Swedish, Dutch or Norwegian. Thanks to the related language groups, each new language is easier to learn than the one before. The benefits relate not only to vocabulary, but also to learning strategies and techniques.

There is also evidence that students who have learned English as a first foreign language have a head start in German language learning. A good command of English is a great advantage because the two languages share the same language group and a broad base. It applies to international words from Latin, common Germanic backgrounds and Anglicisms. In addition to verbs, we find many adjectives that are identical in both languages.

German is the language of success and intelligence

I’m sure you’re familiar with brands like Adidas, BMW and Audi. They are all of German origin. Germany is a country that dominates the world of brands and finance. The German economy is the strongest in Europe and maintains a strong fourth place in the world. Germany is also famous for its high level of engineering, which ranks among the world’s elite. It is therefore no wonder that German is the lingua franca of Central and Eastern Europe – a term that denotes a business language that is also a language of communication for cultural and diplomatic needs and is also used as a means of information exchange between scientists.

German can also be described as the official language of science, because Germany as a country leads the way in science and research. A lot of scientific studies have been published in German. The fact that German is the language of intelligence is evidenced by the 92 Nobel Prizes won by scientists from the three main German-speaking countries.

You’re already using German, even though you may not know about it

Many German words have penetrated into our native language; you would hardly find another Slavic language that uses as much German as Slovak language. German words have been with us for centuries. We owe this to the rich trade relations with Austria and the German minorities who lived in Spis and in the mining towns. Among the Germanisms we still use today are, for example, the words: target – cieľ (Ziel), sugar – cukor (Zucker), blanket – deka (Decke), fine – fajn (fein), coin – minca (Münze), hit – trafiť – (treffen)…

Another advantage of learning German language is that you don’t need to learn a new type of alphabet like you do with Russian, Chinese or Arabic. If you’re worried that learning German language will be time-consuming, don’t be, because German offers a range of handy shortcuts for faster and more efficient learning. You can really start at any age, even if you can only say hello in German.

German is full of surprises

Most languages, including English and German, combine smaller words into longer ones. The Germans, however, have taken this practice to the extreme. You don’t believe me? Just search for funny German words or the longest compound words in the search engine, some of them have more than 30 or 40 letters. Surprisingly long words, they give even a “Muttersprachler” a hard time, perhaps because many of them are artificially created and are not used in informal language.

German is generally the language with the longest words, with an average of 13 letters. German compound words are unrivalled in the world. The Guinness Book of World Records once listed a German word with 79 letters, and the longest commonly used word today is “Rechtsschutzversicherungsgesellschaften” with 39 letters. It indicates insurance companies providing legal protection. So yes, it does exist and is used.

German opens up a new career not only in IT

After the pandemic, the job market is opening up again and there are many job offers with the requirement to know German language. With them come new career opportunities that are often above average. Nowadays, almost all employers are looking for multilingual employees, and German language skills could be the key to your dream job.

There are over 2,000 Austrian and 600 German companies active in Slovakia and the top topic for the near future is the shortage of qualified employees. Although many of the work teams are international and use English, a high level in German helps in better relationship building. Currently, our largest job portal offers up to 1,602 positions with German language. There are over 500 offers in the Bratislava region, 178 offers in the Kosice region and 166 offers in the Zilina region. Knowledge of the German language is guaranteed to boost your CV, whatever industry you work in.

German language opens the door to msg life Slovakia

You can also use your knowledge of German at msg life Slovakia, a subsidiary of the German group msg life Gruppe. This international group has been offering professional IT and consulting services in the insurance and finance segments for more than 40 years. We have been successfully growing on the Slovak market since 2000. In our offices in Bratislava, Zilina and Kosice you can find a really great job in the field of software development.

You will use German in your daily communication, especially with your colleagues from Germany. For some positions, such as our Business Analyst for the area of migration with German language, you will be the direct contact for our customers, which are the large insurance companies in the German market such as AXA and UNIQA.

We have a variety of interesting positions with the opportunity to use your excellent German language skills at a minimum B2 level:

• Actuary and actuary in IT
• IT Project Manager
• Integration IT Architect
• Business IT consultant
  

You can find all our latest job offers here on the careers page.

We are breaking down language barriers

At msg life Slovakia we are constantly improving our foreign language skills. Our quality German and English tutors provide German language learning online to help you improve and progress. Our courses are free of charge and are among the many benefits we offer you as an employee. Part of the German course even counts towards working hours. They are also suitable for colleagues with A1-A2 level and will gradually help you to get to a higher level. You can read about language levels in our next article.

Do you speak German and know your way around the IT world, but there is not an offer in our job offers that you are completely interested in? Never mind, write to us or send us your CV. For smart people with German, possible programming experience or experience in the insurance industry, we have an offer of IT Talent with German Language.

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7 reasons why learn German

Zuzana Kocáková

At msg life Slovakia I take care of the company culture, events and I am part of the marketing team. I like a job where I can be creative and contribute to making my colleagues at msg feel good. I regularly prepare for you not only news and interesting things from the world of information technology and insurance, but also from behind the scenes events at msg life Slovakia.