Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures

Why Study German?

There are many reasons to study German:

• For business, culture, friendship, travel, heritage.
You can major or minor in German, or enter a formal double major in German with a combination of your choice. Excellent combinations are German and International Relations, International Business/Marketing or Education (Teacher Certification). You may also combine your German studies with any other university program. Further possibilities are: other literatures, fine and performing arts, history, political science, philosophy, and many more. For testimonials from SJU German majors please click here.


• Germany is one of the world’s largest exporters and a major trade partner for the U.S. and Canada.


• German is the most commonly spoken first language in the European Union: Over 100 million Europeans speak German as their native language. It is the second most popular foreign language taught, after English, in Europe (and Japan).


• Germany is the home of numerous international corporations and German corporations have affiliations in more than 100 countries.


• A knowledge of German improves job opportunities. More than 750 American companies manufacture, market, and research in Germany. German corporations have invested more than $ 35 billion in the United States, employing more than 700,000 Americans. Click here to see America's best-known German Companies.


• German is the language of Goethe, Kafka and Nietzsche. It is also the language of Mozart and Beethoven, Freud and Einstein.


• German is an international language in technology, chemistry, medicine, music, philosophy and art. Many graduate programs in the U.S. have a foreign language requirement, and German is often preferred because of its value as a research tool.


• One out of every ten books published in the world is written in German, more than in any other language except English.


• German ancestry in North America is strong; in the US alone more than one quarter of the population claims German ancestry.


• In eastern European countries more than 12 million students learn German.


• More Germans travel per capita than any other nationals on earth – you’re likely to meet them everywhere!


• From musicians, philosophers, writers, and scientists, German thinkers have influenced thought all over the world.