A Little Primer

1. For what reasons do students enroll in German language courses?

• Germans comprise the largest group of immigrants in the United States. Many students therefore take up the study of German for personal reasons to become more knowledgeable about their background.

• Many students discover that German is an indispensable tool for research in their major field, e.g., in science, religion, art history, music history, philosophy, and other fields.

• For students planning a future in music performance, music or art history, competence in German may be an absolute necessity.

• Students contemplating a career in government or the foreign service recognize the advantages of proficiency in German.

• Many students who have become acquainted with such German writers as Goethe, Thomas Mann, Kafka, Hesse, Rilke, or others in English translation desire the ability to read them in the original.

• After graduation, students may wish to study for a time at a German university. Students who have done substantial work in German have been particularly successful in competing for Fulbright scholarships.

2. For what reasons do students choose to major or minor in German?

• They plan to continue Germanistic studies at the graduate level in order to prepare for a college or university teaching career.

• They view German language and literature as a valuable complement to their primary area of concentration and elect a Double Major with German or a German minor.

• They choose German as a major component of their preparation for graduate studies in comparative literature.

• They incorporate German into their pre-professional studies (e.g., pre-medicine, pre-law, library science) as a major or minor offering a high degree of intellectual challenge and reward.