The foreign language skills of Germans far exceed those of speakers in many English-speaking countries across the world, including America, Australia and New Zealand. Why is this? The German education for language learning is quite difficult in the countries just mentioned, and it shows. This article will discuss the reasons for this and some of the benefits of learning languages in schools.

If you have ever met a young German person who is learning your own or a language you are also learning, the chances are that they will have a better skill level in that language than you do. Is this because Germans have some sort of superpower in language learning? Not quite.

German education is often said to be high quality and it is, therefore, no surprise that German students have strong language skills. This skill in languages is driven by a cultural and social prioritization of education, combined with a geographical location that places German people in close contact with many foreign languages. This means that German students can clearly see the benefits of learning foreign languages and are more motivated to learn.

Compared to schools in more geographically isolated places, such as Australia and America, there is a reduced focus and urge to learn foreign languages. In addition, it is more difficult to find skilled language teachers compared to Germany. Teachers in Germany could live across the border or simply move a few hours away from home to live in Germany, whereas a language teacher in Australia would need to live in the country which is less common.

What Languages Are Taught In German Schools?

There are different types of schools – Gymnaisum (academically-orientated schools), Hautpschule (trades-orientated schools), Realschule (white-collar orientated studies). As trades become more complex, there are advantages to studying at a Gymnasium, as the certificate that is achieved at the end is highly looked upon.

In Gymnasium schools, students commonly start learning English in around grade 5. They will then start also learning another compulsory language around grade 7 and have the option to start a third foreign language in grade 9. This does not include German classes.

Students must continue learning at least one foreign language to the end of school, in grade 12 or 13, however, many students will learn more than one as they understand the need to learn languages given Germany’s geographic location.

Languages offered are typically English, French, Spanish, and Latin, with other languages such as Chinese, Polish and Russian offered, depending on the individual school. As Germany shares borders with many countries, schools in different parts of Germany would offer languages more suited to their geographic location.

How Do Germans Excel At Languages In School?

You may be thinking, it’s all well and good that German schools teach many languages, but surely there’s more to this than just language classes. You are entirely correct! Having the opportunity to learn something means very little if the students themselves are not motivated or interested in learning.

Similar to many countries, German students must, by law, attend school until they are at least 15 years old. Beyond their lawful obligation, there is a cultural expectation that students will attend school, something that is reinforced by parents and the community.

Germany is an economic powerhouse and the German people know it! They also know that in order to keep this success going, they must prioritize education for the next generation. It is clear that this approach is working: the OECD, measuring 34 countries across the world including Australia and the United States shows that more German students are achieving a higher average grade than the average students across the 34 countries.

If you are interested in reading more about the German attitude specific to language learning in more detail in this post here.

Does Learning Languages Help Students?

There are a plethora of benefits of learning languages, both in school and after school and there is a post discussing the benefits of knowing more than one language that you can find here.

Do language classes specifically benefit students? The answer is yes.

Learning another language, even in a classroom, can be an eye-opening experience for students who have lived the majority of their life in the same area of the same city. Suddenly they become aware that the language they are speaking is not the only one in the world.

Obviously, this is not new information, but learning another language hits home that there are billions of people on this planet, living their own life just as much as the student, but completely in a different language. This can truly give the students insight into the size of the world and the significance of the skill to communicate in more than one language.