It is an official language in a total of seven countries. It is clear that knowing German is a valuable skill when making a career choice. Knowing German is also a great way to add to personal growth through investigation and travel. Tourism is a major industry in all of the German-speaking countries, and each year many Americans visit these countries just for pleasure or to find out more about their cultural heritage. One out of every four to five Americans has German ancestors.
Many students choose to study German because of an interest in their German heritage.
Other reasons for taking German are not mentioned here. But no matter what the motivation is, our goal is to provide each student with the basic skills necessary to communicate in a German-speaking culture. Each lesson assumes a minimum 75-minute class period. The course continues to focus on communication skills in speaking, listening, reading, and writing using authentic cultural material as the content of the course. In other words, a wide variety of topics are discussed from different perspectives, exposing the student to the diversity of German culture and offering the opportunity of comparison with the student's own culture.