Why Study German at Old Dominion University?
In today’s job market, practical considerations are unavoidable, and students choose some of their subjects, including a foreign language, with an eye to their personal future. From this perspective, as well as from a purely academic one, the study of German offers some real advantages. German is spoken in several countries with different cultural, political, and economic traditions: The Federal Republic of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Principality of Liechtenstein and Belgium. More Europeans (approximately 93 million) are native speakers of German than are speakers of English, French, Italian (58-60 million each), or Spanish (36 million). As a language of business, diplomacy, and tourism in Western Europe, it stands second only to English, and in the Eastern Europe it holds first place. Economy: The Federal Republic has the third-highest GNP in the world, is the second highest creditor nation, and every year occupies one of the top three spots among exporting countries. USA and
