German in the UK

Alan Wood CBE, FREng; Chairman, Siemens plc

“Sadly language teaching in the UK has become heavily de-emphasised in the curriculum of our schools. The reasoning seems to be that English has become a global language of business and therefore we need not bother ourselves to learn other languages. After more than 40 years in business working with partners in a variety of countries however, I have come to realise just how far from the truth this is.

At the business level, there are many situations where it is tremendously advantageous to be able to speak the language of your partner. Because the British generally don’t bother themselves to do this, they don’t understand what a strain it can be to have to carry on a conversation in another language. To be able to share the load with your business partners is greatly appreciated, even if it just allows them to relax over dinner while you work at speaking their language. Frankly, a customer would prefer to deal with a supplier who speaks in his own language.

Beyond the formal business relationship, being able to converse in another’s language allows a quite different relationship to develop. This is often very rewarding and I have found that close and long lasting relationships can be built. Not only is this helpful personally but it can also be very good for business too!

And even for those of us who may not be involved directly in trying to do business in another language, we will visit other countries on vacation. To simply expect everyone else to stress themselves and speak our language doesn’t endear us to the local people. Many of them have enjoyed limited education and have to work really hard to understand and converse with us. They appreciate it if we take the trouble to speak their language.

There are clearly a number of languages that have become world languages and I try at every opportunity to lobby for these to be taught in our primary and secondary schools. Yet even if some of the less widely used languages are taught, this is also helpful in developing language skills. It is definitely true that if you have learned one foreign language, it is much easier to learn a second and so on.”

Dr Paul Golby, Chairman and Chief Executive E.ON UK plc

"It is my deep regret that I "dropped" German at school. Many would say that most Germans speak good English so why bother! However, I am so conscious that it frequently is me as the only non-German speaker at a meeting causing my friends and colleagues to use my language.

I would encourage anyone looking to develop an international career to start early with languages, particularly German".

Kathryn Board, Chief Executive, CILT

"I have no doubt that learning German at school and later at university was the key to a door which led me to a fascinating international career and which has taken me to 23 countries and 3 continents."

Alice

"Obwohl mein Deutsch am Anfang nicht am höchsten Niveau war, habe ich mich auf jeden Fall verbessert. Jetzt freue mich auf eine Karriere, in der ich mit Deutsch arbeiten kann." German Scholarships Programme