DO NOT MAKE THIS MISTAKE! Why Learning German Or French Is Pivotal For Admissions, Study Visa & Beyond

One thing that really stood out for us, due to its complete disconnect from reality, was the autowalas confronting the German police in Hindi and having a full-blown 15 minute conversation with them. Needless to say, this only ever happens in movies; do you know what else only happens in movies? Someone moving to Germany or France without having picked up on a lick of German or French!

While it’s not mandatory, there are simply way too many upsides to knowing French and German. In this blog, we will go over how things work out for you if you speak either or both of these languages, in terms of admissions, getting your study visa, and even your job prospects after passing out! Let’s get things started then, shall we?

Admissions

Yes, we know, Germany and France offer a lot of courses in English, each offering approximately over 1500+ courses according to estimates provided by both Campus France and DAAD. In the case of Germany, however, it is noted that if you search for English-taught programs using the International Program Search Tool, there are probably less than a 100 programmes taught in English by public universities, otherwise known as the universities where you don’t have to pay a tuition. If you’re looking at public universities, therefore, the competition is pretty loaded, and the one thing that can help you stand out against your competition in this scenario is knowing how to speak German! An observational study conducted on over 4,500 international bachelor's and master's students from 125 universities between 2017/1 winter semester and 2020 summer semester indicated that possessing a grasp on German is definitely the difference between success and failure.

Beyond the numbers and statistics, a lot of studies prove that knowing how to speak German or French is a major boost in terms of both choices (your choices immediately expand, cause now you can also look at courses which are taught in French or German!) and how you fare in terms of understanding lectures, doing your assignments, dealing with your international peers, and so on. Multilingualism, as you’d realise throughout this piece, is a cheat code to success.

Study Visa

This is something we have observed over a decade of helping students with securing their study visas to study in Europe - a student’s chances of getting a student visa dramatically go up when they know how to speak either French or German, whichever might be the predominant language of the country they’re applying to. Why? Because knowing either of these two languages plays a big role in your readiness in terms of navigating social interactions; the academic and professional worlds.

In scenarios where a visa interview is undertaken, a student wields an element of surprise if they can speak French or German - in the sense that they can create an enduring impression on the interviewer by showcasing that yes, they do speak their language and when you speak someone’s language, it’s rightly said that you engage with them in a manner you cannot when you converse in a lingua franca, which is usually English.

So while it’s not mandatory to know how to speak French or German if you’ve picked a course that is taught in English, it’s a big deal if you do speak them.

Job Prospects

So we’d like to preface this with a simple phrase - the pros outweigh the cons (if any exist), in this case. If we go by sheer numbers, French is spoken by 267 million people in the world, German is spoken by 155 million. Based on We Forum’s Power Language Index, German comes up at 3rd in terms of opportunities it offers on the economic side of things, while French comes up at 6th. Essentially, if you do not know how to speak French or German, you’re alienating yourself from a lot of the job market in Europe because a lot of countries deal primarily in these two languages if not their own native languages.

If you’re not able to strike up a rapport with people, it’ll be infinitely difficult to land a job or do anything of note for that matter. It holds true for any line of profession you get into - networking is key, being able to persuade the other person of your capabilities and skills is key. So of course, knowing how to speak English or French can truly take you a long way in terms of professional success because ultimately, all businesses and professionals, big or small, comprise of people who synergise to do amazing things and if you speak their tongue, your chances of becoming part of that synergy increases!

Learning French/German: How Do I Get Started?

Alright, by now you probably get the point, so it is only pertinent that we help you find ways to kickstart your learning! There are the usual resources, namely the likes of Duolingo amongst other language-learning apps, but they are usually not comprehensive enough or driven by any coherent pedagogy, more or less focusing on teaching you random phrases and words that may or may not come in handy. That’s not to underplay the usefulness of such resources, cause no learning ever goes to vain.

Alliance Française and Goethe-Institut provide language classes and even conduct certification exams, but many times the classes are quite impersonal and students who have to give multiple exams at a time may struggle as they switch in and out of these classes, ultimately hampering their learning.

To aid students in their cause, we’ve facilitated comprehensive for both French course and German course, taught by seasoned trainers who bring a wealth of experience to the table and will ensure that whatever level it is that you operate in, you’re fluent and sure about your grasp on the different concepts. The best part? It’s online, and that means that you can switch batches anytime within 6 months if you’ve got something coming up. Your learning must never take the backseat.

Conclusion

So that’s all she wrote, folks! We hope that you found the blog insightful and we are always happy to share our experiences and observations in the study abroad in Europe spectrum.

If you’ve been dreaming about studying in Europe and wish to make a meaningful stride towards making that happen, you can always reach out to our team of experienced, capable counsellors at EduGo Abroad; we’ve helped more than 25000 students in the past 15 years make their study abroad in Europe dreams come true, and if you’re reading this, you could be next!