It’s long been known that bilingual education has many benefits for students. Aside from the obvious benefits of speaking more than one language, bilingual education may produce students who are more proficient in both of their spoken tongues, have better problem solving skills and stronger executive function, and generally perform better in school.
But when you decide to enroll your child in a bilingual school, you may be faced with a dizzying array of options for secondary languages. French, Spanish, German, and many more – each language has its own advantages and disadvantages to learn, and it could be difficult to choose among them.
However, in the current economy and geopolitical climate, one language stands out among the rest, that could prove to be an amazing medium of instruction for international students today: the German language.
Why should your children learn in German, over other languages?
Germany is the largest economy in Europe and the fourth-largest in the world, and its ongoing growth inspires confidence that it will continue to be a major economic power in the coming years. Aside from the raw economic power of Germany, it’s also among the top 10 import and export partners for both the United States and the United Kingdom. And in the Fortune 500’s ranking of countries with the largest number of companies on the list, Germany is tied at fourth place with France, with 29 German companies on the Fortune 500.
German is also an official language of Austria and Switzerland, both also powerful countries with excellent economies. Given these metrics, German is definitely a language that one would want to learn, to seize an advantage in economic powerhouses later in one’s career.
Aside from its economic uses, with over 95 million native speakers, German is the most widely-spoken native European tongue, and the second-most spoken overall in the continent after English. There are also an additional 10-15 million speakers who have German as a second language.
Learning German as a bilingual student has additional benefits, particularly for future tertiary education. German universities represent some of the best in the world, and have scholarships and tuition fees that are typically cheaper than those of universities in other Anglo-Saxon countries. These universities will have certain required levels of German proficiency to qualify for admission. Learning German throughout one’s pre-university studies will help achieve this proficiency.
SISD offers an exemplary bilingual English and German education
At Swiss International School Dubai, we teach a well-rounded and bilingual curriculum that provides instruction in both German and English. We provide a stream that is taught in both English and German, as well as a stream with one lesson of German per day. The multicultural environment of SISD is anchored to this bilingual medium of instruction, allowing students to leave the School not only with a premiere education, but also a grasp of both German and English that will provide them with an advantage on the international playing field.
