×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Benefits of speaking German

Benefits of speaking German

Benefits of speaking German

(OP)
How useful is it to be a fluent German speaker?

In the auto business it's key.  What about other fields?  Should German language speaking be pushed more in English-speaking scools?

RE: Benefits of speaking German

Structural Engineering side in Western United States, there is no benefit for knowing German.

Knowing Spanish is helpful as a field engineer at construction sites, but can get by without knowing any.

RE: Benefits of speaking German

I did get an interview at Siemens after first being told they weren't interviewing.  They changed their mind when they found I spoke German.

Otherwise, no impact.

RE: Benefits of speaking German

i'd reckon it'd be nice if you were talking to germans (ie people whose first language is german) to speak to them in their own language out of courtesy, much as we expect them to speak english (or american) to us.  you might be able to understand their jokes, and order a beer (or two).

RE: Benefits of speaking German

rb1957: "Zwei bier bitte" is the key. :)

I'm actually surprised that the OP feels that a knowledge of German is key in the automotive business. I have several friends who are in that industry, one of whom is a homologation engineer and thus works extensively with foreign regulatory bodies, and none of them know German at all. I'm not doubting it, but I am surprised.

The only other technical area that I know of where German is essential is in organic chemistry, a field that was invnted by the Germans, and where much reference material is available only in that language. In any top-level graduate degree program in that area, German is a required subject for that reason. Fluency isn't needed, of course, just a decent reading knowledge of organic chemistry papers, which is quite a different thing indeed.

RE: Benefits of speaking German

Germans don't do jokes and "zwei Biere gefallen"

RE: Benefits of speaking German

I think that any foreign language you can learn is good for you. I use Swedish, English, German and French regularly and I think that traveling in countries that speak "my" languages is a lot less troublesome than it is in countries like Greece, Turkey, Finland where I have no clue what people are talking about and sometimes don't even understand simple signs about parking or pedestrian zones.

A fair command of several languages also makes your understanding of other cultures easier. But for work, most companies I have worked with have English as their official corporate language. Yes, even Siemens. I have participated in meetings in Germany where I was the only foreigner and the Germans still insisted to talk English.

SKF, Volvo, ABB - all have English as "their" language. It makes life a lot easier for you guys that seem to master English (US or UK) to perfection.

Gunnar Englund
www.gke.org

RE: Benefits of speaking German

re: German and organic chemistry...

•My dad was a German born and educated organic chemist.  Turns out that all of his Japanese customers also spoke German, as that was the language their textbooks were written in.

•A friend who had lived in Japan reported that his doctor kept his notes in German.

RE: Benefits of speaking German

For some time German was a valued language because so many engineering texts were in German and even today the engineers at my last company have a Technical German dictionary handy for working with German texts.

I'd have to say though that beyond being well received in Germany when speaking, or attempting to speak, German, most of the engineers I have dealt with spoke excellent English.
 
The only time I had a real struggle was when I visited a petrochemical plant in Alsace where the engineers did not speak English and we had to muddle through in a mixture of French and German with lots of extravagent gestures.

In short, you probably won't need to learn another language if you speak English, no matter where you go in the world; but its a great thing to learn another language and its native speakers will appreciate your trying.

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

RE: Benefits of speaking German

jmw
Yah! That's the bottom line,
I award you a star

pinnpoint

RE: Benefits of speaking German

(OP)
I'm surprised by some of these comments.  There are many technical journals and magazines published only in German.  Plus of course, Germany really is the centre of the auto business in Europe these days.  I agree that most of the German people I deal with speak excellent English (often better than other people who have it as a first language), but when I'm with a colleague or two who speak German, the wheels just turn so much more smoothly.

RE: Benefits of speaking German


By coincidence, today I brought in my attempt at Zwetschgenkuchen (plum cake) from a recipe written in German by my former mother-in-law.  The cake did not turn out perfectly (the crust is too dry and hard).

Although I speak and read a fair amount of German, I sure could use a German engineer today that can read and translate the handwriting to figure out where I went wrong with this recipe!  Maybe I should double check my grams to ounces conversions.

Other than that, the only other time I've encountered 'needing' German in an engineering office is the time those of us who could speak it attempted to translate popular American music band names and lyrics into German, often with comedic results.

"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"

RE: Benefits of speaking German

Handwriting is almost a whole other story!  Even German longhand script seems to have an accent of its own.  Reading it can take some getting used to.

RE: Benefits of speaking German

I think German longscript is easier to read than American script - at least the letters look more like printing than American. Though I guess by now I write in a weird hybrid of German and American script - all glory to the keyboard :)

as to usefulness of German as an industrial language - I want to say that it's imperative, but that's just wishful thinking in an international setting. English will get you most places, but I still think that learning other languages and experiencing other cultures is of vital importance (if you happen to pick German, more power to you).

Casseiopea - if you can get me a scanned image of the recipe, I'll give it a shot - if nothing else, I can get my mom involved - she's had decades of experience deciphering handwritten notes :)

Rick

cheers,
rad
"Remember, if you leave it to the last minute, it'll only take a minute"

RE: Benefits of speaking German


radaes,

Thank you for the offer.  I'll see what I can do.  Unfortunately our office building has had a recent bout of theft. They got our scanner, a couple of laptops and a slide projector. (the guy has been caught and all that was recovered was the slide projector.)  I might try a digital photo.

The engineers here liked the cake, or at least didn't mention it if they didn't.

"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"

RE: Benefits of speaking German

I chose German as my forgein language elective in high school because at the time I was watching reruns of the WWII drama "Combat" on TV and I wanted to be able to understand what the Germans were saying. Just another in a series of plans gone awry...

With reference to English as the language of business throughout the world--I did some work for an company that also built projects in Russia. The project manager I worked with told me that they had sent several managers over there, with the expectation that they would learn to speak the language during the course of their projects. He said that after six months over there, none of the Americans could speak any Russian, but all the Russians that they had been working with could speak passable English.

RE: Benefits of speaking German

That I believe! There's a reason that English is so wide-spread. I think that that reason is Hollywood and CNN.

Gunnar Englund
www.gke.org

RE: Benefits of speaking German

Digger242j,
try Das Boot.. or Heimat, both ran here in German with English subtitles; the sound of a language, even without the full understanding, is part of the flavour and I always feel cheated of the full impact but dubbing.

Ever watched Polish TV with dubbing? (I think it was Polish, i was watching in Greece so the subtitles were no use to me either) It was more voiceover than dubbing, one guy did the lot in an emotionless newsreader style, men women, kids, the lot.

My wife has watched so much American TV in Germany she is convinced David Hasselhoff is a real German....plus a number of others, I have about managed to pursuade her Eddie Murphy is not German but Irish...the clue is in the name... and that's the point, most European countries (except the UK) dub US imports though the satellite channels will sometimes not bother. (UK TV sometimes has to dub other UK dialects for UK audiences).

So Skogs, CNN maybe, but unless Sweden is much different I would have thought most terrestial TV would be dubbed there also, or am I wrong?

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

RE: Benefits of speaking German

First trip I ever made through Czechoslovakia (sp?) to Poland via Germany, I did not speak any of those languages.  But, I found that German was kind of a common denominator language, since at some point in their history, Germany had owned all of them.  Heck, a lot of Polish cities had both german and polish names (e.g. Danzig/Gdansk) so when I returned a year later, I had studied and learned enough German to get by in an OK fashion in all of them.  Sure beat having to learn all three languages.

rmw

RE: Benefits of speaking German

Yes jmw, you are wrong.

We have the original sound - and Swedish texts. It is even possible to switch the text off on some channels (or programs, never found out).

Clint Eastwood on French TV sounds just ridiculous and he never was the same Dirty Harry after that. That goes for Sean Connery too.

Julie Roberts in German is also something you could live without.

I didn't even think of it. We seem to be quite alone not having films dubbed. I think that it is a good thing. It keeps litteracy among youth up and also makes you train languages almost inconsciuosly.

Gunnar Englund
www.gke.org

RE: Benefits of speaking German

In this past 6 month alone, I have used Flemish, French & German (written & verbal) as part of a forensic investigation, in mid-west USA! Conversing with experts in their native tongue helps breaks the ice.

One can never go wrong learning a foreign language.

Vita sine litteris mors est.

RE: Benefits of speaking German

"One can never go wrong learning a foreign language."

That's an understatement. Imagine a Chinese who wants to do business in the USA: "one can never go wrong learning English"...

IMHO, if you really want to do business effectively in a foreign country and have an important if not determining advantage over your competitors, you simply have to speak their language and speak it very well, not just be able to say hello and thank you just to make them smile.

RE: Benefits of speaking German

Cass - no engineer in his right mind would EVER say anything negative about free food - especially if it's part of the sugar food group!

During my Harley days, the local bakery accidentally ran a batch of cookies with no sugar in the dough. They were going to throw them out but instead I bought the batch (about 5 lbs) for a dollar and put them by the coffee pot in Engineering.  They were gone with the hour and everbody was smiling.

"If A equals success, then the formula is: A = X + Y + Z, X is work. Y is play. Z is keep your mouth shut."
-- by Albert Einstein

RE: Benefits of speaking German

Sprintcar,

Your post reminds me of something that happened a long time ago at my first job after graduating.

I had to run by the boss' house to pick up a file because he was leaving town.  While I was waiting, his wife gave me a cake to take to the office.  She said she had made it a few days ago, but her family didn't like coconut and wouldn't touch the cake.  

When I got outside to my car, I noticed the cake had more than just coconut on top.  It was FUZZY with little mold hairs.  Not wanting to embarrass the boss' wife, I decided to get rid of it at the office.

So when I got to the office, I set the cake on the counter in the coffee area and hurried off to the ladies room for a more urgent task.  I got back 2 minutes later and half the cake was gone.  So I went around to everyone and told them not to eat the cake because of the mold.

Only one engineer threw it out.  The others just shrugged their shoulders and ate!

ps  No one seemed adversly affected.  And I don't think it was an intentional thing.  The boss lived in a house with an indoor swimming pool and was always complaining about the humidity!  Only one of the staff engineers was angry about the cake and never let me live it down.

"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources