Goethe German language institute pushes for greater multilingualism in Europe

The Goethe Institute, Germany's language and culture institute, continues to boost awareness of the importance of multilingualism. Experts say a lack of knowledge of foreign languages in Europe is hurting the economy.

The latest involvement by the Goethe Institute in promoting the learning of foreign languages is an event called "Languages without Borders" which premiered in Berlin. It is one of around 30 projects around the world that the Goethe Institute has financed in the past two years in an effort to promote multilingualism.

"We believe that with such projects, we can put a spotlight on the issue of multilingualism, and then later we can pinpoint a strategy of how we're going to improve multilingualism next year or the year after that," said Matthias Makowski, head of the language department at the Goethe Institute.

"Languages without Borders" was established to raise awareness of the importance of multilingualism in modern times, according to Makowski.

Since 2007, the European Union has had a Commission for Multilingualism, to strengthen language diversity. In comparison to other continents - or even individual countries - Europe falls short. For example, India alone has 22 official languages. This makes it easy for people there to become multilingual, said Anil Bhatti, a German language professor in New Delhi.

"What you have in Europe is a situation where multilingualism is attained through the learning of foreign languages," Bhatti said. "In India, somebody from the north, who speaks Hindi, wouldn't consider Tamil a foreign language. This is just another Indian language. Learning a foreign language means learning a European language, for example. And for an Indian person, this could be their fourth or fifth language."

To speak four or five languages is now the exception in Europe. Today, as immigration to Europe grows, language plays a key role in the integration of new arrivals. In the EU, many countries require immigrants to submit to language testing.

However, Piet van Avermaet from the Association of Language Testing in Europe is skeptical about making such tests compulsory.

"When you take language as a condition for integration, it often does not work. It's often the other way around," van Avermaet said. "When you reduce the problems of discrimination when you improve the opportunities for people to find a job; when you improve your policy in relation to social integration then at the same time the process of language acquisition emerges."

A lack of knowledge of foreign languages can even affect the economy, according to a study led by the EU Commission. In 2006, it found that at least 945,000 small and medium-sized companies may be losing business due to a lack of language competence.

German classes take deep cuts

Foreign language education in the US has taken another hit as Carolina education departments cut back. Marilyn Metzler, a German language teacher sees enrollment in her German classes fluctuate each year. But now she's more worried than ever about the future of the program -- and her job.

For the first time since the language program's start over a decade ago, German classes will no longer be offered in Chapel Hill-Carrboro middle schools. High school German has also been slashed, with some schools combining class levels and others losing all courses in the language.

While Metzler's program at Chapel Hill High remains mostly intact, she said she's worried that cuts to other German programs mean the school board will soon want to say "auf Wiedersehen" to the language altogether.

It's not just happening at Chapel Hill-Carrboro, either. To make up for severe cuts in the state budget this year, school districts across the Triangle have been forced to reduce electives that school boards and principals once proudly touted. Teachers and other employees are being cut.

"I understand that budgets are affecting programs," said Metzler, 57. "But I hate to think money is the single, defining issue in determining what students can learn."

Although the district is cutting German from middle school, an upper-level class will remain at Smith Middle School for eighth graders who want to continue the language in high school. Metzler is teaching the section.

"I was pretty devastated when I heard the news," she said. "This will affect our future numbers. Students who start the language early on are more likely to continue in high school."

East Chapel Hill High's German program has been cut entirely. Students who want to take German will either have to travel to one of Metzler's classes at Chapel Hill High, four miles away, or enroll in online courses.

"I don't want to take a foreign language online. You lose a huge chunk of instruction that way," said Micaela Arneson, a senior at East Chapel Hill High who had intended to take AP German after more than five years of instruction in both middle and high school.

Niel Lebeck, a senior at East Chapel Hill High who also wanted to continue with AP German, said part of the problem is that German has "less of a hook" than other languages. Spanish is useful, he said, because of the growing number of Hispanics in this country. And offering Japanese means the district has an Asian language, which is smart in a global economy.

Metzler doesn't like it when people say German isn't a useful language.

"There are many reasons why German is still a valid language to learn," she said. "It prepares you to be a global citizen, and it also helps you better understand how language works."

Frau Metzler, as her students call her, runs one of the best German programs in the state. In her 14 years with the school system, her students have regularly won national and state awards, scored high on exams and traveled abroad in exchange programs. Her German Honor Society students even started a German club where they taught elementary school students.

Despite her growing trophy closet, Metzler said she feels that she's being pushed away from teaching.