The Goethe Institute is a German cultural organisation that, for over 50 years, has been promoting interest in and studying the German language worldwide. In 2007, it launched an ambitious project which saw a series of events take place worldwide under the banner “The Power of Language” (Die Macht der Sprache). The project ran for two years; it aimed to explore the significance of language in a globalised world. It looked at language’s role in national identity, politics, commerce and science. The project is still hailed today as a shining example of the institute’s work. So what did it find?
Leading lights from various professions contributed to the project, giving their views on the role not just of German but language as a whole. It’s hardly surprising that multilingualism was hailed as an invaluable skill in an increasingly integrated Europe. The full results of the project are available in a publication of the same name, which you may like to peruse. A summary of that book declared, “The German language has never been so expressive, has never had such a large vocabulary and was never so capable of being used in so many different ways as now”.
We certainly agree with that viewpoint. If you’d like to discover what the German language can offer you, check out our variety of German courses in London with learning delivery methods to suit every individual or company.