UK seeks to spark interest in German language as learner numbers plummet
For years, the number of students in Britain learning foreign languages has been decreasing, with German classes seeing a particularly dramatic decline. But now the government in London is aiming to reverse this trend, partly due to the consequences of Brexit.
"Servus" - that was the first German word that Harry Kane learned to say when he recently introduced himself as a new addition to FC Bayern Munich. Despite the language being difficult to learn, the English football star said at his first press conference in Munich that he wanted to take on the challenge.
"I want to try to embrace the culture and the country," said the 30-year-old.
But this willingness to learn German is increasingly rare among Kane’s compatriots. Fewer and fewer students are learning the language, as evidenced by exam registrations for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) and Advanced Level (A-Level) in the United Kingdom.
For the GCSE exam, the results of which were published on Thursday, just under 34,000 students across the country had registered for German. This marks a decline of 5.7 percent compared to the previous year. In 2005, more than 100,000 children in the UK had registered for the GCSE German exam.
The decline in German is even more pronounced than it appears at first glance, considering that the number of exam takers has increased due to larger birth cohorts. In the A-Level exams, only 2,200 girls and boys took the German exam - a 17.2 percent drop compared to the previous year.
This wasn't always the case: interest in learning German reached its peak in 2001 when 571,000 teenagers registered for the GCSE exam in German. However, interest steadily declined, especially after the then Labour government abolished the requirement to choose at least one foreign language as an exam subject in 2004.
Katharina von Ruckteschell-Katte, the director of the Goethe-Institut in London, is disappointed by the ongoing decline.
"We had expected the numbers to at least stabilize," she told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur. It is "naturally very, very unfortunate" that the numbers are once again on the decline.
The main problem remains that the government does not make foreign language learning compulsory, she said. And there is no indication of a turnaround. Achieving a good grade in a foreign language in the final exam is comparatively challenging. And given that the average grade plays an important role in moving on to further education, reintroducing mandatory foreign language instruction would be unpopular. It also doesn’t help that German is considered particularly difficult.
But there are some causes for cautious optimism, according to the head of the cultural institute. The increasingly evident economic consequences of Brexit have led to a change of thinking at government level.
Several initiatives are now being implemented to stop the downward trend - not only for German, as French has also been declining for years, although not as dramatically.
READ ALSO: 'Germany is best country for international students,' above UK
The government aims to counter this trend with a National Consortium for Languages Education (NCLE) under the leadership of University College London. This initiative intends to create 25 hubs for foreign language instruction in a bid to “re-energise language learning in state-maintained primary and secondary schools in England”. The hubs will each comprise up to seven partner schools.
The government is providing £14.9 million (approximately €17.4 million) over the next three years for the project. German occupies a special role within the initiative, complete with a special budget.
Ruckteschell-Katte sees this as a sign that Germany is gaining importance as a bilateral partner within Europe for the United Kingdom. The Goethe-Institut is responsible for implementing the programme through the GIMAGINE project, which targets schools, teachers, and students with language promotion programmes, materials, and event organization. The programme is set to kick off in October.
At the same time, the government has revived a scholarship program intended to attract prospective German teachers to Britain. Around 20 to 30 successful applicants are expected this year, according to the British Council.
Among adults, the Goethe-Institut has seen encouraging signs. After years of decline, the institute is experiencing growing demand for its in-house language courses. Whether this enthusiasm is contagious remains to be seen.
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"Servus" - that was the first German word that Harry Kane learned to say when he recently introduced himself as a new addition to FC Bayern Munich. Despite the language being difficult to learn, the English football star said at his first press conference in Munich that he wanted to take on the challenge.
"I want to try to embrace the culture and the country," said the 30-year-old.
But this willingness to learn German is increasingly rare among Kane’s compatriots. Fewer and fewer students are learning the language, as evidenced by exam registrations for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) and Advanced Level (A-Level) in the United Kingdom.
For the GCSE exam, the results of which were published on Thursday, just under 34,000 students across the country had registered for German. This marks a decline of 5.7 percent compared to the previous year. In 2005, more than 100,000 children in the UK had registered for the GCSE German exam.
The decline in German is even more pronounced than it appears at first glance, considering that the number of exam takers has increased due to larger birth cohorts. In the A-Level exams, only 2,200 girls and boys took the German exam - a 17.2 percent drop compared to the previous year.
This wasn't always the case: interest in learning German reached its peak in 2001 when 571,000 teenagers registered for the GCSE exam in German. However, interest steadily declined, especially after the then Labour government abolished the requirement to choose at least one foreign language as an exam subject in 2004.
Katharina von Ruckteschell-Katte, the director of the Goethe-Institut in London, is disappointed by the ongoing decline.
"We had expected the numbers to at least stabilize," she told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur. It is "naturally very, very unfortunate" that the numbers are once again on the decline.
The main problem remains that the government does not make foreign language learning compulsory, she said. And there is no indication of a turnaround. Achieving a good grade in a foreign language in the final exam is comparatively challenging. And given that the average grade plays an important role in moving on to further education, reintroducing mandatory foreign language instruction would be unpopular. It also doesn’t help that German is considered particularly difficult.
But there are some causes for cautious optimism, according to the head of the cultural institute. The increasingly evident economic consequences of Brexit have led to a change of thinking at government level.
Several initiatives are now being implemented to stop the downward trend - not only for German, as French has also been declining for years, although not as dramatically.
READ ALSO: 'Germany is best country for international students,' above UK
The government aims to counter this trend with a National Consortium for Languages Education (NCLE) under the leadership of University College London. This initiative intends to create 25 hubs for foreign language instruction in a bid to “re-energise language learning in state-maintained primary and secondary schools in England”. The hubs will each comprise up to seven partner schools.
The government is providing £14.9 million (approximately €17.4 million) over the next three years for the project. German occupies a special role within the initiative, complete with a special budget.
Ruckteschell-Katte sees this as a sign that Germany is gaining importance as a bilateral partner within Europe for the United Kingdom. The Goethe-Institut is responsible for implementing the programme through the GIMAGINE project, which targets schools, teachers, and students with language promotion programmes, materials, and event organization. The programme is set to kick off in October.
At the same time, the government has revived a scholarship program intended to attract prospective German teachers to Britain. Around 20 to 30 successful applicants are expected this year, according to the British Council.
Among adults, the Goethe-Institut has seen encouraging signs. After years of decline, the institute is experiencing growing demand for its in-house language courses. Whether this enthusiasm is contagious remains to be seen.
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