Despite the global dominance of English as a first foreign language, German also shows great vitality. For many people, especially those in the Western Balkans, it is the ticket to the German labor market.
For millions of people around the world, English has become a kind of new lingua franca, the language in which they communicate with people outside the speaking area of their native language. In the globalized and digitized world of numerous communication channels and globally closely intertwined economies, knowledge of English is self-evident, above all in the business world and among younger people. They can communicate in this language around the world, regardless of where they are and where they are traveling.
Hence, it is not surprising that even in the countries of the Western Balkans, English is the first foreign language taught in schools. But right behind it, in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Croatia or Serbia, is German, says Benjamin Hedzic, advisor for education to the federal minister in BiH and president of the International Association of German Language Professors IDV.
Language and emigration
There are several reasons for learning German, says Hedzic, but the most important is the economic one: “The German language is dominant among young people and those who want to study and work somewhere in a German-speaking area. This is especially true for South-Eastern Europe, but also for some other countries, such as India or Sub-Saharan Africa. German language is thought a lot there because it is some kind of ticket to escape from misery to a better world.”
Statistical data show that 50.000 to 60.000 young people leave BiH every year, many of them to Germany, Austria, or Switzerland. That’s one smaller city in BiH every year. The problems are serious, warns Hedzic: “The outflow of young people from Croatia, Serbia, and BiH is very large. We are glad that German is being taught, but we would like language learning not only for that one reason, but that it is an exchange of cultures so that we can live better in the Balkans, and not that we go to Germany to live better. I would like young people, who come here and acquire competencies, to return to their countries and to create some mobility and cultural exchange, because that way we can build a better world.”
Cultural ties
However, the desire to learn German is not always based solely on economic motivation. In Croatia, Serbia, or BiH, since the time of Austria-Hungary, there are numerous family ties with Germany or Austria, German culture is perceived as important and interesting, and this was further strengthened during the wars of the 1990s. At that time, approximately 800.000 people fled from BiH alone, mostly to German-speaking countries. Most of them have long since returned, and they brought the German language with them, says Hedzic: “There are a lot of family and friendship ties, people have a need to communicate in German – it’s not just economic and business reasons,” DW reports.
E.Dz.
