Welcome to this page for prospective applicants to MMLL and HML courses that include German at Cambridge.
Contents:
- Why learn German?
- What careers are open to me after a degree in German?
- Is German harder than other languages?
- German at Cambridge
- How does German at Cambridge work?
- Where can I spend my year abroad, and what can I do?
- What makes German at Cambridge unique?
- Eligibility
- Can I study German at Cambridge with no previous knowledge of German, or with only GCSE German?
- Can I study German at Cambridge if I have A-Level German (or equivalent)?
- How does the application process work?
- German Outreach Communications
“Learning other languages can allow you to adopt a new perspective in your own life and to express emotions which are inexpressible in English. I have found German to be one of the best languages for offering new perspectives to my life.” (Zoe, first-year student)
Why learn German?
Germany has the third largest economy in the world and is the world's most successful exporting nation.
Germany is also the UK's biggest trading partner after the US, and bilateral relationships between the UK and Germany are strong. See this joint press release from the UK and German governments and the German Embassy’s page on UK-German relations for more details.
German is spoken by over 100 million people in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, making it the most widely spoken native language in the European Union.
It is true that many German speakers have excellent English, but it strengthens our position and influence significantly – in trade, politics, diplomacy, personal relationships, or whatever it is that we are trying to achieve – if we can match that skill.
Plus – German culture is fascinating, it is important, and learning about it is fun! Germany's geographical position has made it a natural mediator between east and west, north and south. In the periods of Reformation, and of Romanticism and Modernism, the German lands saw the birth of literary, artistic, theological, philosophical, musical and visual cultural movements which continue to shape the world we live in today. Writers such as Goethe, the brothers Grimm, Kafka and Brecht have had lasting impact, while German-language recipients of the Nobel Prize for Literature include Thomas Mann, Günter Grass, Elfriede Jelinek and Herta Müller. Thinkers such as Luther, Kant, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud and Arendt rank among the most influential figures in Western thought. And the German cinematic tradition, from the birth of film to the present day, is of international significance.
“I found it really interesting that you could feel the history in the streets in Germany in a way you can't in the UK, it was impossible to go anywhere without coming across memorials or works of art to remember the past.” (Katrina, first-year student)
What careers are open to me after a degree in German?
In brief – a huge range!
Among the most popular destinations for graduates with German are: law, accountancy, journalism, finance, management consultancy, the civil service, the diplomatic service, marketing, education, policy making and translating. But this is not an exhaustive list! Degrees with languages open doors in all sectors – public, private and charitable.
As a graduate with German, you will have a skillset that is highly sought after by employers. You will be fluent in German, will have excellent skills in analysis and argumentation, and will have demonstrated that you are adaptable and resilient by living abroad a for a year. Students in Modern Languages at Cambridge are well prepared for the workplace.
“In the current global economy, multilingual skills are more essential than ever. [...] German tops the list...” (See here for full article)
“One of our largest markets is Germany, where we have a significant data and product footprint. […] Our expertise in the market and our employees’ abilities to engage with clients in their native language is of critical importance.” (Bloomberg)
“Sharing spoken languages can reduce trade barriers [...] English – though important as a lingua franca in business worldwide – is not the sole driver behind existing trade flows across different business sectors.” (University of Cambridge and RAND Europe)
Is German harder than other languages?
Not really! German shares a lot with English, which makes it easy to build up a good vocabulary, and a regular spelling system means that pronunciation is very predictable. Learning grammar rules needs some attention to detail, but the principles are systematic and similar to other European languages.
English speakers are at a great advantage when they learn German, as the languages are both members of the Germanic language family. This means that a lot of basic vocabulary is the same in English and German: for example, the English words ‘arm’, ‘hand’ and ‘finger’ correspond to German Arm, Hand and Finger. In French, by contrast, the corresponding words are bras, main and doigt, or in Spanish brazo, mano and dedo: these words resemble each other, as French and Spanish belong to the Romance family of languages. Of course, not all the correspondences between English and German are as straightforward as Arm and ‘arm’. Sometimes you need to make a sound substitution: for example, English t is often German z, so ‘ten’ is German zehn and ‘tin’ is German Zinn. Sometimes slight meaning changes reflect an interesting history: for example, the German word Zaun has the same origin as English ‘town’, but means ‘fence’, as towns used to be enclosed settlements.
When it comes to more complex words, English and German share a lot of international words like Politik for ‘politics’ or Diskussion for ‘discussion’, easy to learn and familiar in many languages. One of the things which makes German fascinating to learn is the way that long words – and German is famous for its long words! – are built up by combining short ones. A simple example is the word Fingerhut, or ‘finger-hat’, which is the German for ‘thimble’, or Handschuhe, ‘hand-shoes’, the German for ‘gloves’. But even much more complex words may be built up in this way, so for instance the German for ‘diabetes’ is Zuckerkrankheit, or ‘sugar-sickness’. This ‘Lego Principle’ means that every word you learn gives you access to understanding many more items based on it.
Besides vocabulary building, the other major part of language learning is grammar. Here, German has both easy and difficult features. Verbs, for instance, are much simpler than in the Romance languages. Like English, German verbs only have two real tenses: ich trinke is ‘I drink’ and ich trank is ‘I drank’. All other tenses are made by simple combinations with verbs which are the equivalents of English ‘have’ and ‘will’. French and Italian, by contrast, each have four tenses with separate endings which have to be learnt. On the other hand, it must be admitted that the German noun is a bit more complex than those found in English or even the Romance languages, although like them, German nouns have unpredictable genders. In addition, articles and adjectives have endings determined by what is called ‘case’. English speakers use case naturally in some situations, for instance when we say ‘he met me’ and not ‘him met me’ or ‘he met I’. But we do need to learn to extend this concept over a wider range of words in order to use nouns correctly in German.
Another instance where German uses concepts we naturally understand from English is in word order. German has a rule that the verb must always come second in the sentence: the same rule that we find in English sentences like ‘Where is John?’ (never ‘Where John is?’), or ‘Here comes John’. Yoda’s version of German word order with all the verbs at the end is thus much harder than the real thing!
Finally, what makes it rewarding to learn German? Two things are worth mentioning here. On the one hand, English speakers find that it is easier to distinguish the words in spoken German than in spoken Spanish or Italian, because many Germans speak more slowly and clearly, making more spaces between words. You can use this to your advantage when speaking as well: there’s no need to imitate a rapid torrent of speech to sound ‘authentic’. And on the other hand, Germans love to hear foreigners speak their language, and will always encourage you to talk to them and tell you how good you are – even when you suspect this might not be true! As a German learner, then, you get great positive feedback: you will soon understand Germans, and they will really try to understand you.
Of course, learning any foreign language has its challenges, and at Cambridge there is lots of support. Students have dedicated ‘Use of German’ grammar classes to help them practise, and there is consistent attention to how the language works through translation exercises, too. We are not expecting people to arrive at Cambridge with perfect grammar or a perfect accent. The point of the degree is for students to immerse themselves in the language and to refine their command of it over time.
“Wielding the language at full force just feels cool, and the more you get a feel for the structure, the more natural the at-first daunting syntax becomes.” (Joey, fourth-year student)
German at Cambridge
How does German at Cambridge work?
German can be studied from scratch (‘ab initio’, option A), or post A-Level (option B). Students can choose to spend part of all of their year abroad in a German-speaking country.
Students have language classes (writing, speaking and translating) and take ‘scheduled papers’ (i.e. papers on topics in German culture, history or linguistics). In the first year, all students take the same scheduled paper (GEA3 for ab initio, GE1 for post A-Level); this is an introduction to a broad range of topics, including film, history, literature, linguistics and philosophy. From the second year, people choose their scheduled papers.
Click here for more information on Option A, here for more on Option B, and here for an overview of the full course.
“At Cambridge, German is a way into studying a really broad range of stuff. I've studied migration and the far right, cinema, modern and medieval literature, LOTS of politics, and even more history - all as a result of studying German.” (Ella, fourth-year student)
Where can I spend my year abroad, and what can I do?
Students focussing on German can spend their year abroad in any German-speaking country, and they can opt to work or study. It is a great opportunity to gain work experience, to travel and to make new friends. Many students describe it as the chance of a lifetime. Some spend the whole year in one place, while others split the year between two cities, or even two countries.
Here’s a brief video about the year abroad.
Some recent destinations and activities for Cambridge students include studying at universities including Berlin (Free and Humboldt Universities), Leipzig, Göttingen, Tübingen and Vienna.
Cambridge students have undertaken placements with translation agencies (e.g. Cinescript Translations, Berlin, and Translingua Kern AG, Graz), law firms (e.g. Zimmermann & Partner Patentanwälte mbB, Munich, and Herbert Smith Freehills LLP, Frankfurt) and other organisations (e.g. Generali Versicherung AG, Vienna, an insurance firm; Starboxx, Berlin, a model and talent agency; and British Council teaching assistantships throughout Germany and Austria).
“I did my year abroad in Austria, and had an absolutely fantastic time, from the basics – affordable rents, the Klimaticket, a decent job, and affordable cost of living – to some of the more amazing stuff: sipping punch on the top of a mountain in Salzburg, or waltzing at a ball in Vienna.” (Saul, fourth-year student)
What makes German at Cambridge unique?
- Track record: since 2015 Cambridge has been ranked #1 for German in the annual Good University Guide.
- Range: the range of research expertise in the German Section at Cambridge makes it unique in the UK, and this is reflected in our teaching. In your first year, you will have the opportunity to study topics in literature (modern and medieval), film, philosophy, linguistics and history. As you progress through the course, you can choose where to specialise, and follow those areas that most excite you.
- Flexibility: you can keep your interests broad or go deep into a particular time period or area of study; after your year abroad, you can continue to combine German with another language, or focus solely on German. The course is designed so that you can tailor it to your interests.
- Teaching: the variety of teaching methods is stimulating. Cambridge is known for its system of supervisions – that is, teaching done in small groups (often 2-3). Supervisions enable students to discuss topics with an academic and to receive personalised feedback on their work. They are not as daunting as they seem! Students also attend lectures and language classes, which are a great opportunity to work with and get to know others.
“Having a senior academic take your opinions seriously and engage with them from day one is rewarding and motivating.” (Saul, fourth-year student)
Eligibility
Can I study German at Cambridge with no previous knowledge of German, or with only GCSE German?
Yes! You can start German at Cambridge with only GCSE or no prior knowledge of German at all, as an 'ab initio' student. No prior experience of German is necessary for the ab initio course, but for someone has done GCSE, the first few weeks would be a good refresher. Students reach GCSE level by the end of their first term (October to December). More information on our ab initio courses (papers). You can combine ab initio German EITHER with another language, in which you already have an A-Level, OR with History.
Can I study German at Cambridge if I have A-Level German (or equivalent)?
Yes! You will follow a course of language classes and lectures on the literature and culture of German-speaking countries. Full details You can combine post A-Level German EITHER with another language in which you already have an A-Level, OR with another language which you start from scratch, OR with History.
How does the application process work?
Please see the Faculty’s general information pages on applying to study Modern and Medieval Languages and History and Modern Languages.
German Outreach Communications
German Section Outreach Newsletter:
German Section Outreach Events Mailing List:
