8 industries needing bilingual workers

One of our Board Directors, Gert Wilhelm, sent this article, 8 industries needing bilingual workers, to us today. What other industries would you add to the list?

German immersion schools

When I was asked in April 07 by the Dean of the Center for International Studies at UMSL if I would like to participate in a founding board for a St. Louis language immersion school I was downright thrilled by the idea.

While working for the German Goethe-Institut and the cultural branch of the German Foreign Office, ZfA, I had just begun to work together with this rather new type of school. We had held a first conference of German immersion schools of the US in Portland, Oregon, and I had learned about wonderful and thriving schools and start-up projects, mostly initiated by parent groups.

While it is sad (but true) to say that we find German programs at high schools in a downward movement these immersion schools provided growing numbers of students of all ages.

I have been a foreign language teacher myself for many years and also have taught German as a foreign language for six years in Spain. I know of the importance of starting early with foreign language education – and here in St. Louis, there was just the right environment for such an undertaking.

When I started my professional career I studied languages and – almost logically – went into education. Today languages are not only a field for future teachers, but also and in the main place an additional qualification young people need to be able to compete in our global world. Our goal should hence be to provide them with this additional skill that might make the difference in getting a good job.

The project of a language immersion school in the city of St. Louis is an ambitious goal – but it can mean “future” for hundreds of kids who will be able to choose learning one or more foreign languages at an age where learning is just natural to them. I am very glad to be part of that project and to be able to contribute whatever there can be provided by the German institutions I represent.

Enthusiastically
Gert Wilhelm
German Language Consultant
Goethe Institute
Central Agency for Schools Abroad (ZfA)