German has always been a popular language in , which harbors close with . More than currently live in Germany.
The popularity of the language continues to grow by the day and is second only to English. This is evident in universities and high schools, where there is increasing demand for German language courses.
Turkey currently has 35 state schools where teaching takes place in German, including two of the top four state high schools. However, only students in the top 3% can apply.
In Istanbul, there is also a private German high school and an Austrian high school, where most students are Turkish.
Turkish students opt for Germany
At Turkish universities, . The language and Germany as a place to seek higher education are playing an increasingly important role in young people’s plans for the future.
“In the past, elite high schools sent about 80% of their graduates to Turkish universities. Today, almost as many go to Germany, and in the case of certain high schools, it’s 100%,” explained Turkish expert Salim Unsal.
According to a joint report compiled by the Goethe Institute, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and DW, global demand for German language instruction is growing. However, many countries, including Turkey, have a shortage of German language teachers.
Fatih Kalkan, 27, came to Germany at the beginning of the year to do a master’s degree. But since he had heard early on “from people around how important it is to speak German,” he started learning the language while he was still in Turkey. He opted for an online course because all the face-to-face courses, particularly those offered by the Goethe Institute, were fully booked.
Now that he is living and studying in the eastern German city of Leipzig, he is still learning German. “I wanted to develop my career in Turkey,” Kalkan said, “but because of the many opportunities abroad, I decided to go to Germany and Austria.”
The difficult economic situation in Turkey has had a significant impact on . Many of them hope that knowledge of German will allow them to study in Germany or enter the job market there.
Unsal said that low purchasing power in Turkey and stressful working conditions, including bullying, had also led to increased emigration.
Language skills open up job market
Naz Kiraz, 18, is also from Turkey but currently lives in the western German city of Düsseldorf.
“Career opportunities in Turkey are very limited,” she told DW. “Unless you attend a very good university, the risk of remaining unemployed is very high. Going abroad was key to opening up new opportunities for me.”
She said that German was “a very highly respected global language” and that she started learning it to improve her chances of studying in Germany and her professional prospects in Turkey.
“When it comes to getting a job, it’s not just experience that counts but also the languages you can speak,” she said.
“I moved to Germany with my family a year and a half ago. After graduating from school, I would like to stay here for a while and then pursue a career in Turkey.” She added that she wanted to study engineering in Germany.
Academic freedom prompted the lawyer Sumer Alaz to stay in Germany. He came to Marburg, a big university town in central Germany, around eight years ago to study for a master’s. He had taken private German lessons in Turkey previously.
He is now pursuing a doctorate in constitutional law and also works for a non-governmental organization in Germany’s capital, Berlin. He said that he was grateful to have spent time in a provincial city like Marburg.
“In Berlin, you can get by with English and Turkish. In Marburg, even the foreign students spoke German, so I was motivated to improve my German,” he said.
“German is a language that is used around the world, that is relevant not only in law, but also in many other fields. German is one of the few languages in which there is a real depth of academic writing.”
This article was translated from German.
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