Professor pointing to German sentence on chalkboard

Applied German Concentration

You won't just learn German in this immersive program. You'll live it.

You can add this concentration to any major to gain real-world skills in your chosen field, then put those skills to work through extensive study abroad opportunities.

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Learn More About the Concentration

The concentration in applied German will provide you with skills to boost your career. Learning a new language also helps you to expand your intercultural awareness—a capability that will serve you in your personal life as well as your work.

This concentration can be completed in three or four years, even if you have not studied German before.

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Student writing on chalkboard in German

Putting Your Skills to Use

Be a Berliner

There’s no substitute for the real thing. That’s why you’ll spend a semester in Berlin putting your new language skills to use. You’ll take classes through the Freie Universität, one of Germany’s top institutions, while soaking up the culture and history of this city of 3.4 million.

Blending Right In

No matter what your major, you’ll have the chance to complete a meaningful project—auf Deutsch (in German)—in your chosen field.

Study Abroad in Berlin
+4%
average annual salary boost in the U.S. and Europe for those who speak German
672,000
number of U.S. workers hired by German companies like Adidas, Bayer, Bosch, and Volkswagen
#4
German is the fourth most-spoken language in the world
Course Requirements

Minimum of 18 credit hours above the 100-level, including,

  • GMN 201: Language and Culture in the German-speaking World—Intermediate Level I (3 credits)
  • GMN 202: Language and Culture in the German-speaking World—Intermediate Level II (3 credits)

Waived for students who place higher based on placement test, who transfer equivalent course credit, or who earn a 4 or 5 on the AP German exam.

Two semesters of GMN 300 (6 credits, repeatable for credit):

  • GMN 300: Advanced Applied German (3 credits). Prerequisite: GMN 202 or placement test.

Six credits from the following:

  • GMN 305: Independent Summer Study in Würzburg, Germany (4–8 credits)

Fall or spring term with LVC’s semester-long program in Berlin, Germany (8–12 credits)

An approved study abroad program of at least four weeks in a German-speaking country

  • GLB 101: Crossing Borders: Globalization (3 credits)
  • SOC 240: Diversity and Intercultural Communication (3 credits)

Contact Dr. Jörg Meindl, associate professor of German, at meindl@lvc.edu, or Dr. Rick Chamberlin, associate professor of French and German, at chamberl@lvc.edu to learn more.

In Their Words

Confidence
While exploring potential career paths, Dr. Rick Chamberlin recommended I apply for an archival internship at the Lebanon County Historical Society. Translating, cataloging, and preserving German-language documents gave me helpful hands-on experience and made me feel confident that I wanted to become an archivist.
Julia Wiker ’18, German and English; Archivist/Librarian, Mennonite Life
Perspectives
I cannot stress how important it is to have cultural competencies and to be able to see the world from another’s perspective. How better to do that than to learn another language or live abroad?
Genevieve Hugenbruch ’15, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence
While exploring potential career paths, Dr. Rick Chamberlin recommended I apply for an archival internship at the Lebanon County Historical Society. Translating, cataloging, and preserving German-language documents gave me helpful hands-on experience and made me feel confident that I wanted to become an archivist.
Julia Wiker ’18, German and English; Archivist/Librarian, Mennonite Life
I cannot stress how important it is to have cultural competencies and to be able to see the world from another’s perspective. How better to do that than to learn another language or live abroad?
Genevieve Hugenbruch ’15, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence