How much German Language Skills are enough for studying History, Classics & ANE?

College Majors
1

<p>Hello everyone at CC!</p>

<p>I’m a student who wish to apply PhD programs in the future (about three or four years later), and quite certainly in fields of European History (Before 1800), Classics or Ancient Near East.</p>

<p>I’ve read some relevant PhD programs’ Language Requirements, and find that French and German are quite important in most research areas. And now I’m thinking about learning German.</p>

<p>However, are Reading Skills of German quite sufficient for Academic Studies? Universities’ Language Requirements said yes.</p>

<p>But I find that some professors of related academic fields at top-notch universities (especially in Classics and ANE Studies) are fluent in German (Speaking and Writing), although most of them are American-born. Also, some of their CVs show that, a considerable percent of their recent publications are written in German despite they have been working in the US for at least several years. </p>

<p>So, are Speaking and Writing skills of German really advantages in the academic studies of European History, Classics or ANE? Or are they ‘wastes’ if they do little help in these academic fields?</p>

<p>By the way, as far as I know, most German scholars have decent English competences, so it’s ok to communicate with them in English (conversation or via Email). Also, I have no idea about why the professors I’ve mentioned above write articles in German, because I think it’s more convenient to write in English since they work in the US.</p>

<p>So I really don’t know, in which circumstances are Speaking and Writing skills of German useful? (I think asking those professors about the questions regarding their CVs is inappropriate, since it’s irrelevant to their research projects…)</p>

<p>I will be very appreciated for each reply. Thank you!</p>

2

<p>Language skills are always a help in history and in the humanities, but exactly what you need to know, and to what level of proficiency, is going to depend on your research area. In general, you will be a more competitive applicant for grad school if you have at least decent reading knowledge of the languages relevant for your research field. Oftentimes PhD programs will impose a minimum language requirement–often, “fluency in one language or reading knowledge of two”–but more won’t hurt, and departments like to see the minimum requirement satisfied, or nearly satisfied, at the time of application. You don’t just need the languages to communicate with scholars in your field (you are right that most German academics nowadays speak fluent English) but you will need them to do archival research and to read scholarly articles and books that might not be translated. For this reason reading knowledge is more important than mastery of current colloquial German. </p>

<p>If you are planning to apply to PhD programs, it is a good idea to talk to professors in those departments at your current university about how to prepare. They will be able to tailor their advice to your particular situation and to the resources of your school.</p>

3

<p>Graduate school in the humanities, including history, is an incredibly risky idea in general, so please consider all alternatives and do thorough research into job opportunities. The fact is the fields you mentioned are incredibly interesting on an intellectual level, but there is nearly no demand for them, and after six to eight years in graduate school, with little prospect of a job in academia due to structural changes (e.g., too many graduate students, more adjunct positions, fewer tenure-track positions), you are left with a significant chunk of your youth gone and no marketable skills to show for it.</p>

<p>I wanted a PhD in medieval history for a good portion of my undergraduate years, but it truly is not the best move career-wise or intellectually, even. I’ve found the knowledge gained from studying medieval/ancient/pre-modern history intensively to be very useful as contributing to my frame of reference, but in themselves they do not allow you to impact the world in the way you’d like. So, by all means study languages and history for undergrad, but keep an open mind as to potential career tracks, and strongly consider social science or applied fields if you wish to do graduate study.</p>

<p>If you haven’t already, you should be reading the Chronicle of Higher Education consistently if you have aspirations for academia.</p>

4

<p>jingle and BusinessGuy,</p>

<p>Thank you very much for your replies, and they’re really helpful!</p>

5

<p>Hello!</p>

<p>I’ve emailed a professor (I haven’t attended university yet…), and the reply says that,</p>

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</p>

<p>Does this mean attend academic conferences in German and write articles in books or encyclopedias which are written in German?</p>

<p>Any insights on this topic would be appreciated. Thank you!</p>