| Field of Study: | German Language and Literature
Germanic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, General
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| Description: | Roughly 2.5 million people in Canada have a common ethnic German heritage and language background. After English and French, the German ethnic group is the third largest and the third oldest European ethnic group in Canada. About 120 million people are native speakers of German. Germany itself with its 81,000,000 inhabitants has the largest number of people of any country in the European community; and is economically the strongest nation in Europe. With the opening of Eastern Europe, the German language has gained prominence as a lingua franca in this region.
German is not presently taught in P.E.I.'s high schools, UPEI presents the only opportunity for learning this language. This means that students wishing to study German start with 101 which demands no prior background in the language. Those who have had some contact with the language either through exchanges, family background, or travel may enter at a higher level (102, 201, 202, etc.). Courses designated 101-102 or 201-202 are basically language courses, while courses above these levels focus mainly on cultural studies. |