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Good knowledge of German results in ‘better pay’ for foreigners

Do you need to have fluent German to live and work in Germany? It's a debate that provokes strong reactions. Now a new study has found strong language skills increase foreigners' chances of being paid more.

Published: 8 October 2019 13:09 CEST
Updated: 8 October 2019 15:13 CEST
Good knowledge of German results in ‘better pay’ for foreigners
A classroom for learning German. Is it essential for life in Germany? Photo: DPA

The salary of foreigners increases the better their knowledge of German, according to a new study.

Research by the German Economic Institute (IW) found that well-educated migrants with a very high level of German earn just as much money as their peers who are native Germans.

According to the study, a good knowledge of German is therefore a fundamental prerequisite for foreigners to be successful in the labour market. 

“Language skills are the key to successful integration into the German labour market,” said Wido Geis-Thöne, author of the study.

The study recommended that Germany should further improve the quality of integration courses and give all migrants access to them. In addition, the range of advanced language courses should be expanded and contact with native speakers, which is important for language competence, promoted.

The research also found that qualified migrants scored better in some German tests than some less well-educated Germans without a migration background – and earned more money. 

The study therefore also recommends that native Germans need educational opportunities in order to improve their literacy skills.

READ ALSO: 6.2 million in Germany 'cannot read or write German properly'

Researcher Geis-Thöne analyzed three different data sets for the study, including the National Education Panel, the Survey of Adult Skills study and the Socio-economic Panel. All three studies query both the participants' knowledge of German and their wages.

Overall, however, the unemployment rate among migrants is significantly higher than for native Germans. 

Of the approximately 2.3 million unemployed people in Germany, almost half come from a migrant background (Migrationshintergrund) According to the official definition, a person has a migrant background if he or she has at least one parent who was not born with German citizenship.

According to the IW study, the higher unemployment of foreigners is largely down to their overall lower language level.

Is German needed?

However, careers experts say that it is still possible to work in Germany without a high level of Germany.

The Local's job coach Chris Pyak recently told how the majority of job openings do not require German language skills.

“I've been analyzing the complete German job market since 2013. The overwhelming number of jobs for professionals with a university degree can be done in English,” he said. “Software engineers, data analysts and business developers don't need German.”

However, Pyak says that many human resources workers still insist on fluent German language skills. Getting past these departments to speak to the bosses about why you are the ideal candidate for the job is the key to gaining ground in the German workforce.

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GERMAN WORD OF THE DAY

German word of the day: Grenze

From national borders to personal limitations, this German word is a great one to add to your active vocabulary.

Published: 22 February 2024 09:16 CET
Updated: 22 February 2024 11:16 CET
German word of the day: Grenze

Why do I need to know Grenze?

Because Grenze is one of those nifty words that has multiple uses beyond its most literal meaning, and which can also be used in verb form.

As with many German nouns, it also functions well as a compound noun (i.e. paired with other nouns to create a new word) so learning this word could add several new words to your vocabulary at once. 

What does it mean? 

Die Grenze (pronounced like this) can be best translated as border in English, but can also mean limit or boundary, depending on the context.

When you hear the word in a geographical sense, it’s usually used to discuss national borders, such as Germany’s borders with nine other countries.

Of course, borders don’t have to be national: a Stadtgrenze would refer to the city limits, while Bundeslandgrenzen are the borders between Germany’s federal states. Want to know where the border crossing is? In that case, you’ll need to locate the Grenzübergang (also a feminine noun). 

An Abgrenzung, meanwhile, is any kind of demarcation. 

In the list of useful compound nouns that can be made using Grenze, one particularly interesting one is Phantomgrenze. This word is used to describe borders that don’t physically exist but that take the form of cultural, political or economic divides – a prime example being the East/West divide that still exists in Germany more than three decades after reunification.

READ ALSO: How does Germany’s ‘phantom border’ still divide the country?

Less literally, you can use Grenzen to discuss physical or emotional limitations, or to talk about being pushed to the limit (an die Grenzen gestoßen sein). In a similar sense, there may be political boundaries (politische Grenzen), or scientific ones (wissenschaftliche Grenzen) that haven’t yet been crossed. 

You may have recently learned to set boundaries in your personal life, which can be described in German as “Grenzen setzen”. In that case, you may also want people to respect those boundaries (Grenzen respektieren). 

In fact, almost any well-known English phrase that refers to limits, borders or boundaries can usually be translated using Grenzen. For example, “Meine Leidenschaft kennt keine Grenzen” means “My passion knows no bounds.” 

Of course, this being German, there are countless other ways you can adapt Grenze not just into compound nouns but also into verbs or adjectives. 

Grenzen, of course, means “to border” while angrenzen means “to border on” and begrenzen means “to limit”. Speaking of which, if you’re hoping to snap up a discounted deal, you may well be warned: “Das Angebot ist stark begrenzt.” That tells you that the offer is limited, so you’d better hurry while stocks last!

Where does it come from?

Interestingly enough, the word Grenze has Slavic roots and stems from the Polish word granica, which also means border.

Geography buffs may well observe that Germany shares a fairly long border with Poland (along with eight other countries), so the etymology of the German word seems incredibly fitting. 

READ ALSO: Five German words that come from Polish

Use it like this: 

Es ist wichtig, die Grenzen anderer Menschen zu respektieren.

It’s important to respect other people’s boundaries. 

Wie viele Länder grenzen an Deutschland? 

How many countries border Germany?

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