[Last year, UNG established a partnership with the Goethe-Institut, the official language and culture organization of Germany.]
[German businesses have more facilities in Georgia than any other foreign country and employ more than 20,000 people.]
Dr. Roland Meinert, director of Goethe-Germany:The partnership with UNG was established by our Goethe Center in Atlanta. Almost one year ago, we signed this memorandum of understanding here in Munich and that's where it started. UNG is a university, and universities for the Goethe Institut are always good partners.
Miriam Burns, Director of Goethe Zentrum Atlanta: At Goethe Atlanta, we have this wonderful partnership with UNG and we have had it for so many years. We're both looking for a partner of high quality, and the Goethe Institut saw that in UNG and in UNG's mission, its approach, and particularly in its foreign language programs.
Kelly Reid, Athletic Training and Physical Education Major with German Minor: Learning German here in Germany versus being in a classroom at home in North Georgia, it is very different because you're more fully immersed here, because you have so many people from other countries that don't always speak English, or great English, and the only way you can communicate is through the German you both know.
Susanne Sporrer, Director of Goethe Institut Freiburg: Our aim is to immerse students in language right from the start. And we are focusing on the authentic use of language in lifelike and practical situations.
Susanne Schurman, Language Director at Goethe Atlanta: The UNG students who go to Germany will gain more language knowledge. They also will be ambassadors in developing transatlantic relationships.
Cheyne Jones, Cadet, Criminal Justice Major with German Minor: I would definitely recommend Goethe, it teaches you German very well and you get to communicate with other people from around the world and get new perspectives of German culture and your own culture along with that. My favorite part of Goethe is the fact that people from all over the world come to Goethe to learn German.
Meinert: We see that minds are closing in many countries so it is important to have many global citizens.
Reid: Just knowing English only is OK if everyone speaks English, but you learn a lot more about yourself and others when you speak another language and it gives you more opportunities in life.
Jones: Having a foreign language on my resume and also being in the Cadet Corps and having that leadership experience under my belt is going to give me a leg up on everybody else who is trying to join the FBI.
Sporrer: The time at the Goethe Institut Freiburg is at the same time inspiring and highly useful for the students of the University of North Georgia. I do hope they gain an image of Germany that is profound and differentiated. That they gain intercultural experience that lasts and a deeper knowledge of the ecological development and structure of a green city in Germany.
Reid: The excursions that Goethe offers help you learn a lot more about Germany and culture and seeing the areas around you and you get to see how people in Germany really live.
Meinert: You can read many recipes and think, hmm, might be tasty. You have to prepare it and you have to eat it. It's not enough to read about that. You have to live in the country, use the language, and know how people react. You have to interact with people, that's important. If you wouldn't eat, it wouldn't be fun.
<laughter>
[Produced by the Office of University Relations]
[Copyright University of North Georgia November 2016]