Photo by Cupcake_kltz, Flickr Commons
Several weeks ago, it was reported here that Tokio Hotel was nominated for the “Sprachwahrer” award in Germany. The band was nominated for the award, because the band has inspired more and more people were learning German.
However, according to Der Spiegel Online the band is getting a run for its money in the foreign language wars. Apparently, students in England have begun to take Spanish, because of the influence of their idol, Columbian born, Shakira. This comes on the heels of a German-language boom among French teenagers inspired by Tokio Hotel.
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Language and Culture Wars
According to the Spiegel, teenagers who are learning German are still in the forefront, but barely. Sixty-one percent of them are learning German as opposed to the 60 percent learning Spanish. The Spiegel cites information by CILT—the National Centre for Languages in the United Kingdom, which indicates that the number of Spanish classes for 15 and 16 year-olds rose by half, but German classes were reduced by two-thirds. According the Spiegel report, the students are motivated to learn Spanish because they want to read Cervantes' novels in the original, but rather they are interested in the language because of Shakira.
The study of German has been on a downward spiral since 2001, but saw a surge of interest again in 2005 and 2006—when Tokio Hotel's popularity rose in the charts.
***I, Buffy Naillon, hold the copyright for this piece of work and am provided full protection under both U.S. and international law—that includes translation rights. That said, I am always flattered when people would like to reprint the article on their websites and blogs. If you choose to do so, please use the format as explained on my blog Otherwise you'll be violating my rights under international copyright laws. See my blog for additional details.
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Comments
I learn Germany for one reason only: The amazing Tokio Hotel. Tokio Hotel is my religion and Bill is my God :-)
Tokio Hotel forever!!!!!
^^
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