German in the UK

Think German for a new Cosmos

"Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, Stockhausen and Rihm - they all enchant us through their universal language of music. But their thoughts, their dreams were and are in German. Anyone wanting to go more deeply into their music and explore the background will find great enjoyment in studying the sources. Mozart's letters are just one example where I would recommend the original. A translation, however good it may be, always involves transplanting to another emotional world associative aspects which all too often cannot be exactly conveyed in this way.

My recommendation of the original applies just as much to great litarature: Thomas Mann, Heinrich Böll or Günter Grass, to name just a few of the great German writers I think are highly worth reading. Learning German - and indeed any foreign language - opens up a vast new cosmos. And not just culturally; it can offer so many new, life-changing opportunities, like studying and pursuing a career abroad, or..."