GERMAN LANGUAGE FACTS:

NATIVE: Deutsch

NATIVE SPEAKERS: 95 million

OFFICIAL LANGUAGE IN SIX COUNTRIES: Austria, Belgium, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Switzerland

WRITING SYSTEMS: Latin (German alphabet)

REGULATED BY: Although German does not have an official organization to regulate the language, German orthography is regulated by Rat für deutsche Rechtschreibung.

Helpful Resources:

Dictionaries:

Legal: Kobler, Gerhard, ed. Rechtsenglisch: Deutsch-englisches und englisch-deutsches Rechtswörterbuch für jedermann. 8th ed. Verlag Vahlen, 2011. 

Duden

Academic and Research

German Language

German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken throughout Europe. It is the most widely spoken native language in the European Union and the third most taught language in the United States.

Economic Significance

Legendary for technical innovation, Germany is the powerhouse of the European economy. According to the Economist, "German ranks tenth in the number of native speakers. But it is fourth in the economic output produced by them ... German is also fourth by number of learners, trailing English, Chinese and French and roughly tied with Spanish.” In 2014, Bloomberg ranked Germany, "fifth among the best current places to do business."

Germans are No. 1 in the world when it comes to travel

History

Until the end of the 18th century, standard German was mainly a written language while different dialects were spoken. Standardization occurred throughout the 19th century.

Dialects

Low German, High German, Central German, High Franconian, Upper German