GERMAN LANGUAGE
German (Deutsch) is a member of the western group of the Germanic languages. It is spoken primarily in Germany, Austria, the major part of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Südtirol (South Tyrol) region of Italy, the Opole Voivodship of Poland, parts of Belgium, parts of Romania, the Alsace (Elsass) region of France and parts of Denmark. Additionally, several former colonial possessions of these countries, such as Namibia in Africa, have sizable German-speaking populations. There are German-speaking minorities in several eastern European countries including Russia, and in the United States as well as countries in South America like Argentina. Over 120 million people speak German as their native language. German is the third most popular foreign language taught worldwide, and the second most popular in Europe. Continue reading about the German language.
German (Deutsch) is a member of the western group of the Germanic languages. It is spoken primarily in Germany, Austria, the major part of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Südtirol (South Tyrol) region of Italy, the Opole Voivodship of Poland, parts of Belgium, parts of Romania, the Alsace (Elsass) region of France and parts of Denmark. Additionally, several former colonial possessions of these countries, such as Namibia in Africa, have sizable German-speaking populations. There are German-speaking minorities in several eastern European countries including Russia, and in the United States as well as countries in South America like Argentina. Over 120 million people speak German as their native language. German is the third most popular foreign language taught worldwide, and the second most popular in Europe. Continue reading about the German language.
- If you are an English speaker unfamiliar with German, you may be surprised to learn that English and
- German are closely related languages and share many words that are very similar. This is particularly true for everyday words in English that are Anglo-Saxon (that is, Germanic) in origin.
- Of course, even words whose spelling is no different in English and German may be pronouncedquite differently.
- But in reading German, you will see the connections between these languages, even inmany of the "small" words.
- Note also the general similarity of sentence structure with English. The only real difference in the German is that the verb is moved forward in the sentence.
- However, there are many German sentences in which a verb form is the last word in the sentence.
Unfortunately, while German is perhaps the easiest "foreign" language for an English speaker to learn, meanings of words that are spelled similarly are not always identical. These can be confusing for the beginner. Further, German is a more structured language than English, with more complex grammar, and it will become apparent as you learn German that you will also learn more about English language structure than you might ever recall from your high school English classes. For a quick listing of similarities and differences between English and German.
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