German language
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==External Links== | ==External Links== | ||
| - | * | + | * [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_language Wikipedia Article on the German language] |
* [http://www.goethe.de/enindex.htm The Goethe Institute]: German Government sponsored organisation for the promotion of the German language and culture. | * [http://www.goethe.de/enindex.htm The Goethe Institute]: German Government sponsored organisation for the promotion of the German language and culture. | ||
* [http://wikitravel.org/en/German_phrasebook German phrasebook at Wikitravel] | * [http://wikitravel.org/en/German_phrasebook German phrasebook at Wikitravel] | ||
Revision as of 06:39, 7 January 2011
German (Deutsch ˈdɔʏtʃ) is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Globally, German is spoken by approximately 120 million native speakers and also by about 80 million non-native speakers. Standard German is widely taught in schools, universities and Goethe Institutes worldwide.
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Geographic distribution
Europe
See Also German-speaking Europe and German as a minority language
German is primarily spoken in Germany (where it is the first language for more than 95% of the population), Austria (89%) and Switzerland (65%). German is also spoken by the majority of the populations of Luxembourg and Liechtenstein.
Other European German-speaking communities are found in Northern Italy (in the Province of Bolzano-Bozen and in some municipalities in other provinces), in the East Cantons of Belgium, in the French regions of Alsace and Lorraine, and in some border villages of the former South Jutland County (in German, Nordschleswig, in Danish, Sønderjylland) of Denmark.
German-speaking communities can also be found in parts of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Russia and Kazakhstan. In Russia, forced expulsions after World War II and massive emigration to Germany in the 1980s and 1990s have depopulated most of these communities. German is also spoken by foreign populations and some of their descendants in Bosnia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Morocco, Netherlands, Portugal, Scandinavia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
See Also
External Links
- Wikipedia Article on the German language
- The Goethe Institute: German Government sponsored organisation for the promotion of the German language and culture.
- German phrasebook at Wikitravel
- Learn to Speak German Student Resource
- Free German Language Course
- The Leo Dictionaries: A German language portal featuring German-English, German-French, German-Spanish, German-Italian, German-Chinese and German-Russian dictionaries, with forums and a search function
