More than 80 million people consider multinational Germany their home. The state is located in the very center of the European Union and borders with nine other countries of the Old World. German is adopted as the state language in Germany, but residents also use many dialects and languages of national minorities.
Some statistics and facts
- About 95% of the population speaks German in the country.
- Linguists have about sixty dialects in use among the Germans.
- The recognized languages of national minorities are Danish, Frisian, Lusatian, Roma and Lower Saxon.
- Russian in Germany is owned by about 6 million people, and half of them are immigrants from the countries of the former USSR and their descendants.
- 51% of the German population can communicate in English.
- About 15% of Germans understand and speak French fluently.
German is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. In addition to being the official language of Germany and some other countries, members of the European Union and other international organizations communicate in it.
Minority languages are spoken for the most part in the border areas. So Frisian is spoken in the north-west of the country in Saterland in Lower Saxony, Lusatian - in Saxony and Brandenburg, and Danish - in the northern land of Schleswig-Holstein.
History and modernity
The roots of modern German are in the Proto-Germanic language, which, as a result of changes in phonetics and morphology, has separated from its related Germanic ones. In the 17th century, the final formation of the modern language takes place, and it is now called High German. Its formation and design was influenced by the works of Goethe, Johann Christoph Adelung and the Grimm brothers, who not only wrote fairy tales, but also made up one of the first dictionaries of their native language.
After the end of World War II, a lot of Russian words penetrated into German, and at the end of the twentieth century borrowings from English took place, thanks to the development of the Internet.
Tourist notes
Once in Germany, do not rush to be upset that you do not understand German. More than half of the country's residents can communicate in English. It is owned by waiters and taxi drivers, hotel receptionists and shop assistants. Information centers for tourists have maps, public transport schemes and guidebooks in many languages of the world, and in museums you can use the services of audio guides even in Russian.
