Do you know which German word comes after “Mensch”? Or which German word means “elevator”? If you guessed “Recht” (right) or “elevator”, then you are a fast learner!
Do you also know what the official abbreviation of Germany is? Or how many people speak German as their native language? These German language facts and figures will amaze you! Keep reading to learn more.
German language facts and figures
As you probably know, German is the official language of Germany.
The Basic Law (Grundgesetz) of the Federal Republic of Germany clearly states the official language of Germany to be German. The Basic Law was adopted in 1949 and is still in effect today.
The use of German in other areas is regulated by law in some states. For example, in North Rhine-Westphalia, a former republic in Germany, official administrative business is conducted in German.
However, there are also many German speakers in other parts of the world: there are over 100 million people who speak German as a native language.
Which German word comes after “Mensch”?
The German word for “right” is Recht. The German word for “machine” is “Maschine”.
What comes after “Mensch” in the German language? The German word for “person” is “mensch”.
The German word for “theory” is “theorie”. The German word for “machine” is “Maschine”.
What is the German word for “elevator”? The German word for “elevator” is “elevator”.
How many German speakers are there in the world?
There are an estimated 130 million native German speakers in the world. The percentage of the population that speaks German as their native language is also high at around 70%.
Countries where German is spoken as a native language, including:
Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.
Germany: a land of many dialects
The German dialects are very diverse and range from southern to northern dialects. The southern dialects are spoken in the country’s southwest and include Bavarian, Swabian, and Alemannic dialects.
The central dialects are spoken in the center and east of the country and include Saxon and Thuringian dialects.
The northern dialects include the Low Saxon dialect spoken in the north and east of the country and the Plattdeutsch language spoken in the northeast of the country. Many immigrant communities speak various dialects of German.
The official German name for some geographical features
Many geographical features have the German name, for example, the Rhine, Elbe, and Ruhr rivers, the Riesengebirge, and the Kaiser Wilhelm Grotto. What about the official German name for some countries in Africa?
In some countries of Africa, German is the official language because there are many immigrants from Germany. These include places like Somalia, Cameroon, Namibia, and South Africa.
Interesting facts and figures about the German language
- The name “German” is derived from the Germanic tribe that inhabited the region during Roman times.
- The German language is the 6th most spoken language in the world.
- The German language is one of the most studied languages in the world, with more than 700 million learners.
- The German alphabet consists of 26 letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z.
German is closely related to Dutch and Low Franconian, but there are many differences between the 3 languages.
- The German language is highly inflected and has many irregular verbs.
- There are many German proverbs and idioms.
- Depending on the region, the German language has many different dialects.
- The German language is closely related to English.
- The German language has many loanwords from French and Latin.
- The words “toothache” and “pain in the tooth” are derived from German.
- The German language has many loanwords from English.
- The German word “elevator” comes from the Latin word “elevate,” meaning “to be raised”.
- The German word “Recht” comes from the Old High German word “richt,” meaning “right”.
Why is learning German difficult for ESL/EFL learners?
German is one of the most difficult languages to learn, partly because of the high grammatical complexity of the language. The German language has many irregular verbs, different accents, and varying pronunciations.
Many learners of German also struggle with the high frequency of compound nouns and idioms.
German is a complex and challenging language, but the rewards are great! It is spoken by over 130 million people worldwide, making it one of the most widely used languages.
And it is also one of the oldest languages in the world. So don’t let the difficulty of the German language scare you off learning it. And remember: have fun while you are learning the German language!
