German is spoken by over 230 million people in Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Switzerland and in parts of Belgium, Northern Italy and Eastern France. It is the number one most-spoken language on European Continent by native speakers. It is also a lingua franca of Central and Eastern Europe, and alongside English and French, German is an official working languages of the European Union.
German is a complex language with lots of grammatical rules and has even more rule exceptions! Many words sound and/or look the same as their English equivalents due to the two languages sharing the same Germanic roots. For example, the English chin is kinn in German, water becomes wasser and father is vater. Not so hard after all?
Learning German is not only interesting from a linguistic point of view, but it also might present an opportunity for networking potential and cultural gain. Knowing the language of your German business partners improves your relations and therefore your chances for effective communication and success.
Learning German will broaden your horizon and may allow you to read some of Goethe, Marx or Nietzche’s original extracts and even enjoy more Beethoven or Bach’s music. Many of the Western world’s most important works of philosophy, literature and music are written in German and continue to be produced in German.
