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German-Speaking World

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.

Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by about 80 million non-native speakers. Standard German is widely taught in schools, universities and Goethe Institutes worldwide.

German is spoken primarily in Germany (first language for more than 95% of the population), Austria (89%) and Switzerland (65%).

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 Alsace region which often was traded between Germany and France in history and in some border villages of the former South Jutland County (in German, Nordschleswig, in Danish, Sønderjylland) of Denmark. The majority of the small population of Liechtenstein also speaks German.

Outside of Europe and the former Soviet Union, the largest German-speaking communities are to be found in the United States, Canada, Brazil and in Argentina. Read more.

German Learning Resources

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Podcasts for German Learners

Podcasts are a great way to learn languages because you can take the audio with you and learn anywhere, any time, as often as required or desired. Click on any podcast below to view our German podcast review articles.

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Popular German Podcast

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News in German

News feeds from around the German-speaking world provide language exposure and practice joined with current events, culture, politics, science, sports and more.

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German Internet TV

Watching people speak German is a good way to gain exposure to the language in a non-study environment. This is great for folks who aren't living where the language is spoken and especially those already proficient in listening comprehension. If you don't understand anything, it's cool to "veg out" for a while, but it's not the most productive thing you can do to learn. Try to find something with subtitles, and you're on the way. ;)

If you do get into Internet TV, try Miro, a free and open source media player with multimedia RSS capability that supports Linux, Mac and Windows. "Because open media matters."

Below you'll find resources with literally thousands of Internet TV stations in a wide variety of languages. Amongst them you'll find plenty in German. Enjoy!

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