Interesting facts about the German language

In case you didn't know, German is the second most widely spoken language in Europe after English. Specifically, almost 100 million people speak German. To give you an idea, it is considered an official language in Austria, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Belgium and Switzerland, as well as in Germany, of course. 

It is therefore safe to say that those who know both German and English will be able to communicate in almost any part of the European continent. As a result, it's not surprising that more and more people are choosing to learn it because of its many advantages. Here are some of them.

The thousand and one benefits that German will bring you

• There is no doubt that learning a new language like German can be a great challenge, but once you have mastered it, you will be able to enjoy a wide range of cultural activities such as listening to music and watching films or theatre, as well as being able to travel without limits.
• It is undoubtedly the language of the future, a language that offers access to important job opportunities. Knowing German will give you a great professional boost, and you will be able to work as a translator for private individuals and in any company or translation agency.
• On the other hand, it will open a direct window into the world of new information. It should not be forgotten that after English, German is the most widely spoken language on the Internet and in the scientific world. Numerous philosophical, technological, journalistic, scientific and cultural texts are written in German. It is no coincidence that it ranks second in terms of the number of websites, ahead of Spanish.
• In the field of science and technology, many advances have been made in German-speaking countries, which in turn has led to a large number of scientists wishing to continue their postgraduate, doctoral or post-doctoral studies in German-speaking countries. It is also well known that numerous grants are awarded for the development of these projects. 

However, besides all these benefits, it should be noted that there are a large number of interesting facts about the German language that are sure to surprise you.

German, a language with many surprises

Considered the language of poets and thinkers (Nietzsche, Marx, Humboldt and Kant), German is a fascinating and complex language whose strict rules make it unique and inimitable.

1. To begin with, if we look at its etymology, the origin of the word “German” is taken from the French word allemand, which in turn derives from the Latin alamanus, meaning “all men”. This name is also shared with the Portuguese Alemão.
2. Continuing in line with Latin, both German and Latin are inflectional, nominative-accusative languages with grammatical gender and number.
3. With regard to the influence of Latin on the German language, we can add that, although Latin gave rise to the Romance languages of Europe (including French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian), it also contributed to the vocabulary of all modern languages, such as German. In fact, this language consists of the Latin alphabet - plus the added character ß (eszett). There are undoubtedly many Latin borrowings, both direct and translated, in German.
4. German is also the most widely spoken mother tongue in Europe, with more than 16% of the European population speaking it.
5. Another of its most notable facts is that it has several dialects, Hochdeutsch being the one learned in schools in other countries or the one used to issue official communications.
6. Similarly, the first printed book, the "Gutenberg Bible", was published in 1454 and was written in German.

As you can see from the above, it is not surprising that German has become one of the most important languages to learn and that more and more people are joining its ranks.