German is one of the world’s most widely spoken languages and it is the third most taught language in the world. It’s spoken differently in different regions – meaning that “standard German” actually has several versions! It has two dialects, Low German and High German, derived from Old High German, which in turn originated from Old Saxon, the language spoken in Denmark by the Saxon people on the west coast of Germany. In 1800, standard German went from a mostly written language to a more commonly spoken language as the regional dialects began to die out. After that, standard German became the national language spoken by everyone.
Lowlands-Related Links
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- German Language Guide : Provides information about how to pronounce German words as well as information about nouns, pronouns, verbs, and prepositions.
- Everything About Germany : Has a good mix of links about various subjects related to Germany and its language, overall it offers information on many different subjects related to Germany.
Dutch
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- Dutch Alphabet : Has a visual guide with the Dutch alphabet on it. It also has a pronunciation guide, it offers a guide to spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, and sentence structure.
German Travel Guides
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- Travels Through Germany : Provides information on yearly German events, cities, and places to find hotels and lodging.
- Travel to Germany : Offers information on specific cities so you don’t have to use answering services and access local voice mail while in Germany.
- LonelyPlanet Germany: This has valuable information for those traveling to Germany.
News Media and Radio
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- German Times : An English page that focuses on news out of Germany.
- Börse Online : A very popular news site based in Germany.
- RBB : A radio station based in Brandenburg, Germany.
- Berliner Abendblatt : A popular Berlin-based newspaper.
- Hamburger Morgenpost : A Hamburg-based newspaper.
Literature and Language
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- Goethe’s Faust Translation : A translated version of the famous German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust.
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- How To Learn German : A great place to go to learn German.
- German Poems : Many poems by the famous German poet Bertolt Brecht.