Learn German
“Never knew before what eternity was made for. It is to give some of us a chance to learn German.” ~ Mark Twain
Despite national and even regional differences, Standard German is used and understood across the German-speaking world.
You can use the links below to explore online resources, books, podcasts, etc. and to locate German-language classes for all levels from beginners to advanced speakers in the United States.
German has a reputation for being a difficult language, as the quick-witted and sharp-tongued Mark Twain implied, but we assure you that you won’t need an eternity to master the fundamentals. Having common roots with English, it’s easier than you might think, and practice does make perfect. German is not just spoken in Germany, but in many adjacent countries as well. Surveys have shown that German is one of the world’s top ten most commonly spoken languages, along with English, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, French, and Russian. The United States still has more than 1 million people who use German on a daily basis. Of course, that’s a far cry from the distant days of the late 19th century when New York City had the third-largest number of German speakers in the world. Learning German will not only help you communicate in Germany, but in several other countries as well. Here is a breakdown of European countries where German is an official or administrative language; more than 96 million reasons to study German as a foreign language! Viel Erfolg!
Germany
81+ million speakers
Austria
8 million speakers
Switzerland
4.6 million speakers
Belgium
75.000 speakers
Luxembourg
As of 2018, 98% of the Duchy’s population of approximately 661,000 people was able to speak French with high proficiency, but usually as a second language, 78% spoke German.
Liechtenstein
35,000 speakers