Deutsch lernen

Deutsch für Reisen, Arbeit oder Alltag: Hallo, Vorstellungen und GER-Stufen.

Speakers: Roughly 95 million native; more if you count people who learned it at school
Where it sits: Official in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and parts of Belgium and Italy
In the app: Standard German, de-DE audio

Wo sie verwendet wird

German is the language of Germany and Austria, one of four national languages in Switzerland, and official in Liechtenstein. It is also official in Belgium's German-speaking east and in South Tyrol in Italy. Luxembourg uses it in administration next to Luxembourgish and French. What you hear on the street in Zurich or Munich can be a dialect; schools, news, and this app use Standard German (Hochdeutsch). That is the variety that still works from Hamburg to Vienna.

GermanySole official language. Largest economy in the EU; most learners are aiming here.
AustriaOfficial. Same written standard, a softer spoken rhythm.
SwitzerlandOne of four national languages. German-speaking cantons are the majority. Swiss German is what people speak; Hochdeutsch is what they write.
LiechtensteinOfficial.
BelgiumOfficial in the East Cantons. French and Dutch cover the rest of the country.
Italy (South Tyrol)Official with Italian in that province. Road signs are bilingual.
LuxembourgUsed in administration and school next to Luxembourgish and French.
NamibiaA recognized national language with a small German-speaking community, leftover from colonial years.

Wozu sie dient

Work

Engineering, cars, chemicals, and a lot of Mittelstand suppliers still run in German. Job ads in those fields often want it even outside Germany.

Travel

Trains, bakeries, and municipal offices in the DACH countries do not switch to English as readily as in Amsterdam. A few sentences change the tone of the errand.

Study

Public universities in Germany and Austria remain comparatively cheap for many programmes. The language of the seminar is still German unless the course says otherwise.

Städte, in denen Sie sie wirklich brauchen

Go where Standard German is the default, then notice how the street version bends. You do not need all of these cities; two or three already show the range.

Berlin
Germany
The city mixes German with everything else. Service staff may start in English; offices and Amt letters will not.
Munich
Germany
Bavaria. Street speech can drop into dialect; signs and news stay standard.
Hamburg
Germany
Northern German is closer to what textbooks print. Port city, a lot of English in business, German in daily life.
Frankfurt
Germany
Banks, the airport hub, trade fairs. You will hear English in finance and German everywhere else.
Vienna
Austria
Same spelling as Germany, a different melody. Cafés and municipal German are worth hearing in person.
Zurich
Switzerland
People speak Swiss German to each other and switch to Hochdeutsch for outsiders. Trains and official letters use the standard.
Cologne
Germany
Carnival, river traffic, a Rhineland accent. Useful if Berlin German is all you know.
Salzburg
Austria
Smaller than Vienna, still fully German-speaking. A quieter place to try the language.

Welche Varietät die App liest

Audio is de-DE, the German of Germany. Austrian and Swiss writing is mutually readable. Swiss German as spoken is another matter — do not be surprised if Zurich German does not match the lesson audio. The course does not claim to teach dialects.

Für wen

Wenn Deutsch nicht Ihre Muttersprache ist. Menüs bleiben in der Sprache, die Sie schon können.

In der App

Sie wählen Deutsch als Lernsprache. Aussprache ist de-DE. Lektionen wachsen nach GER; diese Seite erfindet keine Einheitenliste.

Ein paar Wörter

German	Reading	Meaning
Hallo	Hallo	Hello
Ich heiße...	Ich heiße...	My name is...
Wie geht's?	Wie geht's?	How are you?
Freut mich	Freut mich	Nice to meet you