German speaking areas

[maxiewawa]

I know that German is spoken throughout Germany, Austria and parts of Switzerland, but what about other places? My Uncle is from Holland, and he says that almost everyone in die Nederlands speaks German, and that it's very similar to Germany anyway. A Belgian friend also told me that there are German speaking communities in Belgium.

Where else is German commonly spoken? Are there large German speaking expat communities outside the German heartland?

[cwabbott32]

I am also interested in knowing this

Where can i travel in Europe and get away with just german?

[Sprachprofi]

As Germany used to be much larger than it currently is, you can still find large communities of people who natively speak German wherever you cross the border. Places of particular note:

Liechtenstein and Luxemburg are usually forgotten on the list of countries that have German as an official language.

Regions where German is an official language:
- Nord-Schleswig (North Slesvig) in Denmark
- Lüttich (Liège) in Belgium
- Tirol (Trentino Alto Adige) in Italy

Other areas where German is natively spoken:
- Elsass (Alsace) is a region in France where a lot of people speak German or a mix of French and German
- anywhere just across the border
- some communities in South America also speak it

As a second-language, German is taught in many places, but there are particularly many fluent speakers in the Netherlands. In Eastern Europe, German can also be used as a lingua franca, but English is slowly replacing it with the generation that is currently at school.

[markystar]

there are some old dialects spoken in the US
i heard some of the dialects have vanished in europe, but are perserved to a certain degree in old german farming communities in the states.

i pulled this off wikipedia for those who are curious:

In the United States, the teaching of the German language to latter-age students has given rise to a pidgin variant which combines the German language with the grammar and spelling rules of the English language. It is often understandable by either party. The speakers of this language often refer to it as Amerikanisch or Amerikanischdeutsch, although it is known in English as American German. However, this is a pidgin, not a dialect. In the USA, in the Amana Colonies in the state of Iowa Amana German is spoken.

Hutterite German (Hutterisch) is an Upper German dialect of the Austro-Bavarian variety of the German language, which is spoken by Hutterite communities in Canada and the United States. Hutterite is also called Tirolean, but this is an anachronism.

Hutterite is spoken in the US states of Washington, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota, and Minnesota; and in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Its speakers belong to some Schmiedleit, Lehrerleit, and Dariusleit Hutterite groups, but there are also speakers among the older generations of Prairieleit (the descendants of those Hutterites who chose not to settle in colonies). Hutterite children who grow up in the colonies learn and speak first Hutterite German before learning English in the public school, the standard language of the surrounding areas. Many colonies though continue with German Grammar School, separate from the public school, throughout a student's elementary education.

[Sprachprofi]

I actually spoke some German with an Amish farmer near Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Their dialect was understandable with a little effort and I believe they also learn standard German at school so that they were able to understand me.

[markystar]

wow, that's pretty cool that you could follow it. i wonder how much divergence there is in german dialects. i know here in japan, some of the dialects are mutually incomprehensible.

i met some of my relatives in coesfeld, germany and the kids all spoke german, but the father was an older guy who spoke very clean textbook german. my friend pointed this out to the kids and they said that he had grown up speaking platdeutsch and learned standard german when he got older.
pretty interesting.

[Salivia_Baker]

i wonder how much divergence there is in german dialects. i know here in japan, some of the dialects are mutually incomprehensible.

I would say it's save to say that everybody understand High German since you learn it in school but if you understand them is another question
In Germany and also in Austria (don't know how it is in other countries) you have big differences in the dialects. Somebody from Vienna has problems with understanding a person from Tyrol.
I have family in Vienna (my Mum is from there) and grew up learning High German. I understand most dialects but not all because the words are often very different or are spelled in a way I don't recognize the word.