Why learn German?

As the language of literature, music, art and philosophy it will broaden your cultural horizon! German (Deutsch) is the official language of both Germany and Austria and one of the 4 official languages of Switzerland. It is also spoken in Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and parts of France and Italy. Like English, Frisian, and Dutch, German belongs to the West Germanic group of the Indo-European language family. German is the language of a.o. Goethe, Kafka, Mozart, Bach and Beethoven. You will enjoy reading and/or listening to the literature and music in their original language.

What is the difference between German and Swiss German?

Swiss German (Schweizer Deutsch or Schwyzerdütsch) is an Alemannic (Upper German) dialect spoken in (the northern part of) Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria’s Vorarlberg province, and parts of Baden-Württemberg, Germany as well as in the Alsace, France. Swiss German is a spoken language only,  virtually identical to Standard German with most differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, and orthography.

Fun facts about German

• The German language consists of about 5.3 million words – with a rising trend. About one third of those words was added in the last 100 years. This means, the German language contains eight times as many words as the English language.

• German is the second most common used language of science in the world. Germany is the third largest contributor to global research and development.

• The 2010 census showed that more than 1,1000,000 people in the US speak German!

• Although German and English have many words in common, like “Kindergarten” and “Strudel”, there are examples where the meaning is totally different. kind (English nice, cute) in German Kind is “child”; still (English nevertheless, however) German: "silent"; spring (English season)  German: "jump".