German belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages. It is the official language of Germany and Austria and is one of the official languages of Switzerland.
Altogether nearly 100 million people speak German as their first language. There are 2 divisions of German dialects: Plattdeutsch (Low German) and Hochdeutsch (High German), the former spoken mainly in the lowland areas of northern Germany. German was written in a Gothic style called Fraktur from about the 14th c. until World War II, when it was replaced by Roman characters.
Online Audio and Video
- "Languages Make a Difference"
- Languages at Emory - Faculty Interviews
- Online audio and video materials are available for German at this website. You must have an Emory ID and password to access the materials.
Self Learning
Follow this link and then click on ‘website resources’ to see a list of online resources compiled by the German Studies Department for self-paced learning of German. (http://german.emory.edu/home/academics/learning_resources.html)
- Das Geheimnis der Himmelscheibe
- Der die das
- Die Stadt der Wörter Beginner and Intermediate
- Duolingo All Levels
- Ein rätselhafter Auftrag
- Emory German Department
- MSVD Grammar All Levels