German, much like English and French, spoken across 42 countries by over 130 million individuals, is a pluricentric language. Among these countries, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland boast the highest number of native speakers. Ranking as the 11th most spoken language globally, approximately 95 million people use German as their primary language, with 10-25 million as a second language and 75-100 million as a foreign language. The German Language Classes in Chennai aim to help students attain foreign language communication skills. Below are six fascinating language-related facts about German:
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On the Path to Fluency
German and English have a vocabulary overlap of more than 50%, meaning that if you are proficient in English, you’ve already covered half the journey to speaking German! In contrast, English and French only share around 27% of their vocabulary.
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Telling Time
In German, time is expressed in relation to the upcoming hour. If someone tells you it’s “halb drei” (“half three”), you might think it’s 3:30. However, because time is counted by the minutes until the next hour, “half three” actually means it’s a half-hour until three or 2:30.
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Preserved Linguistic Heritage
Low German enjoys protection as a regional language in the Netherlands, as stipulated by the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages.
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Exclusive German Vocabulary
German boasts numerous ‘untranslatable’ words that need more equivalents in other languages. For instance, ‘Ohrwurm’ (earworm) describes the phenomenon of having a catchy song stuck in your head, and ‘Treppenwitz’ (staircase joke) refers to a witty retort that comes to mind belatedly.
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Setting records
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, German holds the record for the highest number of written translations into and from a language. It stands as one of the most extensively studied languages across the world. Join the German Language Course Online to improve your studied languages worldwide.
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Party of three
In the German language, words are assigned three genders. While nouns are categorized as masculine or feminine in many Romance languages, German adds complexity by introducing a neuter gender for words that don’t fall into the masculine or feminine categories.
Here are some tips and factors to consider for German translation
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Get ready for Text Elongation
With its abundance of lengthy words, German tends to expand more than English text. When creating marketing materials or items requiring precise pagination, planning for expansion is crucial by incorporating sufficient white space in the source file design. To maintain visual appeal in marketing materials, it is advisable to avoid hyphenating long words to break the text at the end of a line and instead accommodate overall expansion.
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Choosing and Using Fonts
Like many others, special characters such as “Umlaute” are employed in the German language. German even includes a unique consonant, “ß,” known as “Eszett.” When designing content in the source file, selecting fonts encompassing a broad range of writing systems is advisable. Opt for fonts that support Unicode characters, and steer clear of overly intricate, artistic fonts, as these styles often lack support for special characters.
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Limitations on Characters
When generating English source content with specified character constraints, such as in mobile app localization or for labels and screens on medical devices, it’s essential to consider languages like German. Due to text expansion, the same character limitations may not be as practical as in English. A tightly designed user interface might encounter issues later on, so it’s crucial to shape the source format with these character constraints in consideration.
This blog focuses on Fascinating Language Related Facts about German. FITA Academy provides German Language Courses in Bangalore designed to equip you with native-like proficiency. Participating in these classes will introduce you to a new approach to learning.
Also Check: How to learn German.