The German Language

The Importance of the German language is more prevalent throughout the world than most people imagine. This is why a good German translation of your documentation can open markets and new ventures for your company:

Approximately 100 million people around the world speak German as their native language.

The official language of and , German is also one of the official languages of , and .
German is second only to Russian as the most frequently spoken language in Europe and is the sixth most commonly spoken language in the world.

German has special importance in relations with Eastern Europe.

The German language is prominent in many fields: science, technology, engineering, business, philosophy, psychology, history, art, music, literature, and diplomacy. In nearly every field important contributions have been made originally in German.

In scientific publications, German is second only to English. 18% of books published worldwide are in German.

is a leader in the European Community, and German is the preferential language of commerce within the EC.

German is recognized as an official language of most important international organizations such as the UN and the Red Cross.

German is considered one of the world languages along with English, French, and Spanish, and as such, its influence continues to grow throughout the world.

Why Translate into German

German speakers often have a good command of English as well; nevertheless, translating into German, to more fully communicate with the German public, remains important in many areas, such as:

Internet- With German being the second most widely used language on the web and more than forty-two million German-speaking people online worldwide, web content should certainly include presentations in German.

The trades more with than any other trading partner in Europe, and is its third largest trading partner worldwide.

German companies have more than 1,100 subsidiaries in the world, and more than 750 companies have subsidiaries in Germany.

Trade Shows- holds the most trade shows in the world; thus, it is important to have your materials translated into German at trade shows.

The medical and the pharmaceutical industries are very important in and and medical literature often is in German or should be translated into German.

German Dialects

German is noted for its linguistic diversity. Depending on the exact definition of a dialect, it has from fifty to two hundred and fifty dialects. These dialects are further broken down into sub-dialects which include variants of Austrian German and "Schwyzerdütsch", or Swiss German. In fact, regional variants of German can differ so greatly that communication becomes not only difficult across country borders, but even between German speakers in neighboring regions.

Luckily, High German serves as a standard in German communications. Contrary to common belief, the term does not imply any superiority to other dialects, but is a geographical term that evolved from the fact that the printing press and the primary efforts to develop a national language for all German speakers originated in the Northern regions where High German was spoken. High German is taught today in schools as Standard German that is understood by all German speakers and spoken by most as well, although often colored by a particular dialect.

New Standard German Spelling Rules

Recently, Standard German underwent a spelling reform meant to simplify the spelling rules. Despite considerable controversy, the new rules went into force for all schools and government offices in all German-speaking countries on August 1st, 1998. A transitional period where both spellings were acceptable ended in 2005, although most German speakers continue to write their native language informally as they always have even if old spellings are considered outdated. Translations, especially those of official documents, are required to use the new spelling rules.

Should you Localize your Translated Text?

High German is both the written and spoken standard with which you will be able to address any German-speaking audience. In general, a proficient German translator will use High German to render a culturally neutral text that will be understood by all German speakers.

In some cases, a client needing English to German translation may ask to reach a specific market or audience using a procedure called "localization" to specifically use regional variant forms of the German language. For example, the term for "bread roll" can be "Brötchen", "Schrippe", or "Semmel", etc., depending on where you happen to be. In , whipped cream is "Schlagobers", in "Schlagsahne", and in , "Schlagrahm". This is probably unimportant in translating a technical document, but many times it makes a big difference when translating marketing pieces for a specific country.