From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Languages of Germany
Official language(s)	German (>95%)
Regional language(s)	Low Rhenish; Limburgish; Luxembourgish; Alemannic; Yiddish (remnants of the language are facing extinction); Danish, Dutch, Upper Sorbian, Lower Sorbian, North Frisian, Saterland Frisian, Romani, Low German
Main immigrant language(s)	Turkish but many others are spoken and heard in major cities across Germany. see further:immigration to Germany
Main foreign language(s)	English (51%) French (15%) Russian (5%)
Sign language(s)	German Sign Language
Common keyboard layout(s)	QWERTZ
Source	ebs_243_en.pdf (europa.eu)

The official language of Germany is Standard German, with over 95% of the country speaking Standard German or German dialects as their first language.^[1] This figure includes speakers of Northern Low Saxon, a recognized minority or regional language which is not considered separately from Standard German in statistics.

Minority first languages include:

• Sorbian 0.09%
• Romani 0.08%
• Danish 0.06%
• North Frisian 0.01%

Immigrant languages spoken by sizable communities of first and second-generation persons of Eastern European, African, Asian and Latin American origins include:

• Turkish, spoken by about 2 million people (ethnic Turks)

followed by smaller numbers who use:

• Arabic, from the Middle East and North Africa;
• Greek;
• Italian;
• Polish;
• Serbo-Croatian from the former Yugoslavia;
• Spanish

Most Germans also learn English as their first foreign language in school. Sometimes French or Latin are taught first, but usually English is, with French and Latin as common second or third foreign languages. Russian, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Dutch, classical Greek, and other languages are also offered in schools (often depending on the school's geographic location).

References

1. ^ "BBC Education". http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/european_languages/countries/germany.shtml.