Countries use German as Official Language:
Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Alsace-Lorraine (France), Northern Italy, East-Belgium, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein
Number of speakers:
100 million (approx)
Standard German is known today simply as “Hochdeutsch” (High German), and this is used almost always for written German. Books and newspapers are printed in standard German. “Hochdeutsch” is spoken by educated speakers everywhere. However, regional variants exist in the spoken language owing largely to the influence of the old dialects, although the dialects themselves are falling out of use.
Traditionally German was written in a Gothic style known as Fraktur, which dates from the fourteenth century. However, from 1945 onwards, the Roman characters used throughout the rest of Europe superseded Fraktur.
Pronunciation of the German language is pleasingly simple. For example the word ‘Pflug’ (plough) may first look difficult to pronounce but try sounding every letter and your pronunciation would be correct.
Level A1 (60 Hrs)
This is the first level of language learning – the point at which the learner can interact in a simple way, ask and answer simple questions about themselves, initiate and respond to simple statements in areas of common interest. Students at the A1 level can understand the language when someone speaks and use everyday expressions and basic phrases
Level A2 (60 Hrs)
This is where students are able to use the language in social situations. They are able to use simple everyday polite forms of greeting and addressing, reacting to news, basically, handle very short social exchanges. Students at this level can understand sentences and frequently-used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).
Level B1 (60Hrs)
This is where students are able to maintain interaction and express themselves in a range of various contexts & situations and follow the main points of extended discussion around them. Students can understand most of the input on familiar matters regularly encountered at work, school, leisure, etc. They can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling where the language is spoken and can produce simple, connected and coherent texts on topics which are of personal interest. They can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes and ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.
Level B2 (60Hrs)
focuses on effective argument. Students are able to voice their opinions in discussion by providing relevant explanations, arguments and comments. They can explain a viewpoint on an issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options and can develop an argument giving reasons in support of or against a particular point of view. At the B2 level, students will be able to understand the main ideas of complex texts on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in their field of specialization. They can interact with a great degree of fluency and spontaneity.
Level C1 (60Hrs)
This is where the students have good command of a broad range of structures in lexicon and grammar, which allows fluent, spontaneous and almost effortless communication. They can produce clear, smooth‑flowing, well-structured speech and text, thus showing controlled use of organizational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices. They can use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes.
Level C2(60 Hrs)
This is where the students demonstrate a degree of precision, appropriateness and ease with the language. They are able to convey finer shades of meaning precisely by using, with reasonable accuracy, a wide range of modification devices. Students can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read. They can summarize information from different spoken and written sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation.
