German
German (Deutsch) is a West Germanic language. It is one of the world’s major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by about 80 million non-native speakers. Standard German is widely taught in schools, universities and Goethe Institutes worldwide. It is also overall the third most learned language worldwide and the second most spoken native language in Europe.
Excerpted from Wikipedia
German is spoken primarily in Germany (first language for more than 95% of the population), Austria (89%) and Switzerland (65%). The majority of the small population of Liechtenstein also speaks German.
Other European German-speaking communities are found in Northern Italy (in the Province of Bolzano-Bozen and in some municipalities in other provinces), in the East Cantons of Belgium, in the French Alsace region which often was traded between Germany and France in history and in some border villages of the former South Jutland County (in German, Nordschleswig, in Danish, Sønderjylland) of Denmark.
Outside of Europe and the former Soviet Union, the largest German-speaking communities are to be found in the United States, Canada, Brazil and in Argentina where millions of Germans migrated in the last 200 years; but the vast majority of their descendants no longer speak German. German Americans form the largest self-reported ancestry group in the United States, outnumbering the Irish and English. Additionally, German-speaking communities can be found in the former German colony of Namibia independent from South Africa since 1990, as well as in the other countries of German emigration such as Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Venezuela (where the dialect Alemán Coloniero developed), South Africa and Australia. In Namibia, German Namibians retain German educational institutions.
Furthermore, German is the administrative and commanding language of Vatican City’s Swiss Guard.
For the most part, German translations and voice-overs will focus on the various forms of the German language found in Europe. Even though these are found in close geographic proximity from a global perspective, there are still significant differences among them that are reminiscent to those between, let’s say, British and U.S. English.
As a result, it is important to pay due diligence when localizing translations, voice-overs and other materials and media to the respective target audience so that they feel like they are dealing with “one of their own”.
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