For most people from outside Germany Germans speak German. When you want to visit the country I am currently living in and have some small-talk with the inhabitants you might wish to get yourself a book or even take some German lessons. It is a wonderful language and certainly worth taking the trouble if you ask me. But when you come here it might happen in certain regions that the German you have learnt does not seem what people are talking around you. Now, in most of the languages on this planet there are regional differences, dialects, slang and differences depending on the social class the speaker comes from. That is valid for Germany, too. It is valid for other countries in Central Europe where the majority or a significant part of the inhabitants talk German. And it is valid for other Germanic languages in the region we are concetrating on for now, like Dutch or Luxembourgish. The aim of this blog is to get closer to these differences. At which we will not forget language minorities in more Eastern countries who are based on the same roots.
I am no linguist and my approach is certainly not strictly scientific. It doesn't matter for me whether you consider Upper Palatinate a distinct language or High German a dialect. Instead of providing the last clue in classifications this shall be a place for enjoying the richness and varieties of languages in Central Europe with Germanic roots. The German you learn at home or in your language course is one of them. Let's assemble what there is more.
Your contributions are most welcome. Whether you want to introduce us to the language of your region, share your knowledge, amuse us with experiences or curiosities ... it will all make this blog as colorful as the area in which the Germanic languages and dialects are spoken.
You may write in any of these idioms and English of course. :)
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