If you don't know yet, whether German is for you, here are some facts about German that might help you make your decision.

German and English are very similar languages: Both German and English have the same roots. Their common ancestry shows in many similar words in both languages.

If you think you don't know any German or anybody German, we will prove you wrong. We bet you know all these famous "Americans" who are just a few whose native language is German.

And of course you know more German than you thought: German immigrants brought many German words with them, which are still used in modern English.

120,000,000 people (a fourth of the population) in the European Union have German as their mother tongue. 38% say they can converse in German.

More Americans (25%) can trace their ancestry to Germany than to any other country.

56 majors require or recommend German

More than 1,100 companies from German speaking countries have subsidiaries in the US.

German is the most commonly used language on the internet after English.

Germany was ranked #3 in world power by Newsweek (December 2003) and is the most important trading partner for almost all European and many non-European partners.

Did you know all these interesting facts about German?