Basic information on the spoken languages and the educational system:

German

German belongs to the West Germanic group of the Indo-European language family, along with English, Frisian and Dutch. German has official language status in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. There are sizeable communities bordering on Germany and Austria in France (Alsace-Lorraine), Belgium, and Italy (South Tyrol). About 2 million people in Middle- and Eastern Europe have German as their mother tongue. Outside of Europe there are large emigrant communities of German speakers in North America, Latin America, South Africa and Australia. German is spoken by almost 100 million people. German is widely used and taught in Europe. German is one of the 11 official languages of the European Union.

The recorded history of Germanic languages begins with their speakers' first contact with the Romans, in the 1st century BC. Only after about the 6th century AD can one speak of a "German" (i.e., High German) language. As a written language German is quite uniform. As a spoken language, however, German exists in many dialects, most of which belong to either High German or Low German.

Low German

Low German is, depending on whose definition one chooses, either a language or a group of dialects, spoken in most of northern Germany. In this area it is in daily use of about one third of the population, which means 8 to 10 million people. Nowadays, it is spoken mainly in the countryside; in the later Middle Ages, however, it was an important language of trade and culture. There is no common standard form of Low German, but it receives some support from some of the federal states where it is used.

Polish

The Polish community of the Ruhr is the result of immigration at the end of the 19th century, and numbers around 60 to 100 thousand people.

Romani

Romani is the language of about 70 to 85 thousand Roma and Sinti living scattered over Germany. The Romani language is of Indian origin.

German Sinti and Roma children grow up bilingually with Romani and German and as a rule master both languages. The minority is of the opinion that the language schould be passed on solely within the ethnic group and should be taught by teachers from within this group. The Romani mother tongue is cultivated within the family and within the community. Language courses for children are encouraged as well as in adult education provided by teachers from within the community in an effort to maintain and strengthen the minority language and cultural identity that goes with it.

Sorbian

Sorbian is a West Slavonic language, spoken by about 20.000 people. In the former German Democratic Republic the Sorbs were a well protected minority in their area, the Lausitz. There are two main dialects, Upper and Lower Sorbian, each with its own orthography.

Pre-school education is available in the minority language. At present Sorbian is taught as a first language, as a second language and as a foreign language to pupils in primary and secondary schools. Teachers are trained at the Institute of Sorbian Studies at the University of Leipzig where the language is used as a teaching medium for degree courses in Sorbian, and is also taught as a subject. Adult courses are available in Bautzen and Cottbus.

North Frisian

The North Frisian language is spoken in the district of North Frisia (Schleswig-Holstein) on the west coast just south of the Danish-German border including the North Frisian Islands. It is also spoken on the island of Heligoland. The language consists of nine main dialects, each of which has its own name. North Frisian is an independent West Germanic language which has, however, over the centuries been heavily influenced by Danish and Low German, and latterly also by High German. It is related to West Frisian in the Netherlands and more closely to Sater Frisian in Niedersachsen (Germany).

Of the approx. 156.000 inhabitants of North Frisia, some 6-9.000 speak Frisian (5-7%) and about 60.000 (40%) consider themselves to be Frisians.

North Frisian is taught to over 1.000 children in nearly all schools in the language area for one or two hours a week. The lessons are voluntary but are integrated into the official education programme. A school inspector is responsible for Frisian in education and a teacher helps in the production and coordination of teaching materials. The teachers usually have two annual meetings as in-service training which are organised by the local education authorities.

Danish

Near the Danish border, in Schleswig, is a community of some 50.000 people who regard themselves as Danish. About 4.500 to 8.000 of them actively use the Danish language in everyday life. The existence of a Danish community in Germany is a result of the changing of the border by the German-Danish War of 1864.

Teaching through the medium of Danish has existed in private schools since 1920, and since 1980 in public schools. The >Dansk Skoleforening for Sydslevig= (Association of Danish Schools in southern Schleswig) is responsible for the organisation of Danish-medium education in the region. 85% of its finances is provided by the authorities of Schleswig-Holstein and the remaining 15% by the Danish government. There are several Danish-language nursery schools and primary schools. There is only one Danish-medium secondary school which prepares pupils for the German and Danish universities. Danish is also taught as a subject in German-medium schools in the area. 50% of the teachers come from Denmark. Teacher-training is offered at Danish and German universities. Danish can be studied at the University of Kiel.

Sater Frisian

The Saterfrisian (or East Frisian) language is spoken by some 1.500 to 2.000 people in three villages in Saterland, Niedersachsen. Saterfrisian and West Frisian, the latter nowadays in the Netherlands, were part of a single language area in the Middle Ages. Now the larger part of the region of East Friesland speaks a Low German dialect which is also called East Frisian.

Saterland has five kindergartens, all of which provide instruction in Sater Frisian. At the primary school level in the Grund- und Realschule in Ramsloh, there is at least one hour a week of instruction in the frist three grades. These classes are taught by two teachers and two pedagogical assistents drawn from the community. In the primary school in Scharrel, instruction is provided by one teacher and two pedagogical assistants, in Strücklingen by a single teacher and in Sedelsberg by two pedagogical assistants. Regular symposia are held to ensure the continuity and quality of instruction.

On 16-09-98 Germany has ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, to apply to Danish Upper Sorbian, Lower Sorbian, North Frisian, Sater Frisian and Romany as minority languages and to Low German as regional language, as well as on 10-09-97 the European Framework Convention of National Minorities to apply to the Danes, the Sorbian people, the Frisians and the Sinti and Roma.

Eurostat surveys showed that 41% of the population can take part in a conversation in English, and 9% in French.

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