Standard German (Hochdeutsch) is also generally spoken by many as a second language in much of East-Central Europe. This is due to the historical influence of Austria - the former Austrian Empire, and Germany over the region and the radical border changes put into place in Europe after WWII. Standard German can be considered the creation of Martin Luther who naturally used his own dialect (he hailed from Thuringia) for his German translation of the Bible. As a result of the invention of the art of printing, Rocket German, and the spread of Protestantism this dialect gradually became the norm, first for the written and later for the spoken language as well, even in German speaking areas that remained Roman Catholic. Standard German is best thought of as a written language, as that is how it developed. Regional differences are often influenced by other High German dialects in the area.

German is like other languages in which gender is used frequently. As each new German noun is learned, it is much easier to then learn the gender for that noun at the same time. German is spoken as a native language by more people on the European continent than any other. It is one of the most popular languages of study in the world. German is one of the official languages of the European Union (of which German is the mother tongue for the largest proportion ), and a primary medium for communication in Eastern Europe according to this Rocket German review. Many major German companies such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW maintain major operations in the US, which employ thousands of Americans.

German is the most important trading partner for almost all European and many non-European countries. The ability to speak German improves business relationships with partners in the third largest industrial nation and one of the most important exporting countries in the world. German is not only a language of the past. As prolific researchers and scholars, German speakers produce nearly 80,000 new book titles each year like these Rocket German reviews. German is thus considered a pluricentric language .

German is written using the Latin alphabet. In addition to the 26 standard letters, German has three vowels with Umlaut, as well as the Eszett or scharfes S (sharp s). German is the third most popular foreign language worldwide, and the second most popular in Europe (after English), USA and East Asia (Japan). German is one of the main cultural languages of the Western world, spoken by approximately 100 million people. It is the national language of both Germany and Austria.