German Language

Search Engines and Web Directories for German Language Sites, in German

Search Engine Colossus and Search Engine Guide are comprehensive global master directories of local search engines for regional, country, or language-specific searches. Google offers a comprehensive Language Tools Page to search in specific languages or countries, translate text, change language interfaces, or link to country-specific Google sites. Google Translate is another site option. Glearch allows you to search for language and country-specific content in "top results from Google, Yahoo and Bing as well as the most popular search engines for the selected country." Internet broadcasts in many languages are accessible through the International Radio and Television Broadcasts page of this WWW Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources.

• BBC Learning Online Basic German Courses-- Several short online introductory courses, with audio and video support, from the British Broadcasting Corporation.

• bund.de – Verwaltung Online-- Internet portal for information from the German federal and länder governments, as well as a directory for general information about Germany-- "für Bürgerinnen und Bürger, Unternehmen und Verwaltungen der zentrale Zugang zu den elektronischen Leistungen und Informationsangeboten der Verwaltung im Internet."

• Deutsch Akademie's Online German Course-- "The most comprehensive [free] grammar trainer in the German speaking world." The grammar and vocabulary exercises are structured according to selected textbooks and to the levels of the European Framework of Reference for Languages. The program allows exercising particular grammatical problems, with answers. Requires free registration.

• Deutsche Kultur International-- Major source of information on German language and literature at home and abroad, including foreign cultural policies, exhibitions, conferences, libraries, schools, multimedia services, documentation centers, and student, scientist, or artist exchanges.

• Deutsche Welle-- The official German shortwave radio news and features service, with online audio. Note their  free online German language courses with audio, designed for beginners, advanced users, and teachers of the German language. There are also slowly spoken news reports in German.

• dict.cc-- Interactive and extensive online English-German and German-English dictionary, with forum, audio, toolbar, and vocabulary trainer, where "every visitor can suggest new translations and correct or confirm other users' suggestions."

• Die Zeit-- Famous national weekly German newspaper, with a free online archive of stories going back to 1946.

• German Academic Exchange Service-- The main German sponsor of student and professor exchange between Germany and other countries, internationalization of education, promotion of German studies overseas, and German educational cooperation with developing countries-- the best source on study, research, and teaching in Germany, with information on and applications for each program.

• German Language-- About.com's colorful and helpful guide to things German, but especially to the language.

• German Studies-- Thorough guide to online and printed sources from the Library at the University of California, Berkeley.

• German Studies Web-- Excellent site for selected and evaluated scholarly resources in German Studies, for all German-speaking countries, from the Western European Specialists Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries.

• German for Travellers-- Fine site with extensive free online resources, with dictionary, audio, chat, and games, to help learn German, plus links and online and distance courses, by Dr. Peter Golz through a partnership of the University of Victoria and Lufthansa.

• Germanic Research Web-- Very useful "interactive research guide for Germanic Studies at Harvard University created by librarians in the Harvard College Library in collaboration with faculty and departments."

• Germanistische Fachinformationen im WWW-- Annotated guidance from the Freie Universität Berlin.

• Goethe-Institut-- German government-sponsored but autonomous cultural foundation with a worldwide network that supports "all those actively involved with Germany and its language and culture." Posts some of its publications and information on many aspects of Germany and the German language.

• GROW (German Resources on the Web)-- From the American Association of Teachers of German, a web directory of resources about German-speaking countries and culture and the learning and teaching of the German language.

• Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen-- Autonomous institute carrying out and posting studies on Germany's international cultural relationships and policies, as well as cultural issues in international conflicts and crises.

• Noows-- Online magazine with national and international news such as politics, economics, sports, life, and so on, with special city sites for Berlin.

• Paperball-- Search engine for news stories in the German language.

• TypeIt.org-- This site allows you to type unique characters in German easily, even if you don't have a specialized keyboard, then to edit your text in the box and copy it to your document, e-mail message, etc.

• Web German: Deutsch im Netz-- "Interactive webexercises, animated grammar presentations, audio enhanced vocabulary lessons, and select links to sites in German-speaking countries.  Designed for German language learners, teachers and travellers who want to get the most out of the Internet for foreign language learning."

• WWW Virtual Library of German Resources-- A most inclusive source, at the Universität Karlsruhe.