The primary language here is, of course, German. In schools, like the one I teach at, students are required to learn English and one other language. With how close the Pfalz is to France, most choose to learn French. There is, however, an interesting dialect of German spoken here, though. It is called Pfälzish, and it is a German dialect that, due to the historical blending of French and German culture in this region, has a lot of French influence in pronunciation and vocabulary. I find it quite difficult to understand, as someone who has only studied “high” or “standard” German. But, luckily for me, Pfälzish is only really spoken conversationally. In all professional contexts, and even some social ones, people have adapted to using standard German to better communicate with other Germans and learners of the language.
Germany is part of the European Union, which uses Euros as a common currency. The European Union (EU) kind of acts like one massive country with certain common laws and borders that are open to one another. Since euros are used in many countries, the coins are minted with special designs for each country in the EU. They have bills for 100, 50, 20 and five euros and coins for two and one euros, as well as for all values under one euro. A euro is worth a little bit more than a dollar, though the exact exchange rate changes every day.
