waw! I'm baffled!!!! That's the first time I've met an non-European who asserts he's fallen in love with German!!! German isn't already that popular among Europeans, then among the others....
let me answer in his place : he is from ... well no : he lives in Bavaria.
By the way, did you know that German was more learnt in the United States than French?!?
ps : although I'm a great German supporter, I think for my part that German doesn't sound that pleasant, or at the very least the one spoken in North Germany.... I find South German kinder in its pronunciation.
