This map gives you a brief overview of the different areas of German dialects. There are quite a few very distinctive ones that I would like to talk more about in following posts. Just a couple general facts:

German is a pluricentric language, meaning it’s a language with several valid standard versions both in written and spoken form (just like English). The 4 German standards are: German (north), German (south), Austrian German and Swiss German. Now, please don’t be worried - there’s a “pure” and standardized pronunciation that is used on television, radio etc. :)

Some dialects I would like to introduce you to are: Friesisch, Fränkisch, Bayrisch, Sächsisch, Schwäbisch and more. Stay tuned!