[Megranium]

Interesting that you percieve it that way. Like, accents becoming dialects, not the other way round. I'd think "dialects" like lower german, Plattdeutsch, Bavarian etc. are older than current standard German, and what remains of them are the accents.

That being said, especially in rural areas, the dialects are well kept. In fact, being from the western regions of Germany, I have a hard time understanding villagers from the Black Forest if they talk their native dialect.

Still, in urban areas, the general trend is the same, no ? Dialects are spoken by less and less people (in fact I don't speak a single word of Plattdeutsch, even if I'm from an area where it was once common). What remains are temporary sociolects and accents. At least that's my perception of things.

[jamil7]

Yeah I agree with you, I'm not a native German speaker but I have a hard time with regional German dialects, especially in the South. You're correct though the trend is mostly the same it's very rare to hear the Berlin dialect but it does happen from time to time.