Learning German is not a want but a must if you are serious about moving there

[multilingo]

Thought of moving in Germany for a long period of time? Or say forever? How about just thought of trying to live there for months or years. Seriously if you have that thoughts now. I am absolutely recommending you to learn the language. Before I moved in here, I did my research on how can I in anyways with my basic German knowledge deal with everyday life. And then I read somewhere that that would not be a problem, since people in in Germany do really communicate with English as well. But when I arrived there I learned the reality that I have to go to the German language school and deepen my knowledge on the language, because believe me, if you are living in town like me where majority of the people are kind a old already your basic would not be enough. I remember when I went to the bakery once and although the saleslady was not that old, she did not speak English with me, despite my try on talking to her and show her that I do not speak German. I was frustrated after that. Everytime I do simple activity like asking direction, asking for a price of this and that stuff, I felt devastated to always speak with sign language with my mixed English and so poor basic German. So one day I decided to pick up myself and learn the language seriously as best, as fast as possible. And then after a while, I was happy I did that. Now I feel confident and feel free to communicate with Germans. 

How about you? What was your experience the first time you came in Germany? Did you have it worse? better? How fast did you learn the language? 

P.S. If you want some tips on how did I learn the language efficiently, feel free to ask. I would be glad to give you some insights :-)

Edited October 11, 2015 by multilingo

[Trellum]

I was told the same about Dutch   Plus learning dutch and taking the inburgering examen is something I need to do before I even think of moving to the Netherlands, I think it's the same for people going to Germany.  I was told by so many people clearing to speak dutch well (mostly Brits) was't necessary at all, but I had to explain to them that when oyu are a tourist it's so easy to get by only using English in the Netherlands, but not when you are settling there for good.  You need to learn to speak the language well in order to find a good job there,  plus isn't safe to assume everyone you will encounter will speak or understand English.  

 

I've yet to feel comfy speaking dutch to be honest, but I think I will pass the test, it's a A1 one, I just need to study daily   Hopefully nice I am done with that test I will feel more comfortable =D  I really don't feel so joyful studying the language by the well, but the advantage is that I understand some German now too, because dutch and German are so similar! 

[linguaholic]

Thank you for sharing your experience Multilingo. So you moved to Germany, right? Why did you move there? Because of some kind of job opportunity or are you especially fond of Germany/german culture? 

Kind regards

Lingua

[111kg]

I was told the same about Dutch   Plus learning dutch and taking the inburgering examen is something I need to do before I even think of moving to the Netherlands, I think it's the same for people going to Germany.  I was told by so many people clearing to speak dutch well (mostly Brits) was't necessary at all, but I had to explain to them that when oyu are a tourist it's so easy to get by only using English in the Netherlands, but not when you are settling there for good.  You need to learn to speak the language well in order to find a good job there,  plus isn't safe to assume everyone you will encounter will speak or understand English.  

That's exactly my experience. I visited Groningen in 2009 although Dutch was (and still is) completely unknown. Yet, everybody speaks English there. On the other hand, if you want a job, especially a front office job, you need to learn it.

My father's girlfriend works in Itervoort as a truck driver  and knows only basic English and has a rard time reading instructions and information. It's possible to get a job without knowing Dutch, but in most of the cases it is either a low income job it it involves a lot of physical work.

[multilingo]

Thank you for sharing your experience Multilingo. So you moved to Germany, right? Why did you move there? Because of some kind of job opportunity or are you especially fond of Germany/german culture? 

Kind regards

Lingua

I moved here because of my husband and of course, because of our mutual decision to live here. So I had to accept that I have to gave up my career in my land and to look forward of starting a new one in Germany. Some told me different stories about living there for good. In general, of course everyone was saying that it is important to have the knowledge on German language, but I have heard and thought that basic would be enough though, since they do communicate with English as well, but like what we know, you will never know unless you are exactly there. On the process, my interest of the culture and language of Germany grew as well.

Learning the language, the culture were of the best things to do if you would stay in one country for good.

[Trellum]

That's exactly my experience. I visited Groningen in 2009 although Dutch was (and still is) completely unknown. Yet, everybody speaks English there. On the other hand, if you want a job, especially a front office job, you need to learn it.

My father's girlfriend works in Itervoort as a truck driver  and knows only basic English and has a rard time reading instructions and information. It's possible to get a job without knowing Dutch, but in most of the cases it is either a low income job it it involves a lot of physical work.

Yeah, I was told the same. Not the kind of job I'd like     I was told basically the same, the really intense jobs are for people who don't speak dutch, but if you really want to get ahead you need to learn it well.  So far I am at level A1.  I can understand very basic texts... I've checked some reading practice test and wow!  If it wasn't for memrise I'd not know so many of those words. Not cool those people use words that we didn't even get to study in the official course. 

[Tyrell]

Interesting. I have a friend from German, and she told me the exact opposite. She told me that not understanding German is not a problem at all and that I could literally move there right now and have no problem because everyone can speak English there (to be fair, I have every reason to trust her, the four German people I know speaks perfect English), that I'd learn German as I go. Seems like it's not the case at all.

To be honest though, I think you really have to understand the language the people if the country you're moving to speaks. I feel like it's incredibly necessary and just overall better.

[multilingo]

Interesting. I have a friend from German, and she told me the exact opposite. She told me that not understanding German is not a problem at all and that I could literally move there right now and have no problem because everyone can speak English there (to be fair, I have every reason to trust her, the four German people I know speaks perfect English), that I'd learn German as I go. Seems like it's not the case at all.

To be honest though, I think you really have to understand the language the people if the country you're moving to speaks. I feel like it's incredibly necessary and just overall better.

I would totally not disagree on you on this. When I was not yet living in Germany, a lot of people told me the same, but in my case, living here was totally different from what I have heard and told.

But I think, it depends on where you are and the age bracket. Some young Germans can speak English, but in my experience, especially those I know, they do not speak that fluent though. When I did my  school (Ausbildung), I had a lot of young classmates and I was actually surprise why most of them struggle on speaking English. But I think, that is the case in some countries where the official language is not English. But on a positive note, this gave me a push as well to really learn German. Now my German friends are urging me more to deepen my knowledge on German and helping me at the same time, in return, I am happy to teach them as well English and we are having fun :-)