Language barriers in Germany

As most Germans understand some English (and often also other languages), it is easy to survive in daily life without any knowledge of German.
However, since Germans are of course most comfortable in their own language, it would be difficult to have meaningful social contacts with locals and a good understanding of German culture without being fluent in the language.
Furthermore, to find a job and to manouvre buerocratic procedures (e.g. registering with the authorities, submitting tax declarations, etc.) requires good German in almost all cases - it is naive to expect this to work in English or any other language!

I think this subject has already been covered extensively in many threads. Like Beppi mentioned; survival with English anyway is not in question. Everyone learns it in school and people’s levels are usually dependent on their level of education and/or level of practice. Germans are some of the world’s most extensive travelers. Some very old people, especially if they grew up in former East Germany might know little. Others lose their school English by not having practiced for too long. Overall, the level of English in Germany is not on a par with the Netherlands or Scandinavia but better than in southern Europe.

But it becomes a question of quality of life. One misses so much not knowing German and is always dependent on others helpfulness to get along. Both job and social opportunities will be limited. For a tourist it is no problem. For one who arrives with little German, they will get along if they make a concentrated effort to learn and improve. For the people thinking they’ll stay long term and not bother – they are kidding themselves. The excuse is often given that German is soooo hard. But compared to what? Finnish, Chinese? There are plenty of commonalities with English. The question is more the level one expects to reach. I’ve known people to sound like a local within 2 years, especially kids. Others, like myself, will always have an accent and make some mistakes in agreement or mix up some articles. Doesn’t matter! Work at it and do your best and it will be appreciated.

I agree with the others here. You can get by without German and if you work in certain fields (marketing, IT, teaching English), you might even be able to work in English. But you'll need to learn German to do most jobs, and even if you do work in a field where English is widely spoken, you'll find it easier to advance in your career if you speak German. You'll also be more at home here if you speak the language. I mean, do you really want to go through life having your friends translate all your mail for you?

All in all, my tip for surviving in Germany without German is to learn German. Take a class at the Volkshochschule, go to a private language school, watch TV, read the paper....just do what you need to do to learn it.

Any thoughts to doing a program such as Rosetta Stone to learn German? Is it beneficial or is there something better? I do not live near large cities where attending a community college for language would be of any use; Spanish seems to be what’s pushed here. Thanks

Judi Clark wrote:

Any thoughts to doing a program such as Rosetta Stone to learn German? Is it beneficial or is there something better? I do not live near large cities where attending a community college for language would be of any use; Spanish seems to be what’s pushed here. Thanks

Your profile shows you live in Neuendettelsau which is not well connected by train to Schwabach but is only an 18 minute drive. Ansbach is a bit farther and Nuremberg a bit more. But both of these are within 24 minutes and 38 minutes train connection respectively. So you have 3 good sized cities in your area. All have a Volkshochschule (VHS) which is a low cost community college. And all, like every Volkshochschule, offer German as a foreign language and integration courses.

Surprisingly enough Neuendettelsau also has a VHS – that offers German courses! I am posting a link to their website showing this. I don’t know where you are getting your information but your claim that they mostly offer Spanish and not German is simply false. Try using Google next time. Otherwise, you can try systems like Babble or hire a private tutor.

https://www.vhs.info/deutschkurs/

I can also recommend the VHS