# Germany and English speaking



## stugaia

Hi,

I'm looking to relocate to Germany (possibly North Rhine-Westphalia) at some point in the next couple of years, but am unsure as regards the level of German language proficiency I'd need in order to get by.

I have high school German to A-level equivalent standard so I can pronounce things pretty well but as it stands my comprehension is pretty low. Obviously I spend a bit of my spare time on learning some German but in my experience you only really learn properly when you get there, so it's a bit of a Catch 22.

Any advice gratefully received.

Cheers.


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## James3214

It depends where you are going. If you are heading to one of the big cities, you probably won't have a problem but with A level German you should probably be able to struggle through wherever you are.


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## BodgieMcBodge

Hi, I went from zero German and stayed 6 years, it is a struggle doing official paperwork which is in "official German" unlike "spoken German" but English is the second language so in the cities you'll be ok. Just talking/listening for a couple of months will make a vast differnce to your spoken German.


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## Alla26

My fiancé came to Germany without knowing much German, and he managed to learn pretty quickly; even without learning, though, most young people have no trouble with English. 

If you can, try to take a course of some kind - even an evening course. The course will help, but making a bunch of German-speaking friends will help even more.

Good luck!


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## JacobFay

It depends where you are exactly - in the supermarket it's diff without German, in the uni English is no problem...


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## Stefanie1802

I agree with everything people here said. The only additional advice: Don't underestimate German dialects  You should get used to them pretty quickly though once you live there.


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## lols123

It's probably a good idea to learn a little german regardless. It's always nice to be able understand and communicate with other people without a huge problem. You would probably be ok with just A-level German though.


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## Verdande

Check this link: book2
It is good for practicing pronounciation. For the full version you have to pay but there is quite a lot for free. 
Believe me, if you want to live in Germany, learn German and speak it even if you make lots of mistakes. My experience as frequent traveller in Germany is most Germans are very happy to help you-in German- and there are many places where no one speaks English.


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