# German language



## JosephLopez37 (Sep 5, 2017)

I am wondering if there are any states, cities, or towns in Germany where the English language is not spoken or spoken very little. I am interested in fully immersing myself in the language but I know that if I get the chance to use English as an out I'll take it. Thank you and I'll be patiently awaiting your responses.


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

Avoid Berlin! Seriously, there are restaurants where you can't order in German because the staff don't speak it.

Generally, smaller towns in the former east would be your best option for not using English, but they're not necessarily fun places to live, and may not be overly friendly towards foreigners. 

That being said, your approach probably should not be to look for some little town full of Ossi pensioners, but rather to be disciplined about how you approach learning the language and how you socialize - find friends through sports or whatever other activities you enjoy, and inform them that they are only to use English in the event of a medical emergency, or if needed to correct your German. (I did this many years ago and it worked quite well.)


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

About 20 years ago, I lived in Baden-Wurtemburg and there were darned few folks around who spoke English, at least not on a day to day basis. Even in Freiburg, a university town, you heard almost no English in the shops and all.

Things may have changed since then, but it could be what you're looking for.
Cheers,
Bev


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## Tellus (Nov 24, 2013)

Learning German lang can be very frustrating, because of many diff. dialects
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_dialects

Could be a matter of the place where you 'll stay which dialect you learn - beside standard German.
In Northern Germany people speak low German, Plattdeutsch
In Southern Bavaria "boarisch" - you' ll need a translator to standard German, f.i. if you come to Munich airport and ask for a train to Munich. 
The same in Stuttgart - the dialect called "schwäbisch" is hard to understand.
The dialect of Saxony is diff. like New England to Alabama slang...


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

Tellus said:


> Learning German lang can be very frustrating, because of many diff. dialects
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_dialects
> 
> Could be a matter of the place where you 'll stay which dialect you learn - beside standard German.
> ...


I think the area around Hannover comes quite close to actual high German


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

Tellus said:


> In Southern Bavaria "boarisch" - you' ll need a translator to standard German, f.i. if you come to Munich airport and ask for a train to Munich.


That's a little übertrieben, in my view. There's a huge difference between regional accents (which sound funny/cute/awful if you're from somewhere else) and actual dialects. Get off a plane in Munich and you'll hear standard German with a Bavarian accent, you won't be spoken to in some impenetrable dialect from a farm village in a remote alpine valley. The same is true everywhere else in Germany.


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

Bevdeforges said:


> About 20 years ago, I lived in Baden-Wurtemburg and there were darned few folks around who spoke English, at least not on a day to day basis. Even in Freiburg, a university town, you heard almost no English in the shops and all.
> 
> Things may have changed since then, but it could be what you're looking for.
> Cheers,
> Bev


Things have definitely changed. I've found English usage to be much more prevalent in the workplace now (at least where I worked) and universities are offering more English-only programs to attract foreign students. Parts of Berlin almost feel bilingual, you hear so much English on the street (not just visitors, but residents) and I wasn't making that up about restaurants with no German-speaking staff, it's a bit of a sore point in some of the expat-laden districts (yes I'm talking about you, Neukölln).


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

You were in Berlin, though. I was in deepest, darkest Baden-Würtemberg in the south. Not all that many larger companies there, and the only university I'm aware of is Freiburg. The tourist locations (restaurants, maybe hotels) probably have someone who speaks English. But southern Germany tends to be a bit "rural" at the best of times.

The Schwabisch accent can seem impenetrable - but it's a matter of getting used to it. Then again, I had my 16 year old neighbor who offered to give me "Schwäbisch" lessons. Good way to get to know your neighbors!
Cheers,
Bev


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## Tellus (Nov 24, 2013)

Nononymous said:


> That's a little übertrieben, in my view. There's a huge difference between regional accents (which sound funny/cute/awful if you're from somewhere else) and actual dialects. Get off a plane in Munich and you'll hear standard German with a Bavarian accent, you won't be spoken to in some impenetrable dialect from a farm village in a remote alpine valley. The same is true everywhere else in Germany.


you 're right, it`s a bit "übertrieben", schools are directed to teach standard German. But normal convsersation between people usually is the local dialect. Bavarians are very proud in case of local dialects of diff. regions like Oberbayern (upper Bavaria) Niederbayern (lower Bavaria ) ..
We used to live for 3 decades in Bavaria as Prussians (Saupreissn) often we had problems to understand people.


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## Tellus (Nov 24, 2013)

Well, a nice example of German dialects comes from the band BAP. Frontman Wolfgang Niedecken /singer/songwriter is a typical "Kölsche Jung", born in Cologne at Severinsveedel. His lyrics are only written in Cologne dialect. Try to understand it - 
https://www.golyr.de/bap/songtext-verdamp-lang-her-89582.html


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## Brit (really) (Sep 6, 2017)

German children learn English almost from the day they start school. They are bombarded by English language films and music and many areas have had British, American and Canadian troops resident in the for over 70 years. For most 'young' Germans speaking English is a normal part of everyday life. Sure you can find plenty of individuals who have no English but as soon as you go to get your car serviced, eat in a restaurant or even go shopping you will find people wanting to speak English are never far away.


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