Live in Germany when you barely speak German: I started barely being able to introduce myself, and now I am conversationally fluent in German.
What does it feel like to live in Germany when you barely speak German?
Imagine you live in a rural part of your country where rarely something exciting happens. Then one day, lo and behold, a white person is visiting, something alien to the population of your locality. The whole place is excited and gathers to greet his person. The only problem is that no one speaks his language, and he doesn’t speak yours. Now what?
Would you not be able to communicate with this person at all? Is it just going to be awkward silences?
Of course not, it might not be easy at first, but it will come through. Remember, we’re human, and human beings have this unique capability of communicating with each other even without words. That’s how we evolved.
Living in Germany and not speaking German is no different. If you barely talk to German.
- Would you be able to discuss current politics or dive into deep philosophical topics? No.
- Will you be able to get food at the grocery store? Yes.
- Will you be able to provide talks on your favorite subject? No.
- Will you be able to introduce yourself at parties? Yes.
- Would you get hired at a German corporate? Probably not.
- Would you get hired at the startup founded by two English founders? Yes.
- Would you be able to understand the insurance letter you received in German? No.
- Would you get the haircut that you want? Yes.
- Can you buy weed from the guy on that one street? Hell yes.
You will get by. You could even potentially live half a decade in Germany without being fluent in German (I have seen many such examples). Life will not stop; it might be bumpy, and you might face some awkward silences here and there, but you will get by. Then eventually, you will put in the effort to learn German, and you will get good at it.
But it’s your choice, whether you take advantage of the environment and learn the language or you don’t.
Either way, it’s essential to understand that the difference between barely speaking German and being fluent in Germany is similar to excellent and tremendous vs. horrible and great.
The silver lining is that you’ll be able to tell your dumb attempts at speaking German stories on your next Tinder date, and it’s going to work like a charm 😉
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