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Germany

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited January 2023 in General Chat
I may be working there for 6 months - Do they speak much English over there and what's the best way of learning basic lingo, before I actually get there?
If it's anything like Holland- which is very close - it will be piss easy as they all speak English.
I'm so excited if I do get to go, excellent money, opprtunites and right near my fave city Amsterdam!
Post edited by JustV on

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    They do mostly speak English, but you shouldn't be assuming that they do. Some speak it well, others don't speak it well or at all. German is a very literal language and is quite easy to pick up, I'd suggest getting the Michel Thomas basic German CD (about £15) and taking it from there. You do need to learn the language.

    Germany is a very big country, it isn't all near Amsterdam. In fact the best cities, Munich and Hamburg, are nowhere near.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    most major european countries will have a ok grasp of English i've found. Unless of course you going to the middle of nowhere, where they may struggle.

    I'd just get a phrase book for difficult stuff. i've always found german very simple to pick up.

    it really does put shame to our education system when you go to places like germany and holland where they can carry out in depth conversations in english but we cant even do the simple stuff in most cases. oh well.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Which language do we learn though? German? French? Spanish? Italian? Dutch? Flemish?

    I can order a beer and a wiener schnitzel, I don't need owt else:D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Cheers for the tips guys, I'll see about getting that cd Kermit. Where I am staying is very near Holland but yes, I'd love to travel the country.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Most Europeans learn English at an early age. I wouldn't think Germany would be any different. The English language was originally taken over here from Germany, still a lot of similarities.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Kermit wrote: »
    Which language do we learn though? German? French? Spanish? Italian? Dutch? Flemish?

    I can order a beer and a wiener schnitzel, I don't need owt else:D

    I think chinese would be a good one these days, some schools are starting it, other than that i think german and french which are what most school children learn, but maybe start earlier.

    i can actually order beers in most languages, well places ive been too.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Is it just English, that European countries are fluent in? If so, then I can see why we aren't fluent in another language as there isn't another language as widespread over Europe.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    when ive stayed in hostels across europe there have been people working in them that can happily chat in english, german, spanish, italian and dutch. its mental.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    You lucky thing, I absolutely loved living in Germany! When I was living in Cologne we went to Holland whenever we got the chance, good times :thumb:

    Young people in pretty much any part of Germany will speak English, though obviously some a lot better than others. I always found they are extremely eager to befriend and help out English speakers (it will help that you're an attractive young laydee, of course ;)) as they're all really up for improving their language skills -- though that's not exactly great if you're trying to get some language proficiency yourself!

    But yeah, you'll pick up the basics easily enough if you make a wee bit of an effort, and there are millions of different tape/book language courses. Different people are going to recommend different ones, so I'd say probably best just to have a look 'round Waterstones or similar and see which one takes your fancy... or ask the staff on that floor for a recommendation. The BBC's language site has a good basic range of reading, listening and writing activites too for you to test yourself.

    How exciting :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    VinylVicky wrote: »
    Is it just English, that European countries are fluent in? If so, then I can see why we aren't fluent in another language as there isn't another language as widespread over Europe.

    English for a long time has been considered the universal language. It's a throwback to the old Empire days. And the world's biggest economy speaks English as well, the markets are all English language based. Go to the EU however you'll see that all the major documents are in either English/French/German.

    ETA:Why would we want to learn other people's language when we can communicate with them perfectly with our own?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Fußgangerzone - best word in the german language. remember that one.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I've stayed with families in Germany and Austria before and pretty much everybody either speaks very good English or a little bit, so you should have no problem. However if you're actually working over there, then they'll respect you alot more if you make an attempt to learn and speak some of their language.
    The only problem I found was with the family I stayed with in Elmshorn, Schleswig-Holstein in North Germany where the family I stayed with were originally Polish and the father couldn't speak very good German, let alone English. Their son however was fluent in Polish, German, English, French and was learning Latin and Russian.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Nah, the best word in German is weissbier.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Kermit wrote: »
    Nah, the best word in German is weissbier.

    :yum: :yes:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    koe_182 wrote: »
    Fußgangerzone - best word in the german language. remember that one.
    Are you my other half in disguise? That's also the only German word that he knows and he loves it .... oh and he also knows the German for cheesy bell end - typical!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    VinylVicky wrote: »
    Cheers for the tips guys, I'll see about getting that cd Kermit. Where I am staying is very near Holland but yes, I'd love to travel the country.

    Where abouts are you staying? I used to live in Germany near Holland :hyper:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    VinylVicky wrote: »
    I may be working there for 6 months - Do they speak much English over there and what's the best way of learning basic lingo, before I actually get there?
    If it's anything like Holland- which is very close - it will be piss easy as they all speak English.
    I'm so excited if I do get to go, excellent money, opprtunites and right near my fave city Amsterdam!

    english is part of basic school teachings in germany and you should be able to have no problems at all talking in english with anyone, let alone in business/hostels etc.

    People in german who aren't used to speak much english pronounce the words in their german pronounciation which sounds hilarious and stupid but you'll get by.
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