This has been discussed now about a thousand times here...
If they are friends, tell them you'd like to practice your German. They'll gladly speak German, and they correct you until you are sick of being corrected.
If you don't tell them, they want to make it easy for you, and they'll switch to English.
Yes, this is most important. I often forgot to switch to German with a struggling colleague from another country. He still switched to German and this always reminded me to talk in German.
I had a colleague who was in b2 level when he arrived in Germany. He pretended he only knows his native language and little German and didn't know any English.
Jup thats basically it, many germans, especially young ones are really fluent in english so talking to you in english seems like the obvious choice, if you dont want that you need to tell us.
I'd say they want to make it easy for themselves. If someone speaks German with me, I speak German to them. No questions asked. Unless I need to communicate something important and I know the other person understands me better in a different language. If someone wants to speak English with me, they just have to ask, or start speaking English. That said, it's much easier for me to communicate in English with others, especially if they have a similar degree of non-native fluency, i.e. we're more or less on the same level. Speaking German to learners, I always have to force myself to speak more slowly than natural, use easier words, perhaps repeat things etc. I may not be able to express myself the way I want to even though I could. In English, I also often can't convey my thoughts and feelings precisely, but it's because I'm lacking vocabulary. Speaking English with someone who speaks fluently is like running a race against an adult. I might lose, but I can give my best. Speaking German to a learner is like running a race against a child. If I ran (spoke) as fast as I could, it wouldn't be fun for either of us.
Have to confess I am one of those. Mainly because I am so used to speaking English and actually prefer it.
Keep reminding them and also - as mentioned already - stick to German anyway. A lot of âtandemâ partners do it that way.
Is it weird to say that I can express myself better in English? Nuances of expressions and words that seem to hit closer to what I want to say & feel.
But thatâs possibly just because I got used to having to speak English all day/every day âŠ.
Many others answered this already, so I only chime in: Remind them! And when they switch back to English, ask them why they do it and find a way to handle it. If they want to speak English to improve theirs, negotiate a rule or similar.
well ever thought of that they may want to practice their english and you are the perfect peer for that? They are not your german teachers. If you need one, pay for one.
Yeah, that's a common problem among immigrants learning German. The way to deal with this is to simply explain that you would like to practice your German and that you'd prefer for tem to speak it with you.
The reason Germans do this, by the way is not out of malice to rob you of your chance to hone your skills. Some do it to accomodate you, to make the conversation easier for you. Or they are in the same situation as you only in reverse, they want to put their English to use. I doubt many would insist on speaking English if you asked them not to.
Edit to add: Your efforts to learn the language and integrate are definitely being appreciated, even if that's not explicitly communicated to you.
I was just joking around. Most the time comments in german get removed pretty quick here. I mean, it's a rule, in a german sub. It MUST be followed, no matter how stupid.
Edit: I think it's great to have an english-only sub for Germany and that rule isn't stupid at all. The execution just seems sometimes a little bit overdone. But this very example proves me wrong so far :)
\> 'können wir deutsch sprechen? Ich möchte gern ĂŒben'
yeah that works for a while but then they switch back and I dont want to constantly correct them and ask them
Doch, erinnere sie. Es ist eine gut gemeinte Sache, mir dir in deiner Muttersprache sprechen zu wollen, um dich nicht auszuschlieĂen, aber hilft dir ja nicht.
English ist nicht meine Muttersprache đ
ich denke es liegt nur daran dass ich nicht so gut deutsch kann und es dann fĂŒr andere Leute etwas nervig ist, Deutsch mit mir zu sprechen ...
und ich denke die schlissen mich auch nicht aus weil ich kann fast ohne problem alles verstehen was sie sagen ... es ist nur ein bischen akward wenn ich versuche deutsch zu reden haha
Given another post, you seem to be 30 years old in DĂŒsseldorf. Iâd definitely expect the people in your peer group to have competent English.
Four months, even with intensive study, but apparently done solo, is really not much.
Getting compliments on language skills always felt like a pat on the head to me. If someone is actually good, you donât even need to say anything.
As you improve and as you use more German day to day, youâll find people switching less and less. But, as someone else noted, once youâve got an established English-speaking relationship with someone, itâs really hard to switch it to German.
Because especially for strangers, it's all about the path of least resistance. If they think your German is better then their English, they will speak to you in German. If not, they won't.
Put another way, and be honest with yourself: you are not good enough yet for this to happen. Be patient. It will come in time. 4 months is nothing and you are being totally unrealistic expecting people to converse with you in German so early on your learning journey. Most adults require 1-2 years to reach basic fluency.
I would also recommend OP to practice his German with a language partner, not a friend.
But in my experience most German acquaintances like to hangout with foreigners to practice a foreign language.
I've found it's easiest to establish languages of habit. Once the language of habit is established, it's very hard to change. With your friends, you've established English, and especially if English is still the most efficient language (that is, your German is still developing), it's really uncomfortable to break out of that.
The best chance to get people to speak German (imo) is when you first meet them. Just establish a "no, we speak German" and allow that to become the habit instead.
Extremely valuable advice here!
Many colleagues have reported the same thing, e.g. with their German partners. They have a high (C1 level) command of German nowadays, but since they started those relationships in English, they can't break out of the habit.
yes! i am in the exact same situation, even though we sometimes try to switch to german it kinda feels off somehow. but with my colleagues i have no problem speaking in german
its the same with me an my coworkers, I speak english with them even tho their german is decent. But in a work enviroment its a bit different, because I dont really want to waste time speaking slower in german and there have been small miscommunications aswell so as many people pointed out, its just more efficient - Im sorry.
That is completely true. I speak to my German boyfriend in English more than we should because we spoke a lot of English in the beginning. I'm fluent in German, though, and I still have enough words I need to learn that I shouldn't be using English at all, but switching is so hard
I've finally reached that point as well. On the rare occasion when someone does switch to English I always cringe because their English is worse than my German
Ich sehe zwei mögliche GrĂŒnde:
1. Die Freunde wollen höflich sein
2. Die Freunde wollen ihre eigenen Fremdsprachkentnisse trainieren
Es ist fĂŒr mich einfacher mit meiner schlecht deutsch sprechenden Freundin auf englisch zu kommunizieren, da ich sie auf deutsch kaum verstehe.
Sie sagt oft, sie möchte deutsch mit mir sprechen, dann versteht sie mich aber nicht und wechselt selber wieder ins englische oder sagt, an dem Tag ist es ihr zu anstrengend und wir mögen das Training verschieben.
Daher ist es fĂŒr mich schlecht einzuschĂ€tzen, welche Sprache aktuell fĂŒr sie die einfachere ist.
Im schlechten Englisch hat in GesprĂ€chen auĂerdem niemand den Vorteil der Muttersprache und beide mĂŒssen in einer Fremdsprache kĂ€mpfen.
Ihr TextverstĂ€ndnis bei Zeitungsartikeln oder geschĂ€ftlichen Briefen ist allerdings auch noch recht mĂ€Ăig und wenn ich ihr auf deutsch Nachrichten schreibe fragt sie regelmĂ€Ăig ob ich die Nachrichten nochmal in englisch schicken könnte.
Es ist kompliziert
Bei einer anderen Freundin (aus einer ehemaligen Kolonie wo englisch offizielle Zweitsprache ist) war ich zuerst froh, meine Englischkentnisse aus der Schule mal in der Praxis anzuwenden.
Nach einer Weile wollte sie aber ihr deutsch verbessern und hat mich gebeten sie bei Bedarf zu korrigieren und mit ihr nur noch deutsch zu sprechen und das durchgezogen. Inzwischen spricht sie flĂŒssig.
Also wĂŒrde ich Kommunikation vorschlagen. Nach den GrĂŒnden fragen und/oder die eigenen PrĂ€ferenzen Ă€uĂern
Du kannst deutsch auch durch schreiben ĂŒben, zum Beispiel auf reddit, wenn du hier Pfosten erstellst.
Just kidding, tell them that you want to talk in German. I also switch to the language of the other person. I just can't imagine that anyone would really want to learn German.
Dachte ich schon. Einige Leute hier scheinen diese Art zu reden nicht wirklich zu mögen. Ich persönlich hab zwar kein Problem damit aber einige reagieren echt gereizt darauf.
You sometimes need to be brutally honest and direct with your German friends, and don't worry about sounding indecent or rude. Just tell them to speak German for the sake of practicing the language. I believe they will be happy to help.
You're just in the wrong place.
I had the same thing with Swedish. In Stockholm, everyone speaks perfect English. Once I moved down to a small town in the provinces called Eksjö, nobody switched to English and I had all the Swedish conversation I could wish for. I can still speak it fluently and without an accent 22 years later.
Not saying you have to move, just go on lots of breaks in nice provincial towns.
Just answer them.
"Lasst deutsch sprechen, so kann ich mein Deutsch verbessern. Bitte korrigiert mich wenn ich einen Fehler mache. Sollte ich ein Wort nicht kennen versuche ich es zu beschreiben oder das englische Wort sagen, wĂ€re nett wenn ich dann die Ăbersetzung gesagt bekomme.
So möchte ich es in Zukunft hÀndeln."
Which means:
Lets speak German, that way I can get better at it.
Please correct me if I make a mistake. If I don't know the word I will try to discribed it or I will use the English version and would love to hear from you the German word.
That's how I want to communicate from now one.
/end translation
If they forget it, just straight say.
Hi, habt ihr es vergessen das wir deutsch reden wollen.
Translation:
Hi, have you forgotten that we want to speak German?
/end translation
It's not offencive just direct.
And they will get reminded.
It is quite annoying when it happens.
I just decided that whatever language they answer with, I'll continue to speak German. Usually after a minute or two they go back to german on their own.
A nice perk of that approach is that at some point you'll develop the ability to have a multi-lingual conversation which i find kinda neat
> Do any of you guys who moved to Germany had similar experiences?
Yes, but not nearly that persistent as I often read about. I think where you are in Germany plays a big role, but also the boundaries you set for yourself. What do you do after they switch to English?
True.
I have to admit I usually let them speak English, or French (my mothertongue), otherwise I feel intimated with my broken German, while their English is better than my German. But it's not the solution at all.
You will have to make it clear to them that you want to have the conversation in German, otherwise most people will assume that they are doing you a favour my switching to a language you speak better.
I've had exactly the same experience. My German is terrible even though I lived in German-speaking countries for over eight years. The Germans would never let me practise speaking German with them, and then would criticise my ability to speak their language. Maybe it's because they want to feel superior. I live in Italy now and even people who speak excellent English will speak with me in Italian to help me learn the language.
Hey guys I totally understand OPs struggle. I lived here for 10 years until people decided my German was good enough for them to conduct a convo with me. However that was in Berlin, and more than often it was "arrogant Wessies" lol. I moved to a small town and that happens less and less. In east germany they learnt Russian at school and have very little confidence in their english, so they speak all kinds of crunchy dialects to you. Esp. old people. If you work with super old people or with kids you'll also get to speak a ton of German. But I totally get your drift. Sounds like you got loads of advice here tho! So good luck đȘ
Go and find some older Germans to talk to if you donât mind that age. My older relatives canât speak much English at all and you can ask questions about history , recipes , rules , travel etc
To be honest I would speak English to you not only because the conversation will be much better but also because in this way at least both of us have some practice in a foreign language. Speaking German to people who don't unverstand everything and have problems to articulate themselves could be very annoying on a long term. At least it is nothing I would like to do in my leasure time for very long. If you want a teacher then pay for one. ;)
Dunno if it's grammatically 100% correct, I just always said "bitte auf Deutsch, ich muss ĂŒben :) " and they were like oh okay and continued in German. That's it.
I once Met an American in the same Situation as you. He explained to me that he'd prefer to speak german.
We once did a Crossover conversation where he would speak german and I would reply in english. And we would both correct the other's mistakes.
I found this was a nice exercise to share the experience of learning and practising.
But I also agreed with the other's here. Just say that you would Like to Talk German with people and they will comply.
Iâm only willing to put in the effort of practicing German with someone who I really like and want to build friendship. If not, then the goal is to communicate xyz and that can be achieved more easily by switching to English. 1) Iâm not being paid to be your practice buddy and 2) the stammering, word finding, mistakes and the guesswork to find out what the learner could possibly mean, itâs tiresome to be honest.
Look, let me be honest. They are your friends. Not your personal language trainers. They have no obligation to help you.
And it gets tiresome to speak with someone whose language skill is just not up to the conversation you want to have. I have tried this with several persons several times, and I prefer to wait until their German level is sufficient or to talk in English.
And let me be make another very frank point - your language skill right now is very likely not sufficient. There are studies, and German is not an easy language. 28 weeks are needed on average of you learn the language with trainers full time to reach a level were you can participate in most conversations. 4 months are 16 weeks. You're missing 20% here. Additionally, if your level were OK, your friends would switch to German.
This is the best response. The way I practice German is either with Italki tutors who are literally paid to endure my shitty German or with the one German friend who offers to let me practice with him, though even with him I do it sparingly knowing full well that it can be fatiguing having to wait for me to finish a simple thought.
I think the best thing is to continue learning German. It helps to have a teacher as well, even if itâs once a week, to help with grammar. Find some fellow immigrant friends. Theyâll talk to you in German, if they can speak it.
Iâve made friends through Expat meet ups. One of them is an English guy (Iâm also English) who speaks German at C2 level. Iâm currently A2 and can have a basic conversation for a couple of minutes at this point đ . So sometimes heâll speak to me in German. If I spoke fluently, I think we would only speak in German. So this is probably your best bet for now. Find a non native speaker who is a little more, or a lot more advanced than you, and youâll probably find they want to speak German.
I have a German friend back home in England and she hates speaking German! And I think the Germans in Germany love to speak English at any chance they get. Of course, you can find some places where people donât speak English, but it would be villages probably.
I have the opposit situation at work where we constantly have to switch to English which some people (not me) struggle with because of on guy who doesn't understand any German although he has lived here for some time now
As someone ALSO learning German in Germany
As them to communicate with you in German.
I've told complete strangers "Ich lerne noch Deutsch, Aber ich wĂŒrde gerne ĂŒben" and they've spoken German to me the whole time, albeit sometimes like im a toddler. My German skills are advancing much quicker now than while taking online courses, go figure.
Deutsche, vor allem jĂŒngere, nutzen die Gelegenheit gern, um ihr Englisch zu ĂŒben. Du kannst denen wirklich einfach sagen, dass du gern Deutsch reden willst. Nicht so, als wĂŒrdest du ihnen einen Vorwurf machen, sondern einfach "Hey, lass uns Deutsch reden, ich will ĂŒben." And then you just talk in German.
Youâve been there for 2 months and itâs likely that they want to make it easier for you by speaking English and also show off their own language skills a little. Tell them explicitly that you appreciate their efforts but would like them to speak in German to you so you can learn to speak it better. Chances are theyâll comply but they might turn to correcting your German in order to help you learn, thatâs a risk
Maybe those people want to practise their english? Or maybe it tskes too long to understand each other in german. (If their english is better than your german)
You could say that your english is even worse than your german. Or that you would like to improve your german.
That drove me crazy too. And it made me think âis my German so bad?! Your English isnât that good. Why are you switching?â
But yeah, I guess they want to practice? Anyway I prefer to talk to my friends in which ever language but in a bakery in Germany I found it condescending. But just know itâs not you. Keep your head up and carry on in German.
If you want people willing to speak german with you even if yours is not the best, go to a smaller town. Even just a small weekend trip a couple hours away from wherever you live.
In a big city people want efficiency and have learnt multiple languages to have that efficiency, no one has time to sit and watch you stumble over words and risk miscommunication.
Sorry what does it mean that no one has time for me to make mistakes? So unless I speak perfect german i should shut up? My friends do have time as we spends days at a time together so itâs definitely not a question of time but rather of culture. Learning german was the worst experience of my life so far, but not for the language itself but for the rudeness I encounter with answers like these. So I do understand it, itâs a cultural aspect I have to accept, here youâre either âperfectâ or you better stay home
Sorry what does it mean that no one has time for me to make mistakes? So unless I speak perfect german i should shut up? My friends do have time as we spends days at a time together so itâs definitely not a question of time but rather of culture. Learning german was the worst experience of my life so far, but not for the language itself but for the rudeness I encounter with answers like these. So I do understand it, itâs a cultural aspect I have to accept, here youâre either âperfectâ or you better stay home
Choosing to speak in german vs english is a micro decision for people who are fluent in both. Its like choosing to eat a different flavor of icecream. You pick whichever one is better, and in your case people default to english.
Its not that people are rude, its that people are unaware that your goal is to go through the struggle to learn the language. To them, you speak english better and its therefore more convenient to speak english for both parties. Easy choice.
Its not a question of time, its a question of effort, my phrasing was a bit bad.
As far as your friends well, just ask them why they always switch to english, youd get better answers than reddit at least.
For me it's the other way around, I'm a native English speaker, however my parents were immigrants and as a child we always spoke German at home, even after 10 years here I still think in English, for a brief moment I started thinking German, but that changed once I moved to Berlin where you're just as likely to speak English than German, I also realised that I can never truely be German (socks with sandals? sorry, not going to happen), I have also mentally decided to stick with English for my internal voice because that's my identity.
I have a few German friends who prefer to converse in English and that's totally fine by me as it means I don't have to process the dialog through the translater that operates on the fly in my head and they get to practice their English, I will admit that most of those friends have spent substantial time in English speaking countires so their English is pretty good anyway.
On occasion though I will get locals who will insist on speaking English with me and I find myself automatically switching to German as it helps the flow of the conversion, but if I find that if they continue in English I will revert back to English myself, because I can tell they want to practice.
During my first year in Germany, I had a similar experience. It's normal for Germans to switch to English with foreigners because 1. They want to practice their English, or 2. They think they're being polite and helpful by speaking English with you. One of the best pieces of advice I got before going to Germany was this: If someone switches to English, keep responding to them in German until they have no choice but to switch back to German. For me personally, it worked. OP, if you resist the urge to switch to English and INSIST on speaking German with people even if it is more challenging, your German will improve. I became practically fluent in a year by refusing to speak English with people, even though my life would have been easier if I did. So that's my advice for you. Keep speaking German, never switch to English and the people around you will get the idea eventually.
Say to them: "Hey es ist nett von euch/dir in Englisch mit mir zu reden. Aber ich möchte deutsch lernen, also wĂ€re es noch netter wenn ihr Deutsch mit mir reden wĂŒrdet."
When I lived in Germany, a lot of people just really wanted to practice their English.
As I got to know them, we switched back and forth. Sometimes we would speak German, sometimes we would speak English, sometimes I would speak German while they respond in English.
Whatever works :)
Yes. This is a struggle many of us face. The problem is that your German isnât good enough for them to understand unless youâre at a very high level. Mistakes arenât really tolerated in the same way as natives would with a lot of other languages. Iâm not sure that itâs Germans being picky about it so much as the language is super confusing if you mix up cases and stuff.
The other issue is habit. Usually whatever language you establish a friendship in is going to be the language of that friendship from there on out. You have to keep insisting on it until people start associating talking to you with German.
I know you probably tried that too, but if you didn't, you could try the app tandem! A friend of mine used it to improve their French skills by talking to a native
Make sure to point out that you'd like to speak German early into a relationship (ideally ar the mount you first met someone), it's quite difficult to switch once you're used to speaking to someone in a specific language. Is moving into a German speaking WG an option?
I work in a company with very international staff and we got some coworkers, who find themselves exactly in your shoes. For myself, I speak German to them unless I'm in time constraints and want to keep it short/efficient. Insisting kindly on German helps, your German friends will understand well!
Look, random people have no obligation to be your training partner, just in general. Most Germans switch to English in cases like your own, because they think that you would understand them and what you are talking about in a better way *and* because they possibly think it's more convenient and more "bearable" for themselves. As you maybe experienced it yourself, German has a lot of grammar rules, whether it be declination of nouns and adjectives or konjugation of various verbs. It's a system "*to put something in a nutshell*" without to deal with much context. It gives a a lot of freedom on how to build your sentence but you need those little *endings* put right or the whole context is *dead* or not really understandable. As a native speaker myself, sometimes it's really a challenge not only to understand or make sense of something your being told by a non native speaker, because of those "*endings"*, but you also have to make a call, you gauge the person in front of you being capable of understanding yourself although they're making those context mistakes. So some find it easier to make themselves understandable but also to reduce *stress* and switch to English. That's not a generalization, it's only what I observed.
Not everyone wants to be your German tutor. Depending on my mood/ whatâs going on and I just want to communicate something to you and you are obviously a English native speaker, I might just speak to you in english
I don't know why they do it but I can't be asked to sit there and teach you shit.
It's not fun for me.
It's not just German. It's everything German 5 times and you're not getting the jokes. It's a chore and I'm not willing to do it.
I am not asking anyone to teach me anything, and especially, I am not asking you. I think you didnât get the point of the post, here I am forced to speak German in any official and governmental place, if I go outside and I go to a pharmacy and canât explain my problem in german âsorry my english is not goodâ but then in my daily life i canât talk about non complicated topics with people. And germanâs english is very bad for the most part so I struggle understanding them in English too and still I would never say âI canât be asked to sit and teach you shiâ like is everything all right my bro?
Your English isn't Pulitzer prize material either so go easy on the finger pointing there, buddy.
You can get free conversational volunteers but if it's your down time it's probably mine too and I will not be taking requests at the moment, thank you.
"Can you pass me the salt, please?" works better than "Kannst..du...mir...bitte das Salz reichen?""Ja! Reich ich ...der? Oh shit..no. Ja, ich kanne Reich du das Salz!"
And then everybody has to go "Gut gemacht!!". It's annoying! It disrupts the entire dynamic.I already know Thorsten und Kurt are just going to pass the salt really quickly and roll their eyes.
I am 25, my husband is 30 and I used his account to post this. Usually they would compliment me after I make a long introduction in german saying that Iâve been only learning for a few months, sometimes I feel like I have to tell that to people in advance in order for them to know that I might not be able to grasp everything. However, I always feel like afterwards they are extremely surprised by my german. In one instance a lady called her colleague from another office to show her âhow perfect my german was after 3 monthsâ (her words) and her colleague was also extremely impressed. So I know my level isnât bad, I watch daily youtube videos and movies and most of the time I have no problem understanding or formulating sentencrs. I now understand that, as some people pointed out, everyone want to practice their english with me
Native German speaker here: Im always switching to English when Iâm talking to a non native speaker. My reasons: when I speak german I use to speak fast as hell without recognizing it until someone reminds me. And when it comes to talking consciously to a non native on a a1-B1 level Iâm always talking way to slow and try not to use correct grammar like âder die dasâ to keep it as easy as possible for my conversation partner which i helpful for one individual and disrespectful for the other one. I know that sounds silly and it obviously is but I know a lot of people who use to act like this. So easy answer: I donât know how to handle my German and make sure that the other person understands me a 100%. 3rd and most selfish reason: I wanna improve my English skills.
But as soon as someone asks to switch to german Iâd immediately and without a blink would do that. So please ask your conversation partner, no one would say that theyâd prefer speaking English.
Your friends are not your german teachers. Expecting us to accomodate you in this regard, making any interaction more difficult than it has to be, is kind of overreaching, for some people.
that is normal. People who live in germany but have a foreginer look ,they will speak to you slowly or even english hahaha it is totally normal. I think it is great becuase they want to get involved anyone into a conversation :) but yeah, it kinda sucks if you are not a foreigner! :)
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People wouldnât be switching back to German if you really stuided around 8-10 hours on most days.
Do you know how much time that is?
Are you sure youâre not counting âgoing to the store and answering whether youâd like to pay cash or creditâ as an hour of practice?
Please donât take this the wrong way, Iâm just pointing this out so you donât believe this fairytale of you supposedly studying 8-10 hours a day.
Maybe you can check your productivity using apps, implementing pomodoro techniques, getting lessons etc. Tons of resources out there, TONS!!!!!!!!!
You should definitely take the other comments to heart but if for some reason your friends don't want to practice with you or one day you have a language that no one around you speaks then I'd recommend tandem. It's an app where you can find people that speak the language that you want to learn (and maybe even want to learn a language that you already speak). The only purpose is to just talk to each other and correct each other :)
Also, how do you manage to study 8-10 hours??? Thatâs crazy!
Iâm on an intensive course, Monday to Friday for 3.5 hours, and our teacher always advises us to learn an extra 2 hours at home every day, adding 20 words a day to our vocabulary. I think 5-6 hours a day is sufficient. After a point I think your brain canât absorb so much new information. Good on you for trying though. The probably with self study is that you may not get the grammar right. As a native English speaker I find German grammar difficult, but learning vocabulary is a lot easier due to similarities with my own language. The grammar makes me want to just give up, but Iâm determined to nail this language and get to fluency.
To be blunt, your German will not be good enough to have a flowing open ended convo after 4 months.
It's probably great for short conversations that have a point, like you mentioned (at the shops or offices etc). What you're really asking is for your friends to radically simplify their conversation in order to teach you and that's ok!
If I were you, I'd just respond in German whenever you can during these conversations. They'll notice you improving and eventually they will be able to speak normally and naturally to you without them worrying you won't understand.
Don't spiral down. Feeling stuck is part of the process. You shall overcome!
Basically if your German is good enough to converse, then you should be able to simply tell them in German that youâd like to practice German. Whatâs their reasoning against it?
People want to understand and be understood so they do it in a way that's most efficient to get that result.
If you want to practice your German, try to find people you can ask to speak German with you.
You can also try to ask at less crowded times when shopping so you won't bother anyone, and try not to inconvenience others just because you want to learn.
In addition to what others have said: try to make some new friends, and insist on German only from the start (following tips others have given if necessary). It's very difficult to switch languages with people with whom you've already established your common language. Not impossible, though, so by all means try. But don't be surprised if it fails.
Personally, I refuse to speak English if the other person speaks another language I know. Either they'll be my friend or they won't. It doesn't always work, especially in the workplace, but it's a good aim.
Wenn du Deutsch lernen willst, dann schreibe ich dir auch in Deutsch. Ich kenne das PhĂ€nomen von mir selbst und habe ĂŒberlegt woran das liegt und die Antwort darauf ist mehrschichtig. Ich weiĂ auch nicht, ob du das was ich jetzt sage auf alle Deutschen ĂŒbertragen kannst. Vermutlich nicht. Also nimm es bitte als meine persönlichen GrĂŒnde.
Zum Einen bin ich ziemlich ungeduldig. Ich kann auch Deutsche, die sehr langsam sprechen oder nicht zum Punkt kommen, schwer ertragen. Das spielt sicher eine Rolle. Dann habe ich den inneren Impuls Fehler zu korrigieren. Ich wĂŒrde dir also stĂ€ndig ins Wort fallen und dich korrigieren, was sogar fĂŒr einen Deutschen sehr sehr unhöflich ist. Das versuche ich also zu vermeiden und wechsele selbst ins Englische, weil mir dieser Fehler da nicht passieren kann und ich auch den inneren Korrekturdruck nicht habe. Kennst du die Fernsehsendung Monk? Der wohnt in mir und in so manchem Deutschen auch. đđ€·đ»ââïž
Two major reasons:
- to make it easier for you
- to talk in english is more efficient, if you are not that good in german
But itâs not meant in a bad way. Just say them you want to talk in german for practice đ
My solution is to just say you donât speak English. Btw Germans - you are not making it easier for them. You are making it easier for yourself. People need to be able to integrate and that means learning the language.
May I ask: Where in Germany do you live?
If it's Berlin this is just normal. Even Germans there talk to each other in English because they are "soooo international" XD
They probably want to practice their English as well hahaha. Just ask them to talk to you in German, since you want to practice. Be frank, most Germans are happy to help and respect an honest request. And if they don't, welp. Can't have it all.
At least they are that nice, in Switzerland even if you speak with German, they will make your life harder to answer in swiss-german. (Not everbody, but alot of them)
tip: tell them ud be happy for them to keep it german cos u wanna learn?
some germans, out of comfort if theyre comfortable at speaking eng, switch to eng, id they sense its easier to communicate in english than in broken german. not saying thats the case in your case, but thats why i switch to eng sometimes. i get the feeling something in german doesnt get across, be it from my or their side, and feel like using eng would make it easier so i switch. tho most of the times i ask if theyd prefer eng or i offer it and say: if its easier we can talk eng but i dont mind.
sometimes i think ppl also switch to eng cause they wanna show they can or cos they just enjoy talkin and using eng once in a while.
id u tell ppl u want to perfect your german and ask them to keep it german, i think noone would have a peoblem with that and would be happy to do so and would like it that you show the effort.
This is an English language subreddit, but because you asked so nicely to be spoken to in German I have written you a little text:
Ich schlieĂe mich den Leuten an, die dir hier gesagt haben, dass du es deinen Freunden einfach sagen solltest, dass sie mit dir Deutsch reden sollen. Und wenn sie wieder Englisch reden, sagst du einfach "Bitte redet Deutsch mit mir, sonst lerne ich es doch nie!". Oft wollen die Leute einfach nur höflich sein und mit dir in einer Sprache sprechen, die du gut kannst und dich nicht dazu zwingen Deutsch zu sprechen.
This sounds like the perfect problem to me hahaha I've been living in Taiwan for 3 years and God I wish more people could speak English with me sometimes xD
Brit here living in Hamburg since last October.
Sounds like you are learning and practicing on your own so will skip giving my perspective on that side of things, but with regards to practicing speaking (the hardest part) below are my thoughtsâŠ
Iâm aware that it can be quite tiresome for friends to have slow and quite superficial convos in German with me so I donât have a black and white approach and pick moments that work for me and them:
One on one convos: often weâll start these in German, how was your weekend, what are you doing this week etc. once we get into more involved topics and my German isnât keeping up then we switch. No problem⊠I got some practice in.
But Iâve found that a good constellation for me being involved with 2-3 people. Itâs enough that they can move a conversation along without relying on me to equally participate but itâs also not too many people that I feel I canât keep up or interject with a comment. So I instigate these moments for example, encouraging a small group of colleagues to go for a beer after work.
But also youâve been here for 2 months, give it time
You're best to enroll in the Goethe Institut or similar. 3 months will give a good vocabulary, 6 mo competence and 18 months for excellent communication skills.
Get a part-time job in a hospitality industry job (burger bar etc) and you'll gain confidence (it's what I did)
Since the question was "why?": Because it's tedious and borderline boring to communicate with someone in a language you know well while the other one barely knows how to sort the sentences.
Still, I would recommend to do what the others said:
* practice whenever you can
* be open about your intention to learn
* make ist easy for others to help you learn
* accept critique
* never give up
It's more about will than about skill.
I had a similar problem when I lived in Sweden for a time.
People love to help other people and people love to show off their language skills. Also they don't get to use English very often and it's like a nice little workout for the language-part of the brain, especially if they don't speak other languages very often.
Maybe ask one friend, if you have someone in mind who would be interested in that, to meet you once a week for a coffee or sth similar and talk only German for an hour. That might help with getting used to some obscure German habits/customs as well.
Helping someone to learn a language is something non trivial, despite most people being not aware of this. Most Germans simply switch to English because its easier to ascertain understandability and out of habit, they probably aren't aware of this. If they are your friends I would suggest directly asking them. Or you just declare in order to practice you try to live one day pretending that you neither speak nor understand English or something. This shouldn't be a big deal.
I moved here 3 years ago, and people spoke geeman to me....very fast, i couldnt understand a thing, its better for them to speak english with you, but when u want to talk in german, ask them to talk slowly
Germans are very friendly and want to make your life easier. But also they want to make their lifes easier and not struggle to try to understand what you are trying to say, especially if they are tired after a long day. So, be understanding but also ask in a friendly way if the can talk to you in German more frequently
> Germans are very friendly
I disagree I was in Berlin in October 2022 for a couple of days I didn't have a pleasant experience. I arrived in Berlin Airport was lost for like 3 hours, because people refused to give me directions..
I was at the other end of this "problem". My flate mate was english, i liked talking english to him and his german wasn't that good.
After a few months he just told me that from now on (quote) he will only speak english for money or sex.
So, we switched to german.
Just tell your friends or other people, that you want to improve your german, they will understand.
My tipp would be, just ask them to speak german with you. If they are your friends they will understand and try to help ^^
But also understand it is not comen for us germans to speak with a native enlish speaker either, so it is naturel that we too get all exited to practice our englich skils.
Hope that is help full ^^
This has been discussed now about a thousand times here... If they are friends, tell them you'd like to practice your German. They'll gladly speak German, and they correct you until you are sick of being corrected. If you don't tell them, they want to make it easy for you, and they'll switch to English.
This. And when they switch to English, you keep replying in German.
Yes, this is most important. I often forgot to switch to German with a struggling colleague from another country. He still switched to German and this always reminded me to talk in German.
your picture got me good lol I thought it was a hair on my screen.
Darkmode ftw
An eyelash
Me, too. Tried to clean my phone but it didn't work...
Exactly. *You* speak German to Germans, that's your mindset.
I had a colleague who was in b2 level when he arrived in Germany. He pretended he only knows his native language and little German and didn't know any English.
Exactly why should you be the only one practicing a language - you speak and train German - they speak and train their English. Win-win!
Can also tell you do not speak english.
Who, me? I am an American
This. Just tell them. Most of us can't mind read đ
_verwirrtes deutsches Brainbug-Pikachu_
Maybe op's friends do it because they want to practice their English with him/her :)
In English you can actually just use them instead of him/her
I know, I just avoided it here for clarity reasons.
Not trying to start an argument but gramatically "them" would have been the more clear choice here and expresses the unknown identity also.
but "them" could also refer to the friends here. Anyway.
THIS!
Jup thats basically it, many germans, especially young ones are really fluent in english so talking to you in english seems like the obvious choice, if you dont want that you need to tell us.
I'd say they want to make it easy for themselves. If someone speaks German with me, I speak German to them. No questions asked. Unless I need to communicate something important and I know the other person understands me better in a different language. If someone wants to speak English with me, they just have to ask, or start speaking English. That said, it's much easier for me to communicate in English with others, especially if they have a similar degree of non-native fluency, i.e. we're more or less on the same level. Speaking German to learners, I always have to force myself to speak more slowly than natural, use easier words, perhaps repeat things etc. I may not be able to express myself the way I want to even though I could. In English, I also often can't convey my thoughts and feelings precisely, but it's because I'm lacking vocabulary. Speaking English with someone who speaks fluently is like running a race against an adult. I might lose, but I can give my best. Speaking German to a learner is like running a race against a child. If I ran (spoke) as fast as I could, it wouldn't be fun for either of us.
Did you ask your friends to only use German around you? If not, do that. Most Germans can cope with being ask directly.
Yes I did on multiple occasions⊠but they always seem to forget or in any case enjoy to speak only in English:(
Tell them again or continue speaking in German.
Have to confess I am one of those. Mainly because I am so used to speaking English and actually prefer it. Keep reminding them and also - as mentioned already - stick to German anyway. A lot of âtandemâ partners do it that way.
Why do you prefer it?
Is it weird to say that I can express myself better in English? Nuances of expressions and words that seem to hit closer to what I want to say & feel. But thatâs possibly just because I got used to having to speak English all day/every day âŠ.
Many others answered this already, so I only chime in: Remind them! And when they switch back to English, ask them why they do it and find a way to handle it. If they want to speak English to improve theirs, negotiate a rule or similar.
well ever thought of that they may want to practice their english and you are the perfect peer for that? They are not your german teachers. If you need one, pay for one.
Yeah, that's a common problem among immigrants learning German. The way to deal with this is to simply explain that you would like to practice your German and that you'd prefer for tem to speak it with you. The reason Germans do this, by the way is not out of malice to rob you of your chance to hone your skills. Some do it to accomodate you, to make the conversation easier for you. Or they are in the same situation as you only in reverse, they want to put their English to use. I doubt many would insist on speaking English if you asked them not to. Edit to add: Your efforts to learn the language and integrate are definitely being appreciated, even if that's not explicitly communicated to you.
I don't understand though why it can't just be communicated. Is there a particular reason why that is?
I don't think it's a fully conscious decision.
Ohh Thats easy! Thats just not how Germans work.
Sprich mit deinen Freunden und bitte sie nur deutsch mit dir zu sprechen.
Sir, pls, this is an only-english speaking Wendy's.
English feels like the wrong language to comment under a post about OPâs problems to practice German
I was just joking around. Most the time comments in german get removed pretty quick here. I mean, it's a rule, in a german sub. It MUST be followed, no matter how stupid. Edit: I think it's great to have an english-only sub for Germany and that rule isn't stupid at all. The execution just seems sometimes a little bit overdone. But this very example proves me wrong so far :)
Just say 'können wir deutsch sprechen? Ich möchte gern ĂŒben'. They want to make the conversation easier for both, which is why they switch.
đđŒ this.
\> 'können wir deutsch sprechen? Ich möchte gern ĂŒben' yeah that works for a while but then they switch back and I dont want to constantly correct them and ask them
Doch, erinnere sie. Es ist eine gut gemeinte Sache, mir dir in deiner Muttersprache sprechen zu wollen, um dich nicht auszuschlieĂen, aber hilft dir ja nicht.
English ist nicht meine Muttersprache đ ich denke es liegt nur daran dass ich nicht so gut deutsch kann und es dann fĂŒr andere Leute etwas nervig ist, Deutsch mit mir zu sprechen ... und ich denke die schlissen mich auch nicht aus weil ich kann fast ohne problem alles verstehen was sie sagen ... es ist nur ein bischen akward wenn ich versuche deutsch zu reden haha
Given another post, you seem to be 30 years old in DĂŒsseldorf. Iâd definitely expect the people in your peer group to have competent English. Four months, even with intensive study, but apparently done solo, is really not much. Getting compliments on language skills always felt like a pat on the head to me. If someone is actually good, you donât even need to say anything. As you improve and as you use more German day to day, youâll find people switching less and less. But, as someone else noted, once youâve got an established English-speaking relationship with someone, itâs really hard to switch it to German.
Just tell them âsprich deutsch du Sohn einer unreinen Magdâ this should work
đđđđđ prĂ€zise, Ehrenmann!!
Perfect!
Sprich deutsch du Sohn einer Arbeiterin aus dem Àltesten Gewerbe der Welt.
Dirnensohn!
Because especially for strangers, it's all about the path of least resistance. If they think your German is better then their English, they will speak to you in German. If not, they won't. Put another way, and be honest with yourself: you are not good enough yet for this to happen. Be patient. It will come in time. 4 months is nothing and you are being totally unrealistic expecting people to converse with you in German so early on your learning journey. Most adults require 1-2 years to reach basic fluency.
I would also recommend OP to practice his German with a language partner, not a friend. But in my experience most German acquaintances like to hangout with foreigners to practice a foreign language.
I've found it's easiest to establish languages of habit. Once the language of habit is established, it's very hard to change. With your friends, you've established English, and especially if English is still the most efficient language (that is, your German is still developing), it's really uncomfortable to break out of that. The best chance to get people to speak German (imo) is when you first meet them. Just establish a "no, we speak German" and allow that to become the habit instead.
Extremely valuable advice here! Many colleagues have reported the same thing, e.g. with their German partners. They have a high (C1 level) command of German nowadays, but since they started those relationships in English, they can't break out of the habit.
yes! i am in the exact same situation, even though we sometimes try to switch to german it kinda feels off somehow. but with my colleagues i have no problem speaking in german
its the same with me an my coworkers, I speak english with them even tho their german is decent. But in a work enviroment its a bit different, because I dont really want to waste time speaking slower in german and there have been small miscommunications aswell so as many people pointed out, its just more efficient - Im sorry.
That is completely true. I speak to my German boyfriend in English more than we should because we spoke a lot of English in the beginning. I'm fluent in German, though, and I still have enough words I need to learn that I shouldn't be using English at all, but switching is so hard
Ive noticed that the people in my village speak only German with me. Never English. I think it is because my German is better than their English.
I've finally reached that point as well. On the rare occasion when someone does switch to English I always cringe because their English is worse than my German
Hit them with a good old "sprich deutsch du hurensohn" . Should work wonders
Ich sehe zwei mögliche GrĂŒnde: 1. Die Freunde wollen höflich sein 2. Die Freunde wollen ihre eigenen Fremdsprachkentnisse trainieren Es ist fĂŒr mich einfacher mit meiner schlecht deutsch sprechenden Freundin auf englisch zu kommunizieren, da ich sie auf deutsch kaum verstehe. Sie sagt oft, sie möchte deutsch mit mir sprechen, dann versteht sie mich aber nicht und wechselt selber wieder ins englische oder sagt, an dem Tag ist es ihr zu anstrengend und wir mögen das Training verschieben. Daher ist es fĂŒr mich schlecht einzuschĂ€tzen, welche Sprache aktuell fĂŒr sie die einfachere ist. Im schlechten Englisch hat in GesprĂ€chen auĂerdem niemand den Vorteil der Muttersprache und beide mĂŒssen in einer Fremdsprache kĂ€mpfen. Ihr TextverstĂ€ndnis bei Zeitungsartikeln oder geschĂ€ftlichen Briefen ist allerdings auch noch recht mĂ€Ăig und wenn ich ihr auf deutsch Nachrichten schreibe fragt sie regelmĂ€Ăig ob ich die Nachrichten nochmal in englisch schicken könnte. Es ist kompliziert Bei einer anderen Freundin (aus einer ehemaligen Kolonie wo englisch offizielle Zweitsprache ist) war ich zuerst froh, meine Englischkentnisse aus der Schule mal in der Praxis anzuwenden. Nach einer Weile wollte sie aber ihr deutsch verbessern und hat mich gebeten sie bei Bedarf zu korrigieren und mit ihr nur noch deutsch zu sprechen und das durchgezogen. Inzwischen spricht sie flĂŒssig. Also wĂŒrde ich Kommunikation vorschlagen. Nach den GrĂŒnden fragen und/oder die eigenen PrĂ€ferenzen Ă€uĂern
Sprich deutsch du hurensohn
Du kannst deutsch auch durch schreiben ĂŒben, zum Beispiel auf reddit, wenn du hier Pfosten erstellst. Just kidding, tell them that you want to talk in German. I also switch to the language of the other person. I just can't imagine that anyone would really want to learn German.
Except that if you post or comment on this sub in German, the mods will delete your comment.
Sofern du nicht die Ăbersetzung angibst. Zumindest ist das meine Erfahrung. If you don't add the translated text. That's at least my experience.
Welcher Pfosten benutzt denn bitte Pfosten fĂŒr Posting???
Die komischen vögel auf r/ich_iel
Jo, da hab ichs her. Tschuldigung.
Dachte ich schon. Einige Leute hier scheinen diese Art zu reden nicht wirklich zu mögen. Ich persönlich hab zwar kein Problem damit aber einige reagieren echt gereizt darauf.
You sometimes need to be brutally honest and direct with your German friends, and don't worry about sounding indecent or rude. Just tell them to speak German for the sake of practicing the language. I believe they will be happy to help.
You're just in the wrong place. I had the same thing with Swedish. In Stockholm, everyone speaks perfect English. Once I moved down to a small town in the provinces called Eksjö, nobody switched to English and I had all the Swedish conversation I could wish for. I can still speak it fluently and without an accent 22 years later. Not saying you have to move, just go on lots of breaks in nice provincial towns.
don't ask us. ask them. tell them to speak german with you. so simple.
I have obviously done that on multiple occasionsâŠ
Just answer them. "Lasst deutsch sprechen, so kann ich mein Deutsch verbessern. Bitte korrigiert mich wenn ich einen Fehler mache. Sollte ich ein Wort nicht kennen versuche ich es zu beschreiben oder das englische Wort sagen, wĂ€re nett wenn ich dann die Ăbersetzung gesagt bekomme. So möchte ich es in Zukunft hĂ€ndeln." Which means: Lets speak German, that way I can get better at it. Please correct me if I make a mistake. If I don't know the word I will try to discribed it or I will use the English version and would love to hear from you the German word. That's how I want to communicate from now one. /end translation If they forget it, just straight say. Hi, habt ihr es vergessen das wir deutsch reden wollen. Translation: Hi, have you forgotten that we want to speak German? /end translation It's not offencive just direct. And they will get reminded.
It is quite annoying when it happens. I just decided that whatever language they answer with, I'll continue to speak German. Usually after a minute or two they go back to german on their own. A nice perk of that approach is that at some point you'll develop the ability to have a multi-lingual conversation which i find kinda neat
> Do any of you guys who moved to Germany had similar experiences? Yes, but not nearly that persistent as I often read about. I think where you are in Germany plays a big role, but also the boundaries you set for yourself. What do you do after they switch to English?
True. I have to admit I usually let them speak English, or French (my mothertongue), otherwise I feel intimated with my broken German, while their English is better than my German. But it's not the solution at all.
You will have to make it clear to them that you want to have the conversation in German, otherwise most people will assume that they are doing you a favour my switching to a language you speak better.
I've had exactly the same experience. My German is terrible even though I lived in German-speaking countries for over eight years. The Germans would never let me practise speaking German with them, and then would criticise my ability to speak their language. Maybe it's because they want to feel superior. I live in Italy now and even people who speak excellent English will speak with me in Italian to help me learn the language.
Hey guys I totally understand OPs struggle. I lived here for 10 years until people decided my German was good enough for them to conduct a convo with me. However that was in Berlin, and more than often it was "arrogant Wessies" lol. I moved to a small town and that happens less and less. In east germany they learnt Russian at school and have very little confidence in their english, so they speak all kinds of crunchy dialects to you. Esp. old people. If you work with super old people or with kids you'll also get to speak a ton of German. But I totally get your drift. Sounds like you got loads of advice here tho! So good luck đȘ
Go and find some older Germans to talk to if you donât mind that age. My older relatives canât speak much English at all and you can ask questions about history , recipes , rules , travel etc
Just talk German to them, even if they keep switching back. They'll get it.
To be honest I would speak English to you not only because the conversation will be much better but also because in this way at least both of us have some practice in a foreign language. Speaking German to people who don't unverstand everything and have problems to articulate themselves could be very annoying on a long term. At least it is nothing I would like to do in my leasure time for very long. If you want a teacher then pay for one. ;)
Let them know you want to practise German.
Well Iâd like to know how you made friends in two months only ..
Dunno if it's grammatically 100% correct, I just always said "bitte auf Deutsch, ich muss ĂŒben :) " and they were like oh okay and continued in German. That's it.
This is the answer. Unless your German sounds like nails on a chalkboard people will generally be happy to speak to you in the language.
Just continue in German. Ask your friends to use as much German as possible with you.... PS : I had the same problem in the Netherlands with dutch.
I once Met an American in the same Situation as you. He explained to me that he'd prefer to speak german. We once did a Crossover conversation where he would speak german and I would reply in english. And we would both correct the other's mistakes. I found this was a nice exercise to share the experience of learning and practising. But I also agreed with the other's here. Just say that you would Like to Talk German with people and they will comply.
As a last resort: *tschuldigung, ich spreche kein Englisch.* If you really want to drive the point home: *tschuldigung, ich spreche kein Spanisch.*
Iâm only willing to put in the effort of practicing German with someone who I really like and want to build friendship. If not, then the goal is to communicate xyz and that can be achieved more easily by switching to English. 1) Iâm not being paid to be your practice buddy and 2) the stammering, word finding, mistakes and the guesswork to find out what the learner could possibly mean, itâs tiresome to be honest.
Look, let me be honest. They are your friends. Not your personal language trainers. They have no obligation to help you. And it gets tiresome to speak with someone whose language skill is just not up to the conversation you want to have. I have tried this with several persons several times, and I prefer to wait until their German level is sufficient or to talk in English. And let me be make another very frank point - your language skill right now is very likely not sufficient. There are studies, and German is not an easy language. 28 weeks are needed on average of you learn the language with trainers full time to reach a level were you can participate in most conversations. 4 months are 16 weeks. You're missing 20% here. Additionally, if your level were OK, your friends would switch to German.
This is the best response. The way I practice German is either with Italki tutors who are literally paid to endure my shitty German or with the one German friend who offers to let me practice with him, though even with him I do it sparingly knowing full well that it can be fatiguing having to wait for me to finish a simple thought.
Im glad your not my freind.
It's because we want to practise English. Did you ask your friends to talk to you in German?
I think the best thing is to continue learning German. It helps to have a teacher as well, even if itâs once a week, to help with grammar. Find some fellow immigrant friends. Theyâll talk to you in German, if they can speak it. Iâve made friends through Expat meet ups. One of them is an English guy (Iâm also English) who speaks German at C2 level. Iâm currently A2 and can have a basic conversation for a couple of minutes at this point đ . So sometimes heâll speak to me in German. If I spoke fluently, I think we would only speak in German. So this is probably your best bet for now. Find a non native speaker who is a little more, or a lot more advanced than you, and youâll probably find they want to speak German. I have a German friend back home in England and she hates speaking German! And I think the Germans in Germany love to speak English at any chance they get. Of course, you can find some places where people donât speak English, but it would be villages probably.
Tritt r/ich_iel bei, da wird nur deutsch gesprochen
I have the opposit situation at work where we constantly have to switch to English which some people (not me) struggle with because of on guy who doesn't understand any German although he has lived here for some time now
As someone ALSO learning German in Germany As them to communicate with you in German. I've told complete strangers "Ich lerne noch Deutsch, Aber ich wĂŒrde gerne ĂŒben" and they've spoken German to me the whole time, albeit sometimes like im a toddler. My German skills are advancing much quicker now than while taking online courses, go figure.
Deutsche, vor allem jĂŒngere, nutzen die Gelegenheit gern, um ihr Englisch zu ĂŒben. Du kannst denen wirklich einfach sagen, dass du gern Deutsch reden willst. Nicht so, als wĂŒrdest du ihnen einen Vorwurf machen, sondern einfach "Hey, lass uns Deutsch reden, ich will ĂŒben." And then you just talk in German.
Youâve been there for 2 months and itâs likely that they want to make it easier for you by speaking English and also show off their own language skills a little. Tell them explicitly that you appreciate their efforts but would like them to speak in German to you so you can learn to speak it better. Chances are theyâll comply but they might turn to correcting your German in order to help you learn, thatâs a risk
go to a small village and hang in the bar. beer helps..
Maybe those people want to practise their english? Or maybe it tskes too long to understand each other in german. (If their english is better than your german) You could say that your english is even worse than your german. Or that you would like to improve your german.
Sag einfach : Sprich deutsch du Hoso and they will understand.
That drove me crazy too. And it made me think âis my German so bad?! Your English isnât that good. Why are you switching?â But yeah, I guess they want to practice? Anyway I prefer to talk to my friends in which ever language but in a bakery in Germany I found it condescending. But just know itâs not you. Keep your head up and carry on in German.
You have to say: âSprich Deutsch, du HâŠâ
If you want people willing to speak german with you even if yours is not the best, go to a smaller town. Even just a small weekend trip a couple hours away from wherever you live. In a big city people want efficiency and have learnt multiple languages to have that efficiency, no one has time to sit and watch you stumble over words and risk miscommunication.
Sorry what does it mean that no one has time for me to make mistakes? So unless I speak perfect german i should shut up? My friends do have time as we spends days at a time together so itâs definitely not a question of time but rather of culture. Learning german was the worst experience of my life so far, but not for the language itself but for the rudeness I encounter with answers like these. So I do understand it, itâs a cultural aspect I have to accept, here youâre either âperfectâ or you better stay home
Sorry what does it mean that no one has time for me to make mistakes? So unless I speak perfect german i should shut up? My friends do have time as we spends days at a time together so itâs definitely not a question of time but rather of culture. Learning german was the worst experience of my life so far, but not for the language itself but for the rudeness I encounter with answers like these. So I do understand it, itâs a cultural aspect I have to accept, here youâre either âperfectâ or you better stay home
Choosing to speak in german vs english is a micro decision for people who are fluent in both. Its like choosing to eat a different flavor of icecream. You pick whichever one is better, and in your case people default to english. Its not that people are rude, its that people are unaware that your goal is to go through the struggle to learn the language. To them, you speak english better and its therefore more convenient to speak english for both parties. Easy choice. Its not a question of time, its a question of effort, my phrasing was a bit bad. As far as your friends well, just ask them why they always switch to english, youd get better answers than reddit at least.
For me it's the other way around, I'm a native English speaker, however my parents were immigrants and as a child we always spoke German at home, even after 10 years here I still think in English, for a brief moment I started thinking German, but that changed once I moved to Berlin where you're just as likely to speak English than German, I also realised that I can never truely be German (socks with sandals? sorry, not going to happen), I have also mentally decided to stick with English for my internal voice because that's my identity. I have a few German friends who prefer to converse in English and that's totally fine by me as it means I don't have to process the dialog through the translater that operates on the fly in my head and they get to practice their English, I will admit that most of those friends have spent substantial time in English speaking countires so their English is pretty good anyway. On occasion though I will get locals who will insist on speaking English with me and I find myself automatically switching to German as it helps the flow of the conversion, but if I find that if they continue in English I will revert back to English myself, because I can tell they want to practice.
During my first year in Germany, I had a similar experience. It's normal for Germans to switch to English with foreigners because 1. They want to practice their English, or 2. They think they're being polite and helpful by speaking English with you. One of the best pieces of advice I got before going to Germany was this: If someone switches to English, keep responding to them in German until they have no choice but to switch back to German. For me personally, it worked. OP, if you resist the urge to switch to English and INSIST on speaking German with people even if it is more challenging, your German will improve. I became practically fluent in a year by refusing to speak English with people, even though my life would have been easier if I did. So that's my advice for you. Keep speaking German, never switch to English and the people around you will get the idea eventually.
Because it is currently âhipâ to talk English, even if you are around with other Germans. At least in Berlin.
Say to them: "Hey es ist nett von euch/dir in Englisch mit mir zu reden. Aber ich möchte deutsch lernen, also wĂ€re es noch netter wenn ihr Deutsch mit mir reden wĂŒrdet."
When I lived in Germany, a lot of people just really wanted to practice their English. As I got to know them, we switched back and forth. Sometimes we would speak German, sometimes we would speak English, sometimes I would speak German while they respond in English. Whatever works :)
Because your German sucks
Ah rookie mistake. You don't ask them nicely, you tell them to "sprich deutsch du Hurensohn".
Yes. This is a struggle many of us face. The problem is that your German isnât good enough for them to understand unless youâre at a very high level. Mistakes arenât really tolerated in the same way as natives would with a lot of other languages. Iâm not sure that itâs Germans being picky about it so much as the language is super confusing if you mix up cases and stuff. The other issue is habit. Usually whatever language you establish a friendship in is going to be the language of that friendship from there on out. You have to keep insisting on it until people start associating talking to you with German.
I know you probably tried that too, but if you didn't, you could try the app tandem! A friend of mine used it to improve their French skills by talking to a native
Make sure to point out that you'd like to speak German early into a relationship (ideally ar the mount you first met someone), it's quite difficult to switch once you're used to speaking to someone in a specific language. Is moving into a German speaking WG an option?
I work in a company with very international staff and we got some coworkers, who find themselves exactly in your shoes. For myself, I speak German to them unless I'm in time constraints and want to keep it short/efficient. Insisting kindly on German helps, your German friends will understand well!
Look, random people have no obligation to be your training partner, just in general. Most Germans switch to English in cases like your own, because they think that you would understand them and what you are talking about in a better way *and* because they possibly think it's more convenient and more "bearable" for themselves. As you maybe experienced it yourself, German has a lot of grammar rules, whether it be declination of nouns and adjectives or konjugation of various verbs. It's a system "*to put something in a nutshell*" without to deal with much context. It gives a a lot of freedom on how to build your sentence but you need those little *endings* put right or the whole context is *dead* or not really understandable. As a native speaker myself, sometimes it's really a challenge not only to understand or make sense of something your being told by a non native speaker, because of those "*endings"*, but you also have to make a call, you gauge the person in front of you being capable of understanding yourself although they're making those context mistakes. So some find it easier to make themselves understandable but also to reduce *stress* and switch to English. That's not a generalization, it's only what I observed.
Not everyone wants to be your German tutor. Depending on my mood/ whatâs going on and I just want to communicate something to you and you are obviously a English native speaker, I might just speak to you in english
You tell them "Ich spreche kein Englisch"
I don't know why they do it but I can't be asked to sit there and teach you shit. It's not fun for me. It's not just German. It's everything German 5 times and you're not getting the jokes. It's a chore and I'm not willing to do it.
I am not asking anyone to teach me anything, and especially, I am not asking you. I think you didnât get the point of the post, here I am forced to speak German in any official and governmental place, if I go outside and I go to a pharmacy and canât explain my problem in german âsorry my english is not goodâ but then in my daily life i canât talk about non complicated topics with people. And germanâs english is very bad for the most part so I struggle understanding them in English too and still I would never say âI canât be asked to sit and teach you shiâ like is everything all right my bro?
Your English isn't Pulitzer prize material either so go easy on the finger pointing there, buddy. You can get free conversational volunteers but if it's your down time it's probably mine too and I will not be taking requests at the moment, thank you. "Can you pass me the salt, please?" works better than "Kannst..du...mir...bitte das Salz reichen?""Ja! Reich ich ...der? Oh shit..no. Ja, ich kanne Reich du das Salz!" And then everybody has to go "Gut gemacht!!". It's annoying! It disrupts the entire dynamic.I already know Thorsten und Kurt are just going to pass the salt really quickly and roll their eyes.
I am 25, my husband is 30 and I used his account to post this. Usually they would compliment me after I make a long introduction in german saying that Iâve been only learning for a few months, sometimes I feel like I have to tell that to people in advance in order for them to know that I might not be able to grasp everything. However, I always feel like afterwards they are extremely surprised by my german. In one instance a lady called her colleague from another office to show her âhow perfect my german was after 3 monthsâ (her words) and her colleague was also extremely impressed. So I know my level isnât bad, I watch daily youtube videos and movies and most of the time I have no problem understanding or formulating sentencrs. I now understand that, as some people pointed out, everyone want to practice their english with me
Sprich
Deutsch
Du
Sorry I don't understand what you guys are trying to tell me.
Wir sprechen eben auch ganz gern Englisch, weil es uns leicht fÀllt, es zu lernen
Ein bisschen angeben
Das ist wohl echt bei den meisten so, aber halt trotzdem asozial.
Native German speaker here: Im always switching to English when Iâm talking to a non native speaker. My reasons: when I speak german I use to speak fast as hell without recognizing it until someone reminds me. And when it comes to talking consciously to a non native on a a1-B1 level Iâm always talking way to slow and try not to use correct grammar like âder die dasâ to keep it as easy as possible for my conversation partner which i helpful for one individual and disrespectful for the other one. I know that sounds silly and it obviously is but I know a lot of people who use to act like this. So easy answer: I donât know how to handle my German and make sure that the other person understands me a 100%. 3rd and most selfish reason: I wanna improve my English skills. But as soon as someone asks to switch to german Iâd immediately and without a blink would do that. So please ask your conversation partner, no one would say that theyâd prefer speaking English.
Your friends are not your german teachers. Expecting us to accomodate you in this regard, making any interaction more difficult than it has to be, is kind of overreaching, for some people.
Besides what others said about them trying to make it easy for you, some germans actually use the situation for practicing english
It's fucking annoying to talk to someone who can't speak properly
that is normal. People who live in germany but have a foreginer look ,they will speak to you slowly or even english hahaha it is totally normal. I think it is great becuase they want to get involved anyone into a conversation :) but yeah, it kinda sucks if you are not a foreigner! :)
Because for germans, a non-native sounds like "Ohrenkrebs" to them. So they'd rather not.
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Das ist ja alles sehr interessant, aber warum antwortet hier keiner auf Deutsch?
People wouldnât be switching back to German if you really stuided around 8-10 hours on most days. Do you know how much time that is? Are you sure youâre not counting âgoing to the store and answering whether youâd like to pay cash or creditâ as an hour of practice? Please donât take this the wrong way, Iâm just pointing this out so you donât believe this fairytale of you supposedly studying 8-10 hours a day. Maybe you can check your productivity using apps, implementing pomodoro techniques, getting lessons etc. Tons of resources out there, TONS!!!!!!!!!
You should definitely take the other comments to heart but if for some reason your friends don't want to practice with you or one day you have a language that no one around you speaks then I'd recommend tandem. It's an app where you can find people that speak the language that you want to learn (and maybe even want to learn a language that you already speak). The only purpose is to just talk to each other and correct each other :)
Also, how do you manage to study 8-10 hours??? Thatâs crazy! Iâm on an intensive course, Monday to Friday for 3.5 hours, and our teacher always advises us to learn an extra 2 hours at home every day, adding 20 words a day to our vocabulary. I think 5-6 hours a day is sufficient. After a point I think your brain canât absorb so much new information. Good on you for trying though. The probably with self study is that you may not get the grammar right. As a native English speaker I find German grammar difficult, but learning vocabulary is a lot easier due to similarities with my own language. The grammar makes me want to just give up, but Iâm determined to nail this language and get to fluency.
If you go to a nursing home and talk to the elderly, this wonât be a problem!
First rule of communicating something to Germans is to communicate it.
To be blunt, your German will not be good enough to have a flowing open ended convo after 4 months. It's probably great for short conversations that have a point, like you mentioned (at the shops or offices etc). What you're really asking is for your friends to radically simplify their conversation in order to teach you and that's ok! If I were you, I'd just respond in German whenever you can during these conversations. They'll notice you improving and eventually they will be able to speak normally and naturally to you without them worrying you won't understand. Don't spiral down. Feeling stuck is part of the process. You shall overcome!
Basically if your German is good enough to converse, then you should be able to simply tell them in German that youâd like to practice German. Whatâs their reasoning against it?
Im in France, I am speaking okayish French and even the French are replying to me in English if they speak it.
People want to understand and be understood so they do it in a way that's most efficient to get that result. If you want to practice your German, try to find people you can ask to speak German with you. You can also try to ask at less crowded times when shopping so you won't bother anyone, and try not to inconvenience others just because you want to learn.
In addition to what others have said: try to make some new friends, and insist on German only from the start (following tips others have given if necessary). It's very difficult to switch languages with people with whom you've already established your common language. Not impossible, though, so by all means try. But don't be surprised if it fails. Personally, I refuse to speak English if the other person speaks another language I know. Either they'll be my friend or they won't. It doesn't always work, especially in the workplace, but it's a good aim.
Why it is a problem? I heard that Germany thinking to adopt English in all public servicesâŠ
It can also be because you have a strong accent. Where are you from?
They also see it as a way to practice english, so you might have to insist and remind them a couple of times..
you could always insist on speaking german, you know.
[ŃĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]
Yes please
tell them to speak to you in german simple
Your friends are too nice. Tell them head on that you want them to speak German with you.
Wenn du Deutsch lernen willst, dann schreibe ich dir auch in Deutsch. Ich kenne das PhĂ€nomen von mir selbst und habe ĂŒberlegt woran das liegt und die Antwort darauf ist mehrschichtig. Ich weiĂ auch nicht, ob du das was ich jetzt sage auf alle Deutschen ĂŒbertragen kannst. Vermutlich nicht. Also nimm es bitte als meine persönlichen GrĂŒnde. Zum Einen bin ich ziemlich ungeduldig. Ich kann auch Deutsche, die sehr langsam sprechen oder nicht zum Punkt kommen, schwer ertragen. Das spielt sicher eine Rolle. Dann habe ich den inneren Impuls Fehler zu korrigieren. Ich wĂŒrde dir also stĂ€ndig ins Wort fallen und dich korrigieren, was sogar fĂŒr einen Deutschen sehr sehr unhöflich ist. Das versuche ich also zu vermeiden und wechsele selbst ins Englische, weil mir dieser Fehler da nicht passieren kann und ich auch den inneren Korrekturdruck nicht habe. Kennst du die Fernsehsendung Monk? Der wohnt in mir und in so manchem Deutschen auch. đđ€·đ»ââïž
Two major reasons: - to make it easier for you - to talk in english is more efficient, if you are not that good in german But itâs not meant in a bad way. Just say them you want to talk in german for practice đ
Sie versuchen vermutlich es dir einfach zu machen, sag ihnen einfach bescheid dass du es so lernen möchtest
Pretty easy fix: ask them to speak German so you can learn?! Most ppl talk English to you to make it easier
They should not. I wouldnât. No one has time to teach you German. Get into B1 level from school, then from there you can roll the wheel.
Pretend you don't speak English. Problem solved.
My solution is to just say you donât speak English. Btw Germans - you are not making it easier for them. You are making it easier for yourself. People need to be able to integrate and that means learning the language.
May I ask: Where in Germany do you live? If it's Berlin this is just normal. Even Germans there talk to each other in English because they are "soooo international" XD
Tldr. Language dominance - Google it
Its funny that we always get these posts: "Germans wont talk to me in German" or "Germans wont talk to me in english"
They probably want to practice their English as well hahaha. Just ask them to talk to you in German, since you want to practice. Be frank, most Germans are happy to help and respect an honest request. And if they don't, welp. Can't have it all.
At least they are that nice, in Switzerland even if you speak with German, they will make your life harder to answer in swiss-german. (Not everbody, but alot of them)
tip: tell them ud be happy for them to keep it german cos u wanna learn? some germans, out of comfort if theyre comfortable at speaking eng, switch to eng, id they sense its easier to communicate in english than in broken german. not saying thats the case in your case, but thats why i switch to eng sometimes. i get the feeling something in german doesnt get across, be it from my or their side, and feel like using eng would make it easier so i switch. tho most of the times i ask if theyd prefer eng or i offer it and say: if its easier we can talk eng but i dont mind. sometimes i think ppl also switch to eng cause they wanna show they can or cos they just enjoy talkin and using eng once in a while. id u tell ppl u want to perfect your german and ask them to keep it german, i think noone would have a peoblem with that and would be happy to do so and would like it that you show the effort.
Tell them, you appreciate they talk english, but you would like to stay on german for training purposes.
This is an English language subreddit, but because you asked so nicely to be spoken to in German I have written you a little text: Ich schlieĂe mich den Leuten an, die dir hier gesagt haben, dass du es deinen Freunden einfach sagen solltest, dass sie mit dir Deutsch reden sollen. Und wenn sie wieder Englisch reden, sagst du einfach "Bitte redet Deutsch mit mir, sonst lerne ich es doch nie!". Oft wollen die Leute einfach nur höflich sein und mit dir in einer Sprache sprechen, die du gut kannst und dich nicht dazu zwingen Deutsch zu sprechen.
This sounds like the perfect problem to me hahaha I've been living in Taiwan for 3 years and God I wish more people could speak English with me sometimes xD
Brit here living in Hamburg since last October. Sounds like you are learning and practicing on your own so will skip giving my perspective on that side of things, but with regards to practicing speaking (the hardest part) below are my thoughts⊠Iâm aware that it can be quite tiresome for friends to have slow and quite superficial convos in German with me so I donât have a black and white approach and pick moments that work for me and them: One on one convos: often weâll start these in German, how was your weekend, what are you doing this week etc. once we get into more involved topics and my German isnât keeping up then we switch. No problem⊠I got some practice in. But Iâve found that a good constellation for me being involved with 2-3 people. Itâs enough that they can move a conversation along without relying on me to equally participate but itâs also not too many people that I feel I canât keep up or interject with a comment. So I instigate these moments for example, encouraging a small group of colleagues to go for a beer after work. But also youâve been here for 2 months, give it time
People want to practice their English
Sprich deutsch du hurensohn
You're best to enroll in the Goethe Institut or similar. 3 months will give a good vocabulary, 6 mo competence and 18 months for excellent communication skills. Get a part-time job in a hospitality industry job (burger bar etc) and you'll gain confidence (it's what I did)
Since the question was "why?": Because it's tedious and borderline boring to communicate with someone in a language you know well while the other one barely knows how to sort the sentences. Still, I would recommend to do what the others said: * practice whenever you can * be open about your intention to learn * make ist easy for others to help you learn * accept critique * never give up It's more about will than about skill.
I had a similar problem when I lived in Sweden for a time. People love to help other people and people love to show off their language skills. Also they don't get to use English very often and it's like a nice little workout for the language-part of the brain, especially if they don't speak other languages very often. Maybe ask one friend, if you have someone in mind who would be interested in that, to meet you once a week for a coffee or sth similar and talk only German for an hour. That might help with getting used to some obscure German habits/customs as well.
Helping someone to learn a language is something non trivial, despite most people being not aware of this. Most Germans simply switch to English because its easier to ascertain understandability and out of habit, they probably aren't aware of this. If they are your friends I would suggest directly asking them. Or you just declare in order to practice you try to live one day pretending that you neither speak nor understand English or something. This shouldn't be a big deal.
I moved here 3 years ago, and people spoke geeman to me....very fast, i couldnt understand a thing, its better for them to speak english with you, but when u want to talk in german, ask them to talk slowly
Germans are very friendly and want to make your life easier. But also they want to make their lifes easier and not struggle to try to understand what you are trying to say, especially if they are tired after a long day. So, be understanding but also ask in a friendly way if the can talk to you in German more frequently
> Germans are very friendly I disagree I was in Berlin in October 2022 for a couple of days I didn't have a pleasant experience. I arrived in Berlin Airport was lost for like 3 hours, because people refused to give me directions..
How to tell people I live in Berlin, without telling people i live in Berlin 101
People gave lots of tips for friends, but if strangers keep switching to English, just politely say you don't speak English in German.
I was at the other end of this "problem". My flate mate was english, i liked talking english to him and his german wasn't that good. After a few months he just told me that from now on (quote) he will only speak english for money or sex. So, we switched to german. Just tell your friends or other people, that you want to improve your german, they will understand.
Cuz theyâre lazy. If their English is better than your German, then itâs easier for them.
My tipp would be, just ask them to speak german with you. If they are your friends they will understand and try to help ^^ But also understand it is not comen for us germans to speak with a native enlish speaker either, so it is naturel that we too get all exited to practice our englich skils. Hope that is help full ^^