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I was recently speaking to a German about learning the language, and he said not to bother – whether planning a permanent move or only a short visit, you can get by just fine, as everyone there speaks English anyway.

I was wondering: How true is that? Does everyone really know English? How much of the population is comfortable speaking it? Are people happy speaking English casually, or do most people still prefer to converse in German?

hb20007
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    May be it depends on the city. I live in Munich. And initially people speak German. When I tell them if they could speak in English, they oblige. Most of the people in shops, stores, public transport also spoke English in Aachen, Frankfurt and Berlin. However, in places like Augsburg and Lindau, there was a dearth of such people speaking English. –  Jul 28 '16 at 10:25
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    Can you please specify where you are going? Germany is a large country and things like these often varies in large cities/small villages. –  Jul 28 '16 at 10:37
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    10 yrs ago 56% of Germans spoke English well enough to hold a conversation and the trend is upwards. Wikipedia has "According to a representative 2013 survey carried out by the English research firm YouGov, 59 percent of all Germans would welcome the establishment of English as an official language in the whole European Union." –  Jul 28 '16 at 11:14
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    Especially if you're going for a long time, you should consider not only what's necessary, but what's desirable. You might be able to get by knowing only English, but you might also have more opportunities (for example, social opportunities) if you can also speak German. I lived in the Netherlands for 6 years, where the level of English is far higher than what I found in Germany, and while I didn't need to learn Dutch, I am certainly glad I did, and I would recommend anyone moving there to learn at least a little bit of it, depending on the intended duration of stay. – phoog Jul 28 '16 at 12:18
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    For context, I found English to be much more widely spoken in the Netherlands and Sweden than in Germany, but more so in Germany than in France and Belgium. –  Jul 28 '16 at 14:07
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    @phoog but while Dutch is afaik easier than German for an English-speaker, actually learning Dutch in the Netherlands is way harder than learning German in Germany because no-one ever wants to speak it. They are all so good with their English and so impatient that they just switch to English all the time. We do that as well in Germany if we are able to. I have a couple of international friends in Amsterdam who complain about this all the time. – simbabque Jul 28 '16 at 15:15
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    My experience is only in Berlin - hence this being a comment rather than an answer - but there I would say that you would find ~50% of people are completely fluent in English and most of the rest speak enough for you to be able to get by. Learning German can be quite easy if you stick to the basics but if you want to learn real German your English grammar had better be pretty good because things like the nominative and accusative cases are very important in getting things right. My wife's brother has lived in Berlin for something like five years now and still struggles to learn formal German. –  Jul 28 '16 at 15:39
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    @simbabque You are right. It's easier to learn Dutch in the Netherlands if you avoid the more touristy areas. Many Dutch people are happy to help, after all, but staff in fast-paced tourist-oriented businesses are far less likely to be among them. It was a big milestone for me when waiters in central Amsterdam stopped responding to my Dutch by speaking English. I think there was only one instance in 6 years there where I encountered someone who claimed not to speak English at all; she was older and we managed okay with my Dutch. – phoog Jul 28 '16 at 15:41
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    @Spratty there are already some answers that address the Berlin part. If you're in the hip startup part of Berlin, you're fine with English. But if you go to a non-hipster or non-tourist area, it gets hard. If you need to go to Auslaenderbehoerde, you're essentially helpless without understanding German, because they don't care. They are a German institution, and basically none of them speak English. A lot of them are young enough not to speak Russian either, and also none of them give a damn. You want something from them, so you better try. – simbabque Jul 28 '16 at 15:46
  • @simbabque "...so you better try" indeed, there's a huge difference in general, in many countries, between assuming you'll be understood speaking English and at least making some effort to speak the local language. – phoog Jul 28 '16 at 15:48
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    Many people (including me) are happy to talk to a tourist in English, or any other language we happen to know, but are generally resentful of people who have been living here for years and still know no, or very little, German. Also, if you aren't from the EU and don't speak German, you'll have a hard time getting a permanent residence permit. –  Jul 28 '16 at 15:54
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    I miss one crucial information which I add as comment. Normally you should not have problems to talk with people in Germany in English, but if you as tourist did not leave your community before, try to find out before traveling if your specific dialect is actually comprehensible for the people you are visiting. Otherwise your visit can be a nasty and embarassing surprise. My former working place got a telephone call from an East Coast customer and despite being the most proficient I was completely unable to understand a single word. So beware of heavy dialects. –  Jul 28 '16 at 19:41
  • It's hard to pick up girls if you do not speak their language. –  Jul 28 '16 at 23:47
  • People in shops and hotels speak very limited english e.g if you ask a shopkeeper "how much?" he will understand but if you ask him "what is the cost of this thing" he may not. I don't think the majority general population speaks or understands english. I visited a semiconductor engineering company office in Munich and found that the technical magazines kept at the reception were all in German. If anyone is planning to live in Germany for a long time, I would suggest learning the language. –  Jul 29 '16 at 03:19
  • http://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/67800/how-severe-will-language-problems-be-in-munich-for-an-english-speaker-with-no-kn?rq=1 –  Jul 29 '16 at 03:32
  • You need to learn these irregular verbs by heart –  Jul 29 '16 at 06:15
  • @LemuelGulliver: Ouhhhh yeh don't know HOW far yah failed by that assumption. Native german here. And probably you won't belive how many girls I know who feel delighted to talk to that none german stranger in not their own language. –  Jul 29 '16 at 12:56
  • As noted in answers, sometimes English is not readily used. I own a german sim card and I needed to dispute one charge. When using online support, after writing my issue in English, I got a message that only inquiries in German are processed. Luckily I know German well enough to be able to re-write it... –  Jul 29 '16 at 14:02
  • I have traveled to Germany with my girlfriend last year. I know a little bit of German but my girlfriends doesn't speak a word of German. Even in bigger shopping centers I have had situations in which store clerks refused to assist my in English, forcing my to try to explain myself in German. Contrary, we visited some smaller shops where the store owners barely knew any English but did their best to explain me as mush as they could, at the same time I did some small talk with them in a combination of German and English. I'd say it depends on many factors (region, type of location, ...) –  Jul 29 '16 at 14:13

11 Answers11

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It is correct that you can get by just fine with English, but if you are looking to build relationships with people, you need to work on conversing in their native language.

With English, you will be able to get through life, buy what you need to buy, and get done what you need to get done. However, you will never become a part of all common life relationships - people know and speak English, but they will have limits expressing themselves, and especially in larger settings will find it bothersome to speak English all the time. For example, if you are at a party, everyone will speak German; if you get into a discussion, they probably will speak English with you. But you miss on all the discussions in German going on around you.

I estimate that less than 5% of Germans are able to express all their interaction needs in English without limitations; all others will just -- more or less -- limit how much and what they talk about accordingly.

Of course, it is easier in cities and gets worse in the countryside. But that is not the point.

Aganju
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    I fully agree. All of my English speaking colleagues eventually learnt at least some German. However in large cities (esp. Berlin) you will find parallel societies where you can get along with Turkish, Russian or English only. But this also limits your perspective of Germany a lot. –  Jul 28 '16 at 11:34
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    I would note that depending on your preferences, it's the 5% who speak fluent English that are also the most interesting people, as those are also the ones who travel a lot, do international business, etc. – JonathanReez Jul 28 '16 at 13:40
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    Unless someone learns German to a very high standard, the interaction will still be limited. – Ian Ringrose Jul 28 '16 at 13:43
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    @Ian with limited understanding of German you still get a lot more out of a conversation in German by listening than you would get out of a conversation in English when the other guy only has four years of rusty school-English. – simbabque Jul 28 '16 at 15:11
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    Another factor: not all signs are bilingual, and having enough familiarity with a language to decipher signs in public places and shops is very, very useful. – phoog Jul 28 '16 at 15:43
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    +1 for the answer, but I do not agree with the line: "Of course, it is easier in cities and gets worse in the countryside." Schooling does not stop at city borders and young people all over the country are fluent in English (if not all of them.) There will be more English spoken where there are more English speakers around, in touristy areas as well as were English speaking people work, not just in cities. –  Jul 28 '16 at 15:53
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    @Willeke: In my (somewhat outdated) experience, the English lessons in German schools don’t make you a particularly proficient English speaker. For that, you need to converse with native speakers, watch English-language films, read English-language books etc. Nowadays, lots of this can be had on the Internet; but for people who are now in their mid-thirties and upward, it was much easier to get exposed to English in cities where there are cinemas that will at least occasionally show original versions, public libraries with a foreign-language section and an English community. – chirlu Jul 28 '16 at 17:15
  • It is meeting people but English speakers are not restricted to cities. And while there might have been a few movies in English, the most important place where most people saw movies and got/not got English was on TV. I have seen that 'more in cities' remark for several countries and never found any proof of it. Touristy areas is a better way to express it, but even then you might be wrong in many cases. –  Jul 28 '16 at 17:19
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    Good answer. I studied abroad in Germany and passed the TestDaF beforehand. Most other foreign students couldn't speak very much German at all, and they got by fine, but those of us who could speak German had certain great advantages like you describe. Also I met some young people, around university age, but not in university, who really weren't comfortable speaking English at all. –  Jul 28 '16 at 18:13
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    "Of course, it is easier in cities and gets worse in the countryside." The people in the countryside will be able to share a view of life hidden from people in the city. Learning German might be worth it just to hear their stories. –  Jul 29 '16 at 00:40
  • +1. I've been to Germany for two weeks a few months ago, and I very much agree. I could get by just fine with my nearly nonexistent German, but when I spent the evening in otherwise German company, there were a lot of discussions in German where I could only about get what they were talking about by catching a word here and there, even though they were perfectly willing (and able) to speak English when discussing something with me. –  Jul 29 '16 at 13:00
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    @phoog I remember the time I parked my rental car and carefully noted down the street name so I could find it again: "Einbahnstrasse". –  Jul 29 '16 at 15:52
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    The sign thing is quite important. In particular, in train stations, informational signs on the platform may be only in German. Understanding signs that say "Please don't board this train" or "Platform changed" is essential for getting where you want to go! – Kyralessa Jan 03 '17 at 11:59
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As a foreigner having lived in Germany for about 20 years, I would imagine it to be very difficult to cope in everyday life without knowing the German language. For a short visit as a tourist, you can of course get along well with English.

In Germany, English proficiency varies greatly and depends e.g. on age, education level and to some extent where in Germany the speaker comes from. Younger persons and persons with higher education are more likely to have at least knowledge in English required for casual conversation. Persons who grew up and attended school in East Germany before the German unification, may very well have no knowledge in English at all.

If you decide to move and settle here, you will at some point most likely need to enter legal contracts (e.g. for tenancy or employment). You can not expect these to be available in English. You can also not take it for granted that you will be able to interact with the authorities in English.

jarnbjo
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    Very important information about East Germany, even East Berlin (in the quarters which aren't hip and thus didn't have a large influx of Westerners). East German people whose school time ended in the early 1990s tend to know some Russian but almost no English. –  Jul 28 '16 at 13:20
  • "You can also not take it for granted that you will be able to interact with the authorities in English." I find this very surprising. In England, where very few people speak multiple languages, the one place you /can/ expect to be able to interact in your own language is when interacting with authorities. Maybe it will take a while to find a speaker of an obscure language, and maybe you'll end up with one of those stupid phone translator services, but it will happen. –  Jul 28 '16 at 18:29
  • @PeterA.Schneider while it is true that Russian was the predominant first foreign language at schools in the GDR at extended secondary school (EOS) a second for. lang. was mandatory... which in the most cases has been English. So it's safe to assume that up to 15% of those leaving school before 1990 (should) know some English. Major hindrance for most of them today might be not using this skill on a regular basis. – Ghanima Jul 28 '16 at 20:06
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    @DanSheppard It depends on the authority you interact with. If it's for routine things like adress registration or even extending your residence permit the people working there are often explicitly instructed not to speak any other language than German for fear of miscommunication (which of course just results in the opposite). But if, say, police or a court wants to talk to you they are going to find a way. – neo Jul 28 '16 at 20:08
  • @Ghanima I had French as a second language, only 15 years ago. I can't even say "My name is..." and "I live at ..." anymore. – Christian Apr 16 '19 at 15:21
  • @Dan Sheppard: Concerning authorities: If you had a UK driving license in 2016, most German police officers could read it, and if not it was their problem. In 2022, if they can't read it, it is your problem. And they might have just forgotten all their school English. – gnasher729 Jan 06 '22 at 12:33
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I depends where you go. Even my half-remembered high-school German was very useful, possibly even essential when visiting a small town in the former East on business. The engineers spoke fluent English. The younger staff spoke pretty good English. The shift foreman spoke next to no English (but fluent Russian). Hotel and restaurant staff varied from passable English to none at all (with most knowing just enough to handle check-in and ordering food).

This was a few years ago (2009, some the demographics will have shifted a little, but not much) in an area that got quite a few visitors especially cycle touring.

In the former West, you'd get by absolutely fine without any German, but you'll have a better time even in the tourist areas if you can be polite in the local language and have a go (my opinion, but a general rule for me).

Chris H
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Slightly different angle than the accepted answer: For a shot or medium visit: don't bother. German is actually a pretty difficult language to learn. This only makes sense if you think you can get to a point that you speak better German than most Germans speak English. In most areas, that's a pretty high bar to meet and it would take a significant amount of effort and time to match this.

Even my 87 old mother who lives in the middle of nowhere and has been out of the country less then 10 times can converse pleasantly enough in English with the US partners of her grandkids when they visit.

If you want to live there, you should absolutely learn the language: but that's more or less true for any country you you live in. Speaking the local language is a huge benefit.

Trains and Planes
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  • I agree for a short visit but for a longer period of stay you should at least learn to understand the language. (Which might be much easier than learning to speak it.) –  Jul 28 '16 at 16:21
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    For practical purposes, sure - but you'll get a lot more good will if you make the effort. I found that German isn't a difficult language to learn the basics of, because at the basic level it tends to follow fairly straightforward rules. Learn the rules, and you've got enough to work with. The umpteen versions of "der/die/das" are kind of optional when actually talking! :) I also found that Germans are generally happy to use a "standard pronunciation" version of German instead of a local-accent version with foreigners, which is something that doesn't happen in English-speaking countries. –  Jul 28 '16 at 19:12
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    @Graham I agree fully. I can speak reasonably well in German and understand most of what they are saying. But I won't try to write it. But for speaking you can do it by ear: if it sounds right it is usually close enough. And Germans in general are quite forgiving that a foreigner mangles the language a bit. They appreciate the effort you make. –  Jul 28 '16 at 20:25
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    @Graham: Your mileage may vary. I typically find it annoying when specifically US people find out that I'm German and try to talk German to me. Most Americans grossly overestimate their "fluency" and it comes across more like "look, how smart I am". I pulled my kids out of high school German class, since the teacher's German was terrible and a lot worse than the kids'. I think one should quickly converge to the language that works best in any given situation. Sometimes that is German but chances are it will English in the vast majority of cases. –  Jul 29 '16 at 11:41
  • OTOH, my son's mother-out-law is in her 60's and speaks essentially no English at all (from East Berlin). Also, if you live in rural BW, you only need to get to A2 proficiency to beat many of the local tradesmen and government officials. – Martin Bonner supports Monica Sep 11 '18 at 08:03
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After four months experience in Austria and Germany combined, it was shared experience that if a German-speaking person knew English well, it was because they were Austrian (or Swiss). Most (90%?) Germans did not know English well enough for recreational conversations.

(addendum)

While being a tourist in Germany, even in big cities (Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne) English was useful for the basics (where is the WC?) but German quickly became better for everything else. In small towns—where I tended to spend most of my time—English was of little use. This was mostly in 1999, though more recent trips in 2006, 2009, and 2014 have done little to change my impression.

Even in Austria where every student learns at least four years of English (since at least the 1950s), small mountain villages are full of people rusty to very challenged using English: a little bit of German goes a long way to making them more comfortable.

  • While I have noticed years 20 ago to that English was much better taught/learned in Switzerland than in Germany, these days the difference is smaller, specially by the group of people who grew up with internet. –  Jul 28 '16 at 16:31
  • Maybe this should rather be a comment than an answer. –  Jul 28 '16 at 16:34
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    @blackbird57: I have amended it; Is that better? –  Jul 28 '16 at 17:39
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    @wallyk Please define "recreational converstions". 90% seems like an exaggeration. –  Jul 28 '16 at 18:14
  • @problemofficer: Well, it would be any conversation not business related, talking to someone with no particular purpose. Granted, 90% has some error in it. The actual number could be anywhere from 75% to 95%. This occurred mostly in the huttes of Austria where I would meet large groups of travelers from Germany. Late in the season it was mostly Germans trekking from hutte to hutte. Only a few others. –  Jul 28 '16 at 18:39
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I spent a year of my degree scheme working in Erlangen, located in the traditional and often stubborn Franconia. I turned up with limited German, and had intended to learn the language in situ. However, due to my employment there being in an international office and language learning becoming a more expensive mission than anticipated, I ended up not leaving fluent, as I had initially anticipated.

To relate this to your questions:

I was wondering: How true is that?

English has Germanic roots. You'll be surprised how much vocabulary you'll be able to translate through guesswork. A guidebook for reference along the way may 'save' you from ever truley needing to learn the language while still surviving (it worked great for me!)

Does really everyone know English?

Big cities and what was West Germany has a very high percentage of English speakers. In the old East Germany and 'traditional' states you may find that the older generations (i.e. those 40+) do not speak English well or at all, especially away from the big towns, but anyone below 30 or so has had to complete compulsory English at school so will almost certainly have stronger English than you will German.

How much of the population is comfortable speaking it?

Especially if you have some basic German, politely try and say that you'd be able to communicate better in English, I never found anyone that wouldn't give a bit of English a go. Occasionally their English was poor, but they were 1 in 100 cases. Anyone in medicine or engineering will almost certainly speak English very well.

Are people happy speaking English casually, or do most people still prefer to converse in German?

I began a system at parties where I would be spoken to in German and respond in English. People will of course prefer to speak in their own language, but if you are a foreigner and making friends, I found almost all I met to be very accommodating and supportive folk, willing to communicate in the most mutually beneficial language.

Be polite and learn enough German to buy dinner and ask for directions, but for almost all other responsibilities I believe that it is true that many Germans would find you struggling with their language endearing but ultimately a waste of time when they can and will speak in English with you.

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Most of these answers focus on talking to people. But there's more to living in a foreign country than that! In my experience, in the part of Germany near Basel, CH:

  • Many official web sites are only in German.
  • The web sites of many tourist attractions are only in German. Sometimes they're also in French, and sometimes also in English, depending on what part of Germany you're in.
  • Most train announcements are only in German. ICE trains often have announcements in English and French as well, but for local trains, only German.
  • Most signs are only in German.
  • Most employers will expect you to have excellent knowledge of German, unless the company is very international.
  • Most government officials, sales clerks, and office employees will expect you to speak German.

While there are always unpleasant exceptions, for the most part I've found people to be very patient with less-than-perfect German.

But if you don't speak any German, you'll find it difficult to get around on public transit (you'll probably buy the wrong passes, or buy more expensive ones than you need), you'll miss a lot of important information, and you'll find deciphering wordy official documents (and all official documents are wordy here!) extremely tedious.

Kyralessa
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    (+1) Interestingly, even when signage and regular pre-recorded annoucements are in several languages, information regarding disruptions might not be (and those are probably those you need the most). I noticed that on my last visit to Berlin. – Relaxed Mar 15 '21 at 20:57
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    @Relaxed Years ago my wife and son and I had the experience of taking a train through Austria when suddenly everybody except us was getting off. We were still all spread out and relaxing in the train car. It turns out there was washed-out track ahead, so everyone had to transfer to a bus to get around it. The announcement was only in German, so we had no idea. It definitely pays to speak German around here! (Luckily a kind traveler noticed we had no idea what was going on and explained in English for us.) – Kyralessa Sep 08 '21 at 12:50
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As a german more used to reading and writing (but just occasionally talking) in English I can confirm most of the answers here. You might find that when asking Germans beforehand how good their English was the answer usually would be a harsh overestimation of their own actual capabilities in doing so, mostly because they had good grades in school (where they kept talking German all the way usually). So if you write something down probably many people will understand you, but better dont expect them to answer in a way that wouldn't remind you of a kid with a very limited vocabulary. It depends a lot on education of course. The average Joe around here will tell you that he doesn't speak English. In Frankfurt you might find many more speakers, because it's Frankfurt (shouldn't compare to any other German city). So if you exclude Frankfurt, where you might just do ok, the chance that you meet a person with good enough English for a solid conversation is maybe 2-5% (Frankfurt more like 5 - 10), best. If you want to raise this number you should limit yourself to sentences like "I will go to a café and get a coke" using mainly simple expressions, which might not satisfy you much. And you should speak slowhowly. You will even find people trying to talk to you thinking their English is good enough for it. Usually they are wrong.

TL;DR if you want anything more from social events than getting you need for survival, better try to learn German. Else you will find yourself sitting around alone most of the times.

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tl;dr: Use every chance life gives you to learn something new.

Your german friend felt for wishful thinking, when he assumes knowing german in Germany will bring you no benefits. Also it seems like learning something new looks like a burden, which it is if you think of endless courses to fully comprehend all words and rules (which will neer happen).

It is incredibly hard to learn any language without actually using, so every time you visit ANY country it's an opportunity you should definitely take. Learn at least this six phrases (no excuses allowed):

  1. Hello
  2. Goodbye
  3. Yes
  4. No
  5. Sorry
  6. Thank You

If you're not a language person write it on a piece of paper. You can extent your vocabulary at any amount. How much to extent is influenced by several factors:

  • The people you spend your time with (young, smart, international, west-oriented people rather speak english)
  • The time you will stay there
  • The intensity of your stay (personal and business)
  • Your learning skills
  • Your learning opportunities (local intense courses)

Frankly, you will figure out if you feel the need to learn more or decide you have better things to do.

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One can get the idea by the fact that you hardly can get a job in Germany if you declare that you don't know English- it is almost impossible from online applications for the jobs while German companies are much responsive, very straight forward.

In any case there is no substitute to speak to a local in his own language.

user22132
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Compare where you want to live or travel. If you want to be in a bigger city like Berlin then it is not important to speak German because almost everyone is kind of international there and in almost every community you find people from overseas or people who speak English. But if you want to travel through the country and visit the smaller villages and stuff like that you definitely need to have some kind of basic German skills.

P.S. What I also hear from many friends who speak only English and start to learn German, when you ask something in German (of course you have an accent) you mostly get an English answer back. So don’t be upset with that. ;)

JohnFx
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