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Learning German - how difficult is it?

Posted in Germany forum

I've got a job offer for Frankfurt and am thinking of relocating there with my family. Problem is that none of us speaks any German, and I heard it's really hard.

Any advice on how long it takes to get a basic grip of the language? And how can you get by in Germany in the meantime (with English)?

  • posted by  in Germany forum 

    Hi, maybe this is not the same as honing your language skills with a native German speaker, but check out this free online German Grammar trainer.
    http://www.deutschakademie.de/online-deutschkurs/

    According to the page it disposes of more than 20.000 exercises for all language skill levels. Moreover it features a help function, whitch lets you contact a GFL teacher for exercise specific questions. It may take a day or so to get the support by e-mail, but the service is free of charge

  • Go to Rouven G's profile

    posted by  in Germany forum 

    Sarah said:
    Hi Paul! Be aware - learning German is really difficult. Most of the people I know took 2 years to get going on it. And many Germans don't speak English...

    That's not right, i think the most people here speak english (it's the first foreign language you learn normaly here).
    And when you ask someone "Where can i find ..." he will understand you ;)
    But don't think he will give you a perfect english sentence =)

    Otherwise me (as a german person :>) think german is a easy language to learn. It's like latin, you have to many grammar but later when you got the basics , it's easy. Cause it is a language with a good structur :)
    I must say that in my opinion the english grammar is much harder ^^ i still do not know rightly how to build a past/future sentence ;)
    My simply school english is enough for me!

    mfg

  • Go to johnnie johnnie's profile

    posted by  in Germany forum 

    Visit.
    www.livemocha.com

    and say thanks its totally free.

    have a nice day.

  • posted by  in Germany forum 

    Have to say that it's quite hard to learn German without practice...most people in Frankfurt can speak very good English, but in small cities, few people speak English,and seems they don't want to speak English, I am still stuffering communitation problem in German...

  • Anne Sredzki

    Learnign German

    posted by  Anne Sredzki in Germany forum 

    I agree with Stefan - it really depends how much you're exposed to the language. If you speak German at home everything will go a lot faster. I'm living with Germans so I speak every day, and that helps a lot more than any language course...

  • Stefan Cosma

    Lerning German

    posted by  Stefan Cosma in Germany forum 

    Right now I'm somewhere between A2 and B1 levels and i've done quite easily (I also have german speaking friends). A couple of weekes ago I've been in Frankfurt to... put my german language skills to a test (I i've been thirsty for beer actualy). Practice is everything. And by the way, the germans do speak English (and quite good). just wait 'till U see the Frenchmen...

  • Sarah Fulchiron

    Learning German

    posted by  Sarah Fulchiron in Germany forum 

    Hi Paul! Be aware - learning German is really difficult. Most of the people I know took 2 years to get going on it. And many Germans don't speak English...

  • Go to helga lees's profile

    posted by  in Germany forum 

    Have a look at:
    'German with a Smile' for adult (14+) students, now even more effective with audio and picture downloads! www.germanlearnteach.com :

    Complete Audio download: All main texts/dialogues and core-language contained in the book Sample: http://www.germanlearnteach.com/audio.aspx
    Downloadable Pictures http://www.germanlearnteach.com/posters.aspx
    helga

  • Frank Wagner

    posted by  in Germany forum 

    I think you can be faster. Many of my friends only took a year to get basic grip of German.

  • Qentin Briggs

    posted by  in Germany forum 

    Hi Paul! It took me almost 2 years to get to a conversational level, so learning German is definitely not easy. Also be aware that your family might have quite a few language problems at the beginning. The good thing is that there are quite a few good international schools in the Frankfurt area.

    As a city itself, Frankfurt is great. Much safer than most American cities, green, and nevertheless Metropolitan!

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