I’ve tried the Goethe A1 Deutsch app, Anki, actual German grammar primers. Self-directed learning is one of my weaknesses. Ive taken many other steps towards finding work there but learning the language has me stymied.
All the Germans I’ve met speak English. Granted it’s all huge nerds in engineering but still, from what I gather, two or three languages isn’t uncommon.
I was raised in a region that leaned heavily into it’s German heritage. Americanized and bastardized yes, but for example my tiny high school only offered Spanish and German for foreign languages. I looked into citizenry by ancestry and found I didnt qualify because my most recent ‘German’ ancestor emigrated from Prussia in the mid-1800s. Said ancestor is buried in the cemetery of the village church I attended for kindergarten. Of course, none of that provides me any familiarity with modern Germany. I have a slight advantage with pronunciation and not much else.
I investigated Sweden first actually, and I’d be happy to end up there. I think Scandinavia fits my political and societal opinions better than Germany (plus has WAY better metal 🤘). I have a BSc in engineering and was looking into Master’s programs; University of Göthenburg has the faculty and research I’d like to pursue. The language barrier there was considerably more intimidating despite the reputation for accommodation you mentioned. Germany also has better resources for skilled foreigners looking for work.
I want out of the States. Wherever I end up I intend to pursue fluency and integration. Germany just seemed like the simplest route to me other than joining Ukraine’s foreign legion as an engineer.
That was an elaborate answer, thanks! I just hope it works out for you wherever you land. Maybe learning (any) new language will click for you eventually.
Not the best country to run away from fascism too, Germany is boosting its military expenditure like crazy, polls give immense voting intent to a fascist party, and recently the government declared that men below 45 cannot leave the country for more than 2 months at a time without asking permission from the military. They’re also planning to reinstate compulsory military service.
As much as it fucking sucks and I hate it the increased military spending also increases my chance at finding a job. I’d leave my industry in a heartbeat for something else, but barring that I’d rather fight against Russia.
I started working towards Germany mid last year, before conscription/travel restrictions had come up. AfD was definitely a source of trepidation. I’m not committed to Germany and in fact these developments have me second-guessing that route.
The industry I have reluctantly found myself in is rather directly concerned with Iran. If I’m unable to change industries, I’d prefer to work in a country concerned with Russia.
Don’t wanna criticise your job, I understand that we all gotta eat somehow and unfortunately that’s where all the money is going right now, but why do you feel more comfortable with fighting Russia than Iran?
The general issue is my poor ability to self-direct my learning. External structure and occasional feedback helps a lot. Another obstacle lies within the learning resources; most focus on speaking German whereas I’d prefer to build a foundational understanding of German. Hence the grammar primer. Dunno if I have the luxury of time to pursue that anymore, however.
Im German and i can tell you: learning this language must be a bitch. Here is a example:
We have Articles: “der, die, das”
Usually, “der” is masculine, “die” is feminine and “das” is for objects
Lets try to use that knowledge for “Bus” (same word as in english), should be “das Bus”, right? It is a Object but it is called “der Bus” for some reason and that is not an exception. Every other Word is like “oops, we have rules for our articles but lets not follow them” and then some Germans get mad when you make mistakes like that
The funny thing is: Gender has more to do with etymology and sounds than with actual meaning. “Der Bus” is masculine, because it comes from Latin “Omnibus”, which ends in -us and is therefore masculine.
I speak 5 languages and have some basics in others but German, no.
While I speak Flemish/Dutch (also a notoriously difficult, illogical and unnecessarily complicated language) which is Germanic and closely related I had zero affinity with it.
I immediately said no, this isn’t going to work.
Please Satan bring me a German tutor.
I’ve tried the Goethe A1 Deutsch app, Anki, actual German grammar primers. Self-directed learning is one of my weaknesses. Ive taken many other steps towards finding work there but learning the language has me stymied.
Why Germany? Other EU countries are more willing to communicate in English (professionally). Not France though. But definitely the Nordics.
All the Germans I’ve met speak English. Granted it’s all huge nerds in engineering but still, from what I gather, two or three languages isn’t uncommon.
Yeah but the country as a whole isn’t all that willing to accomodate non-German speakers, at least compared to the above mentioned.
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I get that, but the tenor of this thread is finding work.
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Sadly, it’s true for some foreigners as long as they stay in Helsinki.
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True, but jobs in general still require a relatively high proficiency in german.
I was raised in a region that leaned heavily into it’s German heritage. Americanized and bastardized yes, but for example my tiny high school only offered Spanish and German for foreign languages. I looked into citizenry by ancestry and found I didnt qualify because my most recent ‘German’ ancestor emigrated from Prussia in the mid-1800s. Said ancestor is buried in the cemetery of the village church I attended for kindergarten. Of course, none of that provides me any familiarity with modern Germany. I have a slight advantage with pronunciation and not much else.
I investigated Sweden first actually, and I’d be happy to end up there. I think Scandinavia fits my political and societal opinions better than Germany (plus has WAY better metal 🤘). I have a BSc in engineering and was looking into Master’s programs; University of Göthenburg has the faculty and research I’d like to pursue. The language barrier there was considerably more intimidating despite the reputation for accommodation you mentioned. Germany also has better resources for skilled foreigners looking for work.
I want out of the States. Wherever I end up I intend to pursue fluency and integration. Germany just seemed like the simplest route to me other than joining Ukraine’s foreign legion as an engineer.
That was an elaborate answer, thanks! I just hope it works out for you wherever you land. Maybe learning (any) new language will click for you eventually.
For permanent residence you will eventually need to learn the native language though, that is a requirement in most (if not all?) countries.
Not the best country to run away from fascism too, Germany is boosting its military expenditure like crazy, polls give immense voting intent to a fascist party, and recently the government declared that men below 45 cannot leave the country for more than 2 months at a time without asking permission from the military. They’re also planning to reinstate compulsory military service.
As much as it fucking sucks and I hate it the increased military spending also increases my chance at finding a job. I’d leave my industry in a heartbeat for something else, but barring that I’d rather fight against Russia.
I started working towards Germany mid last year, before conscription/travel restrictions had come up. AfD was definitely a source of trepidation. I’m not committed to Germany and in fact these developments have me second-guessing that route.
Care to explain? I don’t get what you mean
The industry I have reluctantly found myself in is rather directly concerned with Iran. If I’m unable to change industries, I’d prefer to work in a country concerned with Russia.
Don’t wanna criticise your job, I understand that we all gotta eat somehow and unfortunately that’s where all the money is going right now, but why do you feel more comfortable with fighting Russia than Iran?
Hello, I’m a linguist and have done some hours as a German tutor ^^
Do you have any specific questions or is it a general problem?
The general issue is my poor ability to self-direct my learning. External structure and occasional feedback helps a lot. Another obstacle lies within the learning resources; most focus on speaking German whereas I’d prefer to build a foundational understanding of German. Hence the grammar primer. Dunno if I have the luxury of time to pursue that anymore, however.
Im German and i can tell you: learning this language must be a bitch. Here is a example: We have Articles: “der, die, das” Usually, “der” is masculine, “die” is feminine and “das” is for objects Lets try to use that knowledge for “Bus” (same word as in english), should be “das Bus”, right? It is a Object but it is called “der Bus” for some reason and that is not an exception. Every other Word is like “oops, we have rules for our articles but lets not follow them” and then some Germans get mad when you make mistakes like that
The funny thing is: Gender has more to do with etymology and sounds than with actual meaning. “Der Bus” is masculine, because it comes from Latin “Omnibus”, which ends in -us and is therefore masculine.
I speak 5 languages and have some basics in others but German, no.
While I speak Flemish/Dutch (also a notoriously difficult, illogical and unnecessarily complicated language) which is Germanic and closely related I had zero affinity with it.
I immediately said no, this isn’t going to work.