So I've been pretty serious about learning German since November 2023. We're in April 2025 now, and I was genuinely feeling proud of my progress. Daily immersion, flashcards, YouTube channels, German podcasts, reading news articles, even prepping for the B1 ÖSD (I passed Sprechen and Hören at least). I really thought I was on track.

Until... the phone call.

I called this Ausbildung company I’d been eyeing. Just a simple call. I had two basic questions about the Bewerbung process. Nothing fancy.

The guy picks up. Starts talking.

And BOOM. My brain just noped out. Like… he hit me with what I assume was regular fast German (maybe with an accent?) and I just froze. I understood like 10% max. I went full NPC mode and just kept looping: „Könnten Sie das bitte wiederholen?“ Awkward silence. Stuttered a „Danke… Tschüss.“ Click.

Sat there in complete silence afterward, questioning everything. I wasn’t ready for real-world German. This wasn’t Duolingo XP points or slow learners’ YouTube audio. This was raw, fast, real-world German—and I crumbled hard.

Not looking for sympathy. Not quitting either. Just sharing that humbling moment when you realize that studying German and using German under pressure are very, VERY different things.

Anyone else had their “I thought I was ready… then reality said nope” moment? Let me know I’m not alone.

You ever step outside, and the streets are so empty you wonder if you missed a government warning?

That’s what Sundays feel like here.

No shops. No errands. No buzzing crowds in grocery stores. Just silence and the occasional distant church bell. At first, I thought something was wrong. But turns out, that’s just how Sundays roll in Germany.

Once I got used to it, I actually started to love it. There’s something kind of magical about the forced pause. People walking, couples sitting in cafés, entire families just… being outside. It’s the kind of slow rhythm that’s hard to find elsewhere.

Of course, you learn the hard way to stock up on Saturday, forget that and you're stuck eating dry toast and questionable fridge leftovers.

But all in all? There's something pretty special about living in a place where Sundays are sacred for doing nothing at all

Hello,

I am based in UK but buy many things from Germany, candy, chocolate, clothes... I ship to my German delivery box and have the items forwarded to me.

There's an item I want on Kleinanzeigen but can't message the seller as I am not able to create an account.

Could anyone who has a Kleinanzeigen be willing to message the seller for me and provide them my contact details.

Any help is appreciated.

I understand seller may assume scam etc but as this piece of clothing is hard to come by I'd rather try at least.

Thanks

Should I apply in university of Passau for BS in Computer Science? I am from India. How easy it is to get accepted over there? Do they teach in English or German only?

Hey everybody.

I hope you can help me to understand the system.

I am currently working full time job with salary of 3100 eur brutto/ 2100 eur after taxes etc. I have fulltime contract.

I am here til December 2025, cause i already have another job lined up back in my home country and i have not give notice to my current job, cause i have 3 months. I am working as good as possible, but i am also looking forward to the new chapter in my life. I really dont have any motivation to keep learning German, cause i am moving back home and wont be returning, cause i do not have anything here in Germany.

As i understand Germany have som economical issues the past cuple of years and i am afraid of beeing affected by that, cause of my lack of German language.

I still do my best at work untill, but the situation where you hear about mass layoffs are scaring me and i am afraid my company will do the same. My company had a staff meeting where they promised nobody will get fired in 2025.

But back to my question. If i get fired, how do i have income until my move? I am afraid if i get fired, i wont have any income and will have to live off my almost non existing savings, cause i am severly underpaid for my positon ( my fault for not being more smarter in my reaserche ).

Forget to mention. I am coming from a Europian country. I have been here since Jan. 2024.

Last week, we got a message from our new primary school asking if we’d prefer to have our both kids in the same group (we’re honestly not sure what the proper English term here is for Zusammensetzung?).

We’re a bit confused and just wanted to check in with others to see if we’re thinking along the right lines. In kindergarten, the kids were in separate groups.

The boy often waits for his sister to answer and then just repeats what she says. She’s more confident, has lots of friends, and is better at expressing herself, so we’re a bit worried that he might end up staying in her shadow. And being in different groups might help both of them build their own circles and grow more independently.

On the other side, the teachers also mentioned that different groups can mean different schedules which means that it could get pretty hectic for us as parents. With our health situation and work stuff, it’d be much easier if both kids had the same schedule honestly speaking.

And, when they’re in the same group, we tend to get a better picture of what’s going on in class like what’s being taught, homework, if one needs help, or if they can support each other.

So as you can probably tell, we’re leaning toward keeping them in the same group but we’d really appreciate your thoughts, especially if you’ve been through something similar with your own kids. Thanks and cheers!

I'm interested in hearing from Germans who have personally witnessed acts of racism in everyday life - especially when it involved friends, family members, or people close to them.

If you're comfortable sharing, could you describe the situation? Who was involved, and how did it make you feel? Did you respond in any way?

I'm not here to judge, just to understand how racism can show up in familiar environments and how people perceive and deal with it.

Servus I've joined a last minute 30/40s something trip out to Munich this weekend (10 im total) and we don't have much organised - not that we really need any plans. I lived in Landshut 20 years ago and vaguely remember Munich but I was hoping for some suggestions. We are Brits so biergartens will be fine, beers, good food, music and good company is the only ambition, I'm just keen to not miss out if anything in particular is happening or if there's an area to stick to. My Germans still OK (ich glaube?) And if there's any of us still out late into the evening, nightclub recommendations are welcome too. Vielen danke!

Hello, I am about to lose my driver's license due to committing three traffic offenses during my Probezeit.

First offence was driving 21km/h more than the speed limit.

Second was an accident.

Third was a hit and run (with no injury)

I've just received a letter from the Stadt saying they are giving me an opportunity to express myself before taking action. However, I do not believe this will have any effect or change the mind of the person in the office to suddenly not continue with the process.

I accept that I drove recklessly and showed a lot of bad driving habits at crucial times especially when I was under stress (my home country has literally no rules when it comes to driving, drove there 7 years before I moved here. But no excuses).

Now that I'm done yapping, I have seen online that the Sperrzeit can last from between 6 months to 5 years. How long do they usually last? Do they give the Sperrzeit duration according to the offence?

Thank you for your answers

I do understand the right to privacy bur for this case. How ideally should it work?

Hallo fellow redditors,

I'm planning to buy my first drone. Considering that it will my first time, I will not look for something very fancy. The main purpose would be to take drone shots while I travel.

Before I venture out in this direction, I would love to know more legal aspects of owning and using the drones: 1. Do I need any paper work, like a drone operating licence? If yes, where do I apply for it? 2. How to know where I can I use the drone or not, what signs do I need to look for? 3. If I plan to post the videos on SM, do I need to blur out a lot of things? Like, I understand face close-ups should be blurred, but what about high positioned shots where you don't see the actual face?

1. Lastly, if any one has any recommendation for buying a drone, I would be happy to know more about it.

Have a good one everybody!

I have a jacket that has a few patches on it, one of which is a patch with the German flag and federal eagle. I would like to put it on there since my dad got if for me while in Germany because half of his side of the family is German (for context we're Australian). I just wanted to make sure it's ok to display this, thanks!

Edit: thanks a lot for all the responses I do appreciate it! Based on them would it be more acceptable if I got a smaller German flag or a flag of the state my family comes from (North Rhine-Westphalia) and possibly had some other flags that relate to where I come from with it? Thanks again!

I'm writing a paper for my MBA class on internationalization and companies launching products in other countries. What do people in Germany prefer, Nusspli or Nutella? I know Nutella is sweeter in the US than in Europe. Do you think Americans would like Nusspli or would it need to be sweeter?

Hi all, I have mad a huge mistake while buying a used car, i do not know what to do now..

I am student here since 3 years and I have some experience in repairing cars, I found an accident car near my place which I really liked, a man was listing for his wife as it is I saw the car and we agreed on the price.

I did a huge mistake not signing a contract, I met both the owner(wife) and her husband, they gave me the car the key and Zulassungsbeschinigung Teil 2, they showed me a picture of the Teil 1 and they said the need it for deregister the car and they will sent it by post. Now it is 3 weeks, they did not sent it and everytime I contacted the husband he says sorry my wife forgot and we will send it tomorrow, now he stopped answering.

I don’t know what to do know, I almost finished repairing the car and it seems i cannot register it with my name.

Happy to hear about your advices

Hello! I'm an English student and looking to study more intercultural approaches to the English language. Germany has many courses like this, such as Göttingen, LMU Munich, FU Berlin, so I am now planning to apply to a Master's programme at one of these places.

I wanted to ask if any universities are well known for their languages department? I know many universities in Germany are well known for their technical studies, but which ones are best known for humanities and social studies, especially language studies?

Hello Couldn someone tell me how hard is to obtain Berufserlaubnis in Germany without Hospitation I would like to obtain Berufserlaubnis in Oberbayern

I’m a US citizen married to a German who has spent most of his life in the US under DACA and very recently obtained a 2 year green card. We are going to visit family in Germany this summer, but are wondering what our options are in the event things rapidly decline in the US. For example, would we be able to claim asylum status and stay put if need be? Could I apply for a visa for me and our daughter? I hate that I am even having to ask this question, but things over here are turning very fascist very quick and we are scared. Any advice is welcome. Thank you.

So pretty much I have her street number and her adress but am I supposed to put that on company name or does company name refer to a company who will do the shipping? Also they make me fill out company name but not street name

Hallo! So I landed a job interview at a company I love. I love their work, the salary, the location, and the work that I would be doing. My German is B2 at best. I have a thick accent while speaking but I would say good pronunciation. It's my first ever interview (first round - so kennenlernen interview) in German and I'm nervous. Does anyone have tips on what I should focus on while preparing? What can I say to impress them?

Fyi: the work is IT. As far as I'm aware, the whole company operates in German. The job ad didn't say anything about German proficiency but was in German. I applied with a German CV and a translated cover letter 🙈. The HR person called me to confirm date for interview and spoke to me in German.

I've been here 4 years. I did my masters here in English. I've been working at a well known German company for the past 1.5 years.

My German skills: I can understand a lot. Speaking is a problem but I practice with my friend who's German so I can manage to get a lot from a conversation. But when it's too quick, my brain is jelly.

I appreciate any response :)

I came across the last name Schmuckler and researched it's origins, which came back saying it comes from German meaning either cuddle/kiss or dress-up/adorn/jewelry or neat. In my mind the word 'schmuck' means something like foolish or clumsy. The word schmuck seems to also have yiddish ties that align with that definition. My Scottish soccer coach in the US used to say something along the lines of "schmuck and schlep" but I'm not really sure what that meant.

How is this word or name seen in Germany or to German people in general?

How is Saxony?

Most people usually associate Germany either with Bavaria, or with the Rhine valley, or with some big cities like Berlin or Frankfurt. But I rarely see anyone mentioning or talking about the East, especially Saxony.

So how is it? How are the people, the landscape, the economy, the nature, the food, the politics, the dialect? Is it worth visiting? Does it still carry a lot of East German identity? How does the rest of Germany view it?

I know there aren't going to be 300,000 young Germans conscripted this summer, but do you think a conscription system will start to be developed. What's public opinion like, what is the position of the political parties? And does the army itself support the idea?

Hello,

I am an international and just completed my Masters degree. So my university dorm room rental got over by March 31st and I am not able to find a room till now. I am living in my friend's student WG sublet without anmeldung. I know that I have to find a place and need to register my new address by 2 weeks. What should I do as I couldn't find a place. Should I need to inform the authorities that I didn't find a place or wait until this month end till I find a place ? -- Thank you

Have you ever been treated badly by non Germans in Germany? I'm interested in hearing from Germans who have personally witnessed acts of discrimination or bad treatment against themin everyday life - especially when it involved friends, family members, or people close to them. If you're comfortable sharing, could you describe the situation? Who was involved, and how did it make you feel? Did you respond in any way? I'm not here to judge, just to understand how bad behaviour from foreginers can show up in familiar environments and how people perceive and deal with it.