Learning german?

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krodgibami

I lived in Germany for 8 years. I believe 4 years is good for initially learning the fundamentals, and being able to carry on a decent conversation. If you woul dlike to work while there, I believe you will need to apply for a "Work Visa". my time over there was spent in the military, so I didn't need one. Good Luck! And enjoy your time over there. And travel lots, everything is so close and they have an excellent travel system.

JUPITER

The others gave you good answers, I think.
Indeed, German is a difficult language and hard to learn. My advice to you is: try to get a German pen-pal, try to read German magazines/papers (also online) and listen to German radio stations on the Internet, etc....All that might be helpful to learn another language.

4 years are definately not enough to learn German fluently. Mark Twain once said "You need 3 weeks to learn English, but you need 30 years to learn German....."

German radio stations can be found here: http://www.surfmusic.de
German newspapers are available here:
http://dir.yahoo.com/News_and_Media/Newspapers/By_Region/Countries/Germany/
or here: www.abyznewslinks.com/germa.htm

Greetings from Germany
(I am a German national myself)

t_maia2000

If you are a non-EU citizen and intend to live in Germany after college, you'll need to attend college in Germany.

The reason: work and residency permit. Graduating from a university in Germany is the best and easiest way to a permanent residency and work permit.

German universities require (for most courses) that you are fluent in German on a university level in order to attend classes. (There are tests you need to pass, either the test DSH or TestDaF.) For this reason most universities offer intense language classes in German for foreign students.

http://www.testdaf.de
http://www.daad.de/deutschland/deutsch-lernen/wie-deutsch-lernen/00573.en.html

Before leaving for Germany please contact the German agency in your home country (Embassy or Consulate) for all necessary information regarding entry regulations and your stay abroad.
It is essential that you apply for the student residence permit (Aufenthaltserlaubnis zu Studienzwecken ) in good time. If you want to attend a German language course before beginning your studies, you will need to apply for a visa for academic studies with a preliminary German course (Studienvisum mit vorhergehendem Deutschkurs).
Please note that applications for these visas usually take about six weeks. Only diplomatic or consular agencies outside Germany are entitled to grant the residence permit.

Cost: You'll need to support yourself on your savings or your parents income while in Germany. Expect to pay around 600 EUR per month (including study fees). You can also get a limited work permit, but it will only help you very little. The income you derive from working on this work permit will be not enough to support yourself.

BTW, it would be very easy to find a job as English teacher in Germany if you are a native speaker of English.

So the gist is: learn German now, if you really want to move to Germany. What I would be interested in: Have you ever been to Germany before? It is generally not a good idea to move to a country you have never been before and you know very little about. I suggest you visit as a tourist, maybe take some lessons in German too while you are there.

Information on language classes in Germany as well as learning German:

http://www.daad.de/deutschland/deutsch-lernen/02940.en.html

Corban XXL

Yeah that right! I am German and i think it is very important that you learn the basestuff of German before you come to Germany because some of the people could speak in English. But we are very friendly we forgive if you make some mistakes. I have the same problem in english ;-) and i come with a work and travel visa on 15 March to Vancouver , thats the best way to learn a language.

Good Luck

PS: When you are in Germany, please visit the Goethe Institut in Berlin they can help you to push up your german skills in few weeks.( Look in the Link)

Denise G

No amount of "school German" will teach you what you need to know. The best way to learn is to actually live there. But to prepare yourself, 4 years of college German will be good. See if there is a German club you can join or a social meet-up type group where people get together and socialize in German. Try to read magazines/papers in German.

Your language will not make leaps and bounds until you are actually immersed in the language.

It is a very grammatically difficult language, but it can be really fun once you get the hang of it!

good luck!

Crazeescrub

i just moved here from gremany. 4 years will probably not be enough, since german is a very hard language, but you might be good with languages. You never know. Will you get a job? Probably not.There are very many unemployed people in germany. you might be lucky if you go to the military or something.gerrmany is not what it used to be and a lot of my friends are leaving the country.Find a german penpal or two and learn german that way and ask them how it is to live there and what work oppotunities are there.It is very expensive to live in Germany and you dont make a lot of money!

Cess

I used yo live in germany for 4 years, 4 years are enough to learn the language.But if its enough for a job...i guess yes
well i went to an international school and had not a lot of contact with the language but still i learnt it.
Good luck!

Jan H

yes 4 years should be enough if you want to be a nurse yes you will get a job

blondecow131

I am currently an exchange student here. I learned 3 years of German in school, and it took me about 4 months to understand everything. And at the beginning it was HARD. I kept having people ask 'Do you know any German at all?'. Fortunately, most of the people here have at least a basci understanding of English. What I would recommend is trying to study abroad for a year in Germany, so then you will be able to learn German to live.

eelliko

Its probably best to pick a college that has an exchange program with germany so you can spend one or two semesters there.
A university that has a department for german studies that is in contact with germany should be able to counsel you on job opportunities in germany.How about this one :
http://german.berkeley.edu/undergrad/whystudy.php

About finding a job : its true that nurses are not exactly in high demand in germany.Native english teachers are always wanted, but working conditions are not always favorable.Check out the following website of english-speaking expatriates, they constantly
discuss job market, teaching conditions in germany etc. in their forum :
http://www.toytowngermany.com/

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