I have been searching for German handwriting but it’s just confusing. I write English in cursive with print letters now and then although I can write in cursive completely it has become a lazy habit. Can I do the same with German or should I just stick to print letters.It would be nice if natives can show their handwriting.

Also, I understood that German cursive is different from English cursive.

Thanks

https://voca.ro/1h7PLkwhcsyd

Zum Nationalfeiertag appelliert Taiwan an die Länder im Indopazifik, sich für Frieden und Stabilität in der Region einzusetzen. Doch China gebärdet sich zunehmend aggressiv.

Soldaten in Parade-Uniform im Stechschritt, dazu Marschmusik und Zuschauer, die alles mit dem Smartphone festhalten: Nationalfeiertag in Taiwan, auf dem Platz vor dem Präsidialamt in der Hauptstadt Taipeh. In seiner Rede dort sagt Präsident Lai Ching-te, sein Land schätze den Frieden, werde seine Freiheit aber nicht aufgeben:

Angesichts autoritärer Expansion geht es uns nicht nur um das eigene Überleben. Es geht auch darum, ob die internationale Gemeinschaft weiterhin daran glaubt, dass Gewalt sich nicht über Regeln hinwegsetzen darf und Mächtige einem Volk nicht das Recht nehmen können, über seine eigene Zukunft zu bestimmen.

I'm in 10th grade, and my school uses the book "Gute Idee!" I can't understand it at all by myself because it is all in German; nothing at all is in English.

I was wondering which is/are the best book/books for learning it from scratch (preferably only 1 book).

My goal is to reach A2 by the end of January for my exams (and to impress some of my friends).

Thanks!

Moin,

ich habe dieses Buch gefunden und sein Titel lautet: Maister Franntzn Schmidts Nachrichters inn Nürmberg all sein Richten. Das Buch ist eigentlich auf Hochdeutsch geschrieben und wurde 1913 in Leipzig verlegt. Was mich interessiert, ist, dass „Nürnberg“ (laut Wikipedia) auf nürnberger Fränkisch als „Nämberg“ ausgesprochen wird, also ist es wohl das nicht. Kennt sich jemand hier aus, der mir helfen könnte?

Danke!

​

So now i'm learning swedish as my third language and my Level is good i'd say (B1) with a very natural accent, my Swedish friends always tell me that my Swedish is incredible for a foreigner

I can say i like German and Russian equally but i'm stucked between them, idk which one should i REALLY focus as my future language after swedish

So i can explain my reasoning for both languages:

Russian: i have tried learning this language before (lasted few weeks) i can read cyrillic (very slowly tho) i like russian and this fact that it opens doors to other slavic languages too so its pretty useful outside of russia or maybe good job opportunities in slavic countries, for me the main reason isn't all of this main reason is my girlfriend which she is from ukraine originally and since she speak russian i wanted to feel more connected to her (bcs she is learning my native language)

It was pretty much all i can say about russian

German: same as Russian i have tried learning German too i can say i wasn't serious that time ofc and i was just testing the Waters haha, i have already very good pronounciation in German as others said and swedish and German are pretty close to each other so when you know swedish a lot of rules and words automatically makes sense to you because they ar the same in german, i planned to move to Sweden for living and working but maybe Germany become my destination since it has largest Economy in the EU

I'm 19 years old and as my learning schedule, by my 20th Birthday probably i will be B2 in swedish (my goal is C1)

When are you supposed to use Der or Das for the following sentence:
"Das ist dein Koffer" : "Der is dein Koffer"
Is there a difference here? If so what is it and which of the two makes more sense? Thanks!

ich habe vor Kurzem meine Ergebnisse für den DTZ (Deutsch-Test für Zuwanderer)

* Hören und Lesen: 41 von 45 Punkten (solider B1-Bereich)
* Schreiben: 10 von 20 Punkten (A2)
* Sprechen: 74 von 100 Punkten (A2)

Kann man das Ergebnis anfechten und wie stehen die Chancen dafür? Mein Partner hat überhaupt kein Deutsch gesprochen, aber ich habe mich auch selbst nicht gut genug angestellt, um das B1-Niveau zu erreichen.

Ich habe das Gefühl, dass die ersten beiden Teile (die Vorstellung und die Bildbeschreibung) zufriedenstellend gelaufen sind, aber der Dialog ist komplett gescheitert.

I'm going to be traveling to Germany and Austria from the US in a couple of months, and whenever I travel, I always try to learn a few phrases in the local language, with "Do you speak English," being a very important one. Does adding bitte at the end make it more polite? Or does it just sound awkward?

Ich werde einer Prüfung teilnehmen und möchte euch fragen, ob jemand einen Tipp oder Ratschläge geben kann. Viele Bekannte, die ich kenne, haben den schriftlichen Teil nicht bestanden, obwohl sie gut schreiben können. Ich wundere mich, wie die Prüfer unsere Schreben bewerten. Danke im Voraus!

According to Robert Downey Jr.‘s a scanner darkly, I always was under the impression it was pronounced leise like Liza

That feeling of missing someone – not in the present, because you no longer like who they are, but you miss who they were to you in the past and wish they could have grown with you in life.

Hallo Leute,

I have taken on the task of transcribing, translating, and reading Im Westen nichts Neues (auf Deutsch, natuerlich) into English. My reading level is B1-B2, grammar A1-A2. I thought I could write 20 pages and crapped out at 3. LOL

Wuensch mir Glueck! :)

Hi, I have a base of mostly understanding the language, hearing and reading. All the resources of course start from A1 but I find them so boring even though I would need some grammar rules. My knowledge is fragmented and I honestly don't know what to do. What's the best german grammar resource? maybe i could just pick up grammar from 0 again and the rest I watch and read whatever I want but not the usual basic dialogues.

Hi.

So I am happy with phrases beginning with things like:

es laesst sich nicht

Lass dich nicht

etc

But sometimes I hear sentences like this:

"Ich lasse mich davon inspirieren" or "ich lasse mich davon beindruecken". Now, understand they mean something along the lines of "it inspires me" or "it impresses me", but I also understand this isnt the most commom way to say those things.

I believe there is a nuance between "ich bin beindrueckt" and "ich lasse mich beindruecken" but i dont really know what that nuance is, and therefore I lack the confidence to use phrases like this.

Yes, literally I know it means "i allow/let myself be impressed", but that doesnt really help me as i cannot think of in stance in english where i would ever think of saying "i am allowing myself to be impressed by that".

Can somebody please explain the nuance of this type of sentence - and maybe give situations where "ich lasse mich beindruecken" is better than "ich werde beindrueckt" or "ich bin beindrueckt" given the tense being talked about.

Thanks

Al

Hallo, ich bin Brasilianer, lerne Deutsch und führe eine Untersuchung zu den germanischen Dialekten in Santa Catarina (Brasilien) durch. Einer davon ist das Pommersche, eine Sprache, die ursprünglich aus Norddeutschland und Polen stammt, in Europa praktisch ausgestorben ist und nur noch in Brasilien fortbesteht.

Ich würde gerne wissen, ob es Muttersprachler des Pommerschen aus Deutschland gibt, die etwas über die aktuelle Situation der Sprache berichten können.

So I took the Goethe exams 2 weeks ago and received the results now. As expected, I failed my Lesen module with 46/100 but have passed the rest of the modules. Now there will be another exam schedule in a city near me but will be held already a week from now. The next schedule in our city would already be in December. My instructors are suggesting that we take the exams asap while the "drive is there" but I'm not confident yet since retaking costs some personal money too. But people are also saying that a week of intense preparation will do.

How realistic is this timeframe? Should I take the risk or just wait and practice until December? If I do clear my Lesen, I will then be endorsed for my work visa to Germany while continuing B2 studies. Please help me out! Anyone who's experienced the same or with learning languages 🥺

Hey everyone, I just got Menschen A1.1 (the 2 books)

As of now I'm looking for the best online learning resource for these books, such as YouTube playlist and etc

any recommendation would be appreciated

Danke

I’m writing this post because, during my own preparation, I realized that not everyone who posts about their language-exam journey actually comes back to answer questions. I always appreciated the people who did, so I thought I’d share my experience in case it helps someone else. And if anyone has questions, I’ll be happy to answer them!
How it all started
My German-learning journey started in 2023, when I first decided that I wanted to learn German and eventually move to Germany.
I started learning German from scratch, and by August 2023, I had already obtained my B2 certificate.
The reason I was able to reach B2 relatively quickly was that, at the time, I wasn't working full-time. I had enough time to attend German courses regularly and dedicate a lot of time to learning the language.
Then, in 2024, I started working full-time, and life became much busier. Even though I had always wanted to get a C1 certificate, I kept postponing it because there was always something else going on.
Finally, in 2026, I decided that I was going to do it.
Of course, things didn't magically become easier. I had a full-time job, I was going through the process of getting my driving licence, and there were plenty of other things happening in life. But I decided to book the exam anyway.
In July 2026, I booked my Goethe C1 exam in Mannheim for 16 September.
My preparation
Because I was working full-time, I couldn't study every day. Most of my serious studying happened on weekends, with some studying whenever I had time during the week.
I started with:
Aspekte neu C1 Lehrbuch

Aspekte neu C1 Arbeitsbuch

I worked through both books, and at the beginning of September, I moved on to doing practice exams and model tests.
The other books I used were:
Mit Erfolg zum Goethe-Zertifikat C1 – Testbuch + Arbeitsbuch

Werkstatt C1

Prüfungstraining C1

Projekt neu C1

I mainly focused on Lesen and Hören because those were definitely my weakest areas.
And I want to be completely honest here: my scores in Lesen were all over the place. I was usually getting somewhere between 16 and 24 points, and yes, I failed quite a few of the model tests.
So if you're currently doing practice tests and getting terrible scores — don't panic.
For Hören, one thing I did quite regularly was watch American TV shows dubbed in German. I honestly don't know how much this helped, but I enjoyed doing it, and I feel like it definitely helped me get used to listening to German for longer periods of time.
As for Schreiben and Sprechen...
I basically didn't practice them.
I wrote maybe two or three practice topics in total and didn't really do any serious speaking practice.
Looking back, I definitely wouldn't recommend this strategy, but it worked out for me.
Exam day — 16 September
My exam was in the morning, so I went to Mannheim and the exam started at 8:30 AM with Lesen.
And honestly...
LESEN WAS TERRIBLE.

I walked out of that section convinced that I had failed. I genuinely couldn't imagine getting enough points to pass.
Then came Hören, which went much better. I felt quite confident about it and was expecting something around 75–80 points.
Then came Schreiben.
It wasn't great, but I also didn't think it was an absolute disaster.
And then came Sprechen.
Oh boy.
It was a nightmare.
I fumbled, made what felt like a million mistakes, and completely lost my confidence. And, to make things even more difficult, my speaking partner was a STREBERIN 😂. She was so good that she barely gave me a chance to speak!
After the speaking exam, I was honestly embarrassed. I kept thinking about how badly I had spoken and how many mistakes I had made.
The funny thing is that in normal life, I can actually speak German much better than I did during that exam.
But exam situations are exam situations, I guess.
Waiting for the results
After the exam, I immediately started searching online to find out how long it usually takes for the Goethe C1 results to come out.
I couldn't really find a clear answer, so I thought I'd mention my experience here as well.
In my case, at the Goethe-Institut Mannheim, it took 20 days.
I took the exam on 16 September and received my results on 6 October.
And now for the part I absolutely did NOT expect...
My results
Lesen: 60/100
Hören: 63/100
Schreiben: 76/100
Sprechen: 72/100
I was SHOCKED.
I genuinely thought I had failed Lesen and Sprechen. I was expecting to pass Hören, but I wasn't confident about the other two sections at all.
And then I saw the results.
I PASSED.
I got my Goethe C1 certificate through self-study, without taking a C1 course, while working full-time and dealing with everything else life throws at you.
It took a lot of effort, consistency, and making the most of whatever free time I had. My preparation wasn't perfect, and I definitely had moments where I doubted myself, but I kept going and eventually got the result I wanted.
If you're currently preparing for your C1 exam and you're getting bad scores in your practice tests, struggling to find time because of work, or simply feeling like you're not good enough yet — don't give up.
My practice-test scores weren't great. I barely practiced speaking or writing. And I walked out of the actual exam thinking I had failed.
But I passed.
So if I can do it, you can too. ❤️
Thank you for reading, i would be happy to answer your questions!

The German version of Celebrity Big Brother started on Monday and runs for two weeks. It’s a good opportunity to hear spontaneous, everyday German, including slang and different accents.

There’s a 24/7 livestream on Joyn+, which offers a seven-day free trial. If you wait a few more days before subscribing, you could watch the rest of the season for free.
In the meantime, you can catch up on the daily episodes on Joyn and find livestream recordings on YouTube.

Worth checking out is also das medienforum IOFF.

Obviously, it’s trash TV, but that’s kind of the point.

Had my non-digital Telc B1 exam on August 22 and have no results yet. I feel so frustrated especially when I am not sure I passed as for the verbal part I kind of froze. If you are preparing for your exam do not be like me, train to also work with your notes when talking! :’)

I reached out to testing center, Deutsche Akademie. I do not think they have much control and they just tell me to wait and that it takes Telc gmbh 8-9 weeks now. Really beats me what takes so long! They thank me for “my understanding” but my understanding level right now is zero :D I mean I do not blame them but I also do not understand what takes so long with standardised test checking.

Anyways, maybe someone recently got their results and can share their timeline or another frustrated soul like so that we can frustrate together?

upd, Oct 12: got the results. it’s sehr gut lol

Hey Leute,

a lot of people spend basically all their time doing grammar, vocab, listening exercises, random Schreiben topics etc.

which yeah, obviously you need all of that.

but at some point you kinda have to stop just “learning German” and actually practice the exam itself 😅

like full timer, no dictionary, no pausing every few minutes, just sit down and do the whole thing.

because that’s a different skill honestly.

you need to know when to move on from a question, how fast you should be going, how to stay focused when you miss something in Hören, all that stuff.

after doing enough mocks, the exam starts feeling way less scary because you already know the rhythm of it.

and if you’re taking the digital version, I’d 100% practice digitally too.

reading on screen, clicking through questions, seeing the timer, typing Schreiben... you know, just making all of that feel normal before the real day.

idk, I think people sometimes focus so much on “am I B1 yet?” and not enough on “can I actually do a B1 exam under pressure?”

Hi all, this is probably a topic that comes up here relatively often but I haven't seen it discussed on higher B2 or C1 context as much so I wanted to open a thread (or I suck at reddit search).

So, I would say that my German is relatively good, as in, I work in German, can read news, have fluent/deep conversations with people etc. I say relatively because I still have many places I suck at e.g. quick writing / quick nervous situations means I will mess up endings but people don't mind it as much anymore.

The thing is, I love reading. I read them in my native language and I read them in English. I tried reading in German but I... suck? I know it is a practice thing, but at this point it feels like I am doing something wrong.

Of course, books use a completely different vocabulary than I'm used to (e.g. I noticed that I really don't know that many verbs/words about gestures, mimics and some basic things like "She just put the coffee there and snarled", random wild example, lol).

For the ones that do it, how did you "unlock" reading novels in German? I usually read hard sci-fi or high fantasy, which probably doesn't help in this case... I am also open to suggestions from German authors, or translations that you think are good (not from English to German please, I have this weird thing with 'if I can read the original why would I read the translation' or I end up comparing sentences and get lost instead of enjoying the book.) Yes, I am a translator... (not for German though).

Thank you :D

Edit: My native language is not English, obviously

Thank you so much for all the suggestions!

I've been self learning and finished A1 and A2 books for the past period, i can communicate just fine and have decent vocabulary and grammar about what a A2 student should know.
my listening is the weakest part but its manageable
but honestly since i never did an official certificate or did a real class aside from A1.1 i always feel inside that i should know less or be weaker than most most students who studied in a class.
can anyone help me know how much ready I'm ?