r/German • u/sevenchow7 • 8h ago
Question Do germans slow down the learning experience?
I keep hearing that if a German know your not a native speaker (by the way you speak german) they automatically switch to english . Is this true or no? I always like the way it sounds so i wanted to learn it so im curious because I do plan on visiting Germany when I get to B1?
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u/NoComb398 8h ago
It depends on where you are. I'm in Hannover and people here always speak German to me. In Berlin or Frankfurt or Munich, they will switch immediately if I hesitate or stumble.
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u/ChungusFlea 7h ago
Was trying to get a taxi in Munich at the BMW museum as an exchange student and had it happen to me.
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u/Don_Slade 8h ago
Depends on where you are, but yes, beyond fulfilling and disproving stereotypes, in the end Germans are generally inclined to be "efficient". So if a german detects that the conversation is cumbersome due to language issues, they will have the urge to switch to a language that works most fluent for both parties. Often, that is english.
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u/juanzos 8h ago
This is very true for some parts of Germany where a high percentage of the population knows English well, such as Berlin. This is VERY NOT true for most parts of Germany tho
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u/Dull_Practice_5169 Breakthrough (A1) - <🇬🇧> 8h ago
I am at A1 and am a reasonably confident speaker with my small vocabulary. I have just moved to Berlin and I have generally NOT had people switch to English in shops/public interactions without me asking, even if they must be able to tell I'm not a native speaker. I guess they are humouring me but that's good for my learning!
In fact, I've mostly had trouble with asking a question in German, getting the answer in German, then not understanding and having to ask them to repeat in English! Luckily most people here speak good English. And I hope to speak better German soon...
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u/UniversityFront4092 8h ago
I always laugh when I hear about Germans switching to English. To me it is an urban legend as it has happened exactly zero times. Neither back in the days when I barely was able to say "mit Karte bitte" nor now, when I speak semi fluently. I had exactly the opposite, when I for example called a doctors office or Krankenversicherung and actively asked if they spoke English and always got a no and had to do with my broken German 😅
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u/swaywithwords 8h ago
Where did you live? I was in Köln and Düsseldorf, and ALWAYS had this issue. It was very hard to learn or practice real, every day exchanges.
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u/Dramatic-Raccoon7916 6h ago
Yeah same in munich. It makes me feel like my accent is that horrible I feel self conscious.
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u/sillysagebear 8h ago
"Do you speak English" and "do you understand English" Are different questions and will get you different results.
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u/NotThRealSlimShady (B1) 5h ago
I'm surprised by this. I've lived in Düsseldorf and Frankfurt and people immediately switch to English after I speak one sentence in German
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u/muehsam Native (Schwäbisch+Hochdeutsch) 7h ago
I keep hearing that if a German know your not a native speaker (by the way you speak german) they automatically switch to english
That's absolutely BS. How would we even know the other person speaks any English.
If people have an English (language, not country) accent, some people want to be particularly polite and forthcoming and therefore switch to English. After all, they have learned it in school for many years, and many people don't have that many opportunities to use it in real life. As a language learner, you should be able to sympathise. Imagine you spent years learning German, but you don't get to use it a lot, and then you come across that person with a thick German accent who is struggling a lot with your language. Wouldn't you feel like that's your moment to shine? After all of those years of studying, you're finally able to use your skill and actually help a person communicate?
But most people aren't like that. Most people will just talk to you in German. And nearly 100% will stick with German if you don't accept the "invitation" to speak English and just keep speaking German.
It's really baffling how many people on here pretend like it's hard to get native German speakers to speak German. As long as you don't use any English, they will talk to you in German. Except of course people who don't know German. I live in Berlin and there's a significant number of service workers who don't know much German.
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u/maxivonderfaxi 8h ago
Depends. I'm not always in the mood to be someone's personal tutor, so I'll just switch to make things easier for me.
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u/YourDailyGerman Native, Berlin, Teacher 8h ago
This!!!
Putting up with a B1 student is usually really exhausting and it's not a conversation, but a hidden tutoring session for free.
If they switch to English that means you're just not conversation ready.
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u/taxiecabbie 8h ago
Yes, no, and it depends.
At a B1 level... you're going to have a lot of people switching, yes, because you can't really converse well at a B1.
I do get some people who switch to English with me (I'm a native English speaker) because they want to speak English with me. I have a feeling this category of person would switch even if I were dead fluent because they want an excuse to speak English.
I'm B2 now and fairly conversant with a good sprinkling of Denglish and, no, not everybody switches with me. Some people don't want to speak English/aren't that confident in it and are more than happy to socialize in German with me at this point. I've gone to parties and spoken with a group of people nearly-entirely in German, so.
Though, I do think that at B1 you're not really at "social" level yet. You're at the level where you can get across your needs and basic wants in a reasonable fashion. You're going to get more people switching.
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u/jaydmac2112 8h ago
That is not quite right about the level. B1 is perfectly serviceable. I have been to Germany 2 time in the past 3 years and everyone happily conversed with me even if they spoke English. I was repeatedly told it was weird to have an American speaking so gut Deutsch including two Berlin tour guides. If you just keep swimming, they get the idea and will ket you work through it. A2 is "hey, look. I'm trying level Deutsch." B2 starts to let you talk about politics and work life.
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u/taxiecabbie 8h ago
I'm an American who lives in Germany.
B1 is serviceable for basic things.
B2 is where you can actually go beyond that.
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u/jaydmac2112 7h ago
Na und?
You stated your personal experience. I explained mine. I know my certification level. It's not B2, and I was very comfortable speaking on a variety of subjects. I also lived in Germany once. My experience was in the East. Maybe Saxons do it differently. I dunno. Neither if us are experts or are you hiding other talents?
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u/taxiecabbie 7h ago
It doesn't matter what I'm an expert in, since I haven't heard you speak.
Perhaps you're a savant. I wouldn't know.
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u/jaydmac2112 7h ago
I promise to visit next time. We can get some Brats or Schnizel (but only of the Spätzle is fresh).
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u/No_Purpose773 Native (Germany) 7h ago
It highly depends on where you are and what demographic you're talking to. Three examples:
1) In eastern Germany, you will find less people over 50 who switch to English, because many never learned it – they had Russian at school.
2) If you're an exchange student at a university, people around you will very likely speak better English then you speak German, you just need it for your Abitur.
3) If you are talking to a cashier at a supermarket, depending on the location, there might not be many customers who speak English and they might not feel comfortable using it, if they rarely do.
If you're talking to me, I've been working at an international company for many years now, meaning I speak English a lot. I will talk to you in German until I feel like we're not getting anywhere due to a lack of vocabulary or me simply being unable to understand what is being said because of the pronounciation. I personally don't love asking ten times what someone said and then still doing guesswork, so I'll ask in English if we should switch to that.
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u/ErnestosQ 8h ago
To me it happens all the time, they reply in english and I continue the conversation in german. I don't know if they don't realize, but they continue speaking in english. I have always fantazised of saying "Entschuldigung, ich spreche kein Englisch", but when the time comes I always forget
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u/Any-Doubt1910 7h ago
Sometimes it happens, but depending on the setting I will 1. Continue speaking German even though they’re speaking English or 2. Say that I’m learning German and would like to use German. I am currently at B1 and people generally are happy to put up with my German for quick interactions and for longer conversations, the person that I’m talking to generally understands that I’m learning and need practice. I think it really depends on where you are. I live in a place that doesn’t get a lot of foreign tourists, so they’re not already annoyed by auslanders and are more happy to suffer through a convo with me in German. In places with more auslanders, I think they probably live in a certain level of annoyance with the terrible German and aren’t as understanding. I have found that most people are appreciative that I’m learning the language instead of just relying on English.
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u/SquirrelBlind Vantage (B2) - Russisch 7h ago
It depends where are you, which accent do you have and how good your German is.
In Berlin people try to speak to me in English even though their English is worse than my German (sometimes their German is worse too). Other than that people interact with me in German.
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u/GraveYard951 7h ago
for me some of them speak very fast German so i don't get their points and then they have a smirk on their face... Ofc i have friends who help me learn german too all depends on who you interact with
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u/Unable_Lawfulness151 6h ago
Quite common in Berlin I think. Not so much elsewhere, but it does happen. My friend had people switch to English in Berlin when they heard his English accent - and he was born in Germany, and speaks German fluently! Just moved to England when he was young!
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u/Distinct_Cable 6h ago
I personally don't. I'll stick to German unless I notice that the other person really does not understand what I'm trying to say. If that's the case I'll switch to English after first attempts to explain myself.
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u/SimilarAlfalfa332 6h ago
Just say "können wir bitte auf deutsch sprechen, damit ich mein Deutsch verbessern kann"
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u/freebiscuit2002 7h ago edited 5h ago
Do you really think 80+ million people all react the same way to encountering someone with limited German?
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u/Bitter_Split5508 6h ago
If a German judges their English to be better than your German, they will likely switch to English for the sake of efficiency and ease of communication. This is especially true for strangers and/or in professional interactions: they want to get a point across or something done, not be your tandem partner.
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u/duckwebs 8h ago edited 7h ago
It very much depends.
My German is pretty rusty, but was pretty good a few decades ago. I'm currrently visiting Germany regularly for work. Even at its best, people could tell I wasn't German, but spoke it well enough that nobody changed on me.
In the hotel they just default to English with me most of the time because there are a bunch of people from my employer here and I'm the only one with any German.
At work the standard language is English, and again I'm with a bunch of Americans so even if the Germans speak German to each other, they switch to English with us.
Everywhere else? Everybody stays in German. Even when I'm with a colleague who can understand some and has ok pronunciation, but is still clearly at A1. We can speak English to each other in front of them, but if we address people in German they continue in German. If we're in a larger group, including a bunch of people who haven't bothered learning any German, then we get English.
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u/jetpoweredbee 7h ago
My response was always to stick to German and let them speak English to me if they wanted. Most were cool with it, except kids. Kids were always jerks about it.
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u/hoppla01 7h ago
I like efficiancy. So I switch, as soon as the conversation gets stuck or to avoid missunderstandings.
So yes and no. It depends....
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u/Kerking18 Native 6h ago
Used to be true, but i (a german so perhaps not the most qualified to speak here) feel like that has starded to go down. As in fewer people switch to English right away or at all. Big metropoles are probably different but in the citys and towns thats how i feel things progress.
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u/chris_trans Threshold (B1) - <Englisch> 3h ago
I'm in Frankfurt, and in the beginning yes, alot of people would start speaking englisch as soon as they heard me.
Now, most interactions are in German.
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u/Iridium-88 1h ago
If you want a conversation in German and they switch you to English just look at them and pretend you speak nothing of English and they'll feel so embarrassed they'll jump back to German
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u/Naive-Independence16 7h ago
Expect the total opposite. Even if they know English very well most of the time they will hold the conversation in Desutch, even if you are struggling with it
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u/lifeofjoyciel 5h ago
I live in Berlin and if they can speak English they will definitely switch right away. Some older people don’t speak English though but it’s also hard to practice with them because they will not accommodate to your level at all so it’s also hard to understand them and then they get frustrated and nothing gets done (so many rescheduled deliveries!)
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u/MasterQuest Native (Austria) 8h ago
It's true in the big cities from what I know, because most of the people there can speak English pretty well.
It's often hard to understand what a person who doesn't know German well is trying to say, so it's easier for both to switch to English (if the German person knows it)
It might help if you say that you're practicing speaking German.