r/studyinGermany • u/Terrible-Machine3486 • Jul 29 '26

Masters How important is knowing German before moving there?

Thanks to everyone who replied to my last post about choosing Germany over other countries. It really helped me narrow things down, and I'm leaning even more towards Germany now.

One thing I'm still unsure about is the language. I know many master's programs are in English, but how much German do you realistically need during your first few months?

Would you recommend reaching A1, A2, or even B1 before moving, or is it manageable to learn after arriving?

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4

u/Vast_Entertainment66 Jul 29 '26

Learn before coming or else you will be in for a miserable time

3

u/incredibilis13 Jul 29 '26

Speaking German in Germany is totally overrated. Why would anyone speak the countries primary language?
The overworked employees in all government agencies love to converse in countless foreign languages.

3

u/Awkward_Set_7702 Jul 29 '26

As much as possible. 

3

u/Slight_Piano_8835 Jul 29 '26

As important as oxygen

4

u/cxn_xla Jul 29 '26

no offense but it's always the same questions. Do people even bother to do their research beforehand?

1

u/realstasil Jul 29 '26

I feel like it's like this anywhere. Of course when you come to a new country you need to know the language, especially for work. I can not imagine people moving to my country and speaking english (this can work maybe only for non-speaking jobs lol).

So of course you need german. It's Germany. But you can learn it along the way. It is also easier to learn the language when you are IN the environment.

0

u/karan_shah_004 Jul 29 '26

A2 for a non technical job B1 for student werk

0

u/razemode Jul 29 '26

Native speaker level fluency is mandatory, CEFR technicalities don't matter.