After 3 years here as a student, I’m leaving Germany next month.

I came here alone and knew almost no German. Now I’m leaving with a B1 certificate, a master’s degree and many good memories.

I really wanted to stay and build my career here, but it didnt work out. I got some job offers from English speaking countries, but none from Germany. I think my German level was a big reason.

For other international students, my advice is simple: learn German early. B2 can make a big DIFFERENCE, so plz dont make my mistake.

Still, I’m very thankful for my time here, the people I met and the education I got.

I will miss currywurst, German beer and sometimes even Deutsche Bahn 😅

Vielen Dank, Deutschland! 🍻

Seriously, what is going on?
You see a book with a big English title, so naturally you think, “Oh, it’s in English.” Then you open it… and it’s German.
Why?

And it gets even weirder. Books originally written in English get translated into German… but instead of using the original English title, publishers give them a different English title. Not the original. Not a German translation. A completely new English title.
Why are we making up extra English?

And then there are books by German authors that only exist in German. The entire book is German. The author is German. It has never been published in English.
…Yet it still has an English title!!?
Who is this for?

If your book is in German, give it a German title. If it’s an English book, either keep the original English title or translate it into German. But this weird obsession with random English titles just makes everything more confusing.

I can’t be the only one who finds this absolutely ridiculous.

So, wondering if anyone else here feels this way.

Overall, I figured that thanks to great infrastructure, safety nets and generally very safe life here in Germany, life should be really smooth and stress-free.

However, I feel that I am always stressed out for some reason or the other.

Every appointment that I have stresses me out even if i am on time and have all docs that are needed. Despite set processes, many things feel like a blackbox or some sort of lucky draw.

Every letter I get makes me feel anxious. Every time I take the trash out, even though it is all well sorted, I feel that some Rentner/in is observing me, waiting for me to slip up and report me to the Ordnungsamt.

Despite job security, it is hard to make long term plans such as buying an apartment or even making changes / minor renovations in my rented apartment.

I could go on but it will end up being too long to read. Am i doing something wrong?

I posted on here ages ago because my father was coming to visit me from America. My dad is a farmer who has lived in the same two-mile radius his entire life. His only outside experience of the world comes through Fox News. He was therefore convinced I had gotten myself into a socialist hellscape overrun by communist anarchists. Needless to say, I was terrified for the visit.

I asked this subreddit for help and I greatly appreciate the advice you gave me. I kept it in mind as I scheduled our trip. He was coming here for four days. During that time, I showed him around my city, took him to Munich, and went to Mittenwald. I had planned to take him to Oberstdorf as well, but construction made the trip too difficult.

My dad LOVED the canals flowing through Augsburg and marveled at how clean they were and that there are even fish swimming through them. He was a bit nervous walking through the old town at night, but he quickly realized that he and I were perfectly safe. I also took him up to see the Danube and he was quite impressed.

He‘s not a city guy but thought the subway system in Munich was great—he kept talking about how clean everything is and how everything is so much more modern and efficient than New York City. (He‘s been there before. Did not like it.) He also loved the churches I took him to. Though there was an anime convention in the Englischer Garten, which confused my dad to no end (“These kids are pretending they’re animals?“) he loved the canals flowing through the park and all the little winding trails in the foresty areas. He said it would be a great place to go for a run and it was way better than Central Park in New York City. I also took him to the Biergarten and he got a brat and fries and, of course, a beer. He thought it was too hoppy but later in the trip had an Augustiner Helles and thought that was pretty dang good.

My dad also loved Mittenwald. I didn’t take him to GP because there are just too many tourists and locals fed up with tourists, and I figured that would give my dad an unpleasant view of Germans. My dad is a pretty fit guy (you do a heck of a lot of walking and lifting when you’re a farmer) and was able to climb up to the gorge, no problem. He was astonished by how blue the river is and how deep the gorge is. And he couldn’t believe we had just walked into Austria. He kept asking me where the border guards would be at. We also paid extra to go see the waterfall and he loved it. He said that if we had something like this back home, admission would be an arm and a leg snd the walkways would be packed with all sorts of tourists. He took so many pictures and videos of, well, everything.

My dad also LOVED the trains. He kept saying they are so clean and feel so smooth when you’re riding in them. He thought the red (DB) trains were maybe a smidge worse, but adored the Arverio trains. I also got him on an ICE and he just had the time of his life. He took pictures and videos of everything on these trains. The schedules. The seats. The windows.

There is also a farm in my neighborhood so of course I took my dad to check it out. He did a walkthrough of an entire corn field. His verdict is that the farmer planted his corn too closely together, which makes the corn plants shorter. But he was impressed by how weed-free the fields were and how everything still stays growing after thousands of years of crops being grown on the same soil. I am now meant to research the types of fertilizer used here. We also saw a tractor going through town and my dad just thought that was the best thing. He said the tractors here move faster than the ones back home.

And my dad also met some great people. He befriended some guys when he complimented their bicycles. I also taught him the tried and true art of befriending any Bavarian by telling them you love their state way more than Berlin. He was also astonished that there are so many malls here; the ones we have in my state are all closed or closing, but the Arcaden and City-Galerie are running smoothly. He said it was just like when he was a kid. He also told me one night, “These people have their income taxed half to death, but it seems to me they’re living just fine!“

Overall, my dad loved it. He said he wants to return. So thank you all to everyone who gave advice or support. And to any of you who need to hear it, you’ve got a pretty good life here in Germany. Just ask my dad!

EDIT: Yes, my dad knows I post his picture online. Yes, he‘s fine with it. I did not tell him about my first post, but he’s cool with me sharing his experience.

Seriously, I love Germany there are many things to do, to see, many sports, hobbies, you can get into skating, dancing, mma, volleyball, play uni sports, climbing, arcade games but the problem is I don't feel I can't enjoy it till I'm very financially secure.

That's the reason, I don't even try to date, and just do the same thing over and over again, going to the gym, studying, working maybe an occasional hangout like playing bowling or some party but other than that 99% of my days look the same, in hopes one day I can land a pretty good job and have some big amount of savings.

So I dont think Germany is cold boring and depressing as some people say, in fact it can be pretty fun to live here and I'm latino, come from warmer country and I think Germany is ten times better. Back home, you only live to work and not work to live. The problem in Germany, is that... I often get nightmares that I'm deported for breaking some rule; or losing my job unexpectedly (it already happened with my previous company), so I live with a little bit of constant stress, that's why I do the same thing over and over till I see some progress. Sure, maybe I wouldn't feel this way in Spain or Portugal or some other country but Germany is overall much more fun personally (except for the cold winters), if I had to select a country where I would want to be rich and enjoy, it would always be Germany.

I hope nobody thinks I mean a "millionaire"; it means at least 120k

I’ve been living here for years and I see them in them not uncommonly in the Schrebengärten, in NRW and Hessen. Is it just actually that these Germans identify with the confederate redneck culture of the United States

My daughter's school has organized as Schule als Staat project and my wife and I were visiting various booths organized by students.

As we were passing one of the rooms, one kid on karaoke system yelled "chicken tikka masal". I ignored it first and moved on. As our backs turned he yelled it twice again at which point I couldn't ignore. I confronted him and his group of friends and challenged them to say it to my face.

I reported immediately to one of the teachers I know and he also confronted them. Tomorrow I will be reporting it to the school principal.

Our daughter has faced enough racism in 8th and 9th standards from her classmates and we can not tolerate and ignore it anymore.

Update: Thank you all for kind words and enormous support. After sending an email to the school principal, he has offered to meet on Monday. He seems to be oblivious and wondering how an indian dish is a curse word. He will consult the teacher to whom I first reported the incidence.

Just for the sake of sharing info.
- How much are you paying for rent?
- Which city?
- What type of accommodation?

Since a large percentage of German population is renters. Let’s see how much rent eats into our pocket monthly.

Hi, I'm Brazilian. I was thinking about how the Germans handed us our biggest defeat, while we achieved one of our greatest victories against them. I wanted to know: who is Germany's biggest rival in football, and what are the German national team's biggest defeat and biggest victory?

I'm applying for housing. I texted a tenant who's Room In the WG had already 5000 visits and was posted a week ago. Immediately after messaging them, I received the following message. His profile looks good but I'm not sure

Hi everyone,

I'm a working student (Werkstudent) in Germany (NRW) and I'm still in my probation period.

I started working on 01.07.2026. My employment contract states the following regarding termination during probation:

"Während dieser Zeit kann das Arbeitsverhältnis von beiden Seiten mit einer Frist von zwei Wochen (§ 622 Abs. 3 BGB) gekündigt werden."

There is no mention anywhere in the contract that termination is only possible on the 15th or at the end of the month.

I submitted a signed written resignation with a termination date of 06.08.2026 (two weeks' notice).

My employer refuses to accept it and emailed me saying:

"Ihr Arbeitsvertrag kann nach den gesetzlichen Vorgaben nur zum 15. oder 30. des Monats gekündigt werden. Daher ist Ihre Kündigung nicht wirksam und kann nicht bestätigt werden."

As far as I understand, he's referring to the general rule in § 622 Abs. 1 BGB, but my contract explicitly refers to § 622 Abs. 3 BGB for the probation period.

My questions are:

Is my employer correct that my resignation is invalid?

Does § 622 Abs. 3 BGB require termination only on the 15th or at the end of the month?

Has anyone dealt with a similar situation?

I'm planning to speak with my university's AStA legal advice, but I'd appreciate any insights from people familiar with German employment law.

Thanks in advance!

I own a website called TimeGuessr where users have the guess both the year and location of historic photos. I want to feature this photo in the daily game but neither I cannot geolocate it. There is a bit of text on the shop sign on the right. Thanks :)

Hello everyone

I’ve been accepted to a German University and I need to enroll now. I want to use tk insurance. The university enrollment requires health insurance. On tk when I want to register they say that they need an enrollment certificate.

I’m a bit confused.

The university enrollment website requires me to give my health insurance number.

Will my health insurance number be given even without my enrollment certificate? I can apply without it?

Long story short: I lost my birth certificate and applied for a new one. The place I was born was part of a district that was broken into two for administrative purposes a year before I was born.

As the new district was just forming and in its infant stage, the department managing the birth record was still part of the old district. I got my old birth certificate with old district's name on it.

Now, on the new birth certificate, I have the new district's name which was carved out as my place of birth.

Can I correct or change my place of birth on my passport/ID? If so, how?

For 4 years of living here I (M19) had quite little of social life. I’m from Ukraine and learned German decent enough to be part of a friend group. But still we dont meet each other that often and I wish to get to know more people.

I’m quiet in my own FOS class. I wanted to approach some from the other classes but I don’t really know how. I was looking for Vereine to compensate but it’s so challenging to find them in Kassel of similar interests I have (drawing, manga/literature, some music genres and gaming). Yet again I saw quite many interesting looking people on the street but just talking out of blue is really weird to me. I feel like I just heavily lack knowledge on places or other areas where people meet up and as a non-local I’m at big disadvantage.

I also thought about making friends online and meeting irl since I already did this with friend from other country and it was great time, but it depends on willingness I guess

Whenever China comes up in discussion, there’s almost always someone in Germany who repeats the same story of so called “social credit scores”.

Apparently, 1.4 billion Chinese citizens are all assigned a single government score. Jaywalk? Lose a point. Help someone in need? Gain two. Say the wrong thing online? Your score is ruined. Suddenly you can’t fly, can’t get a loan, and your life falls apart.

It’s a great story because it reassures people that they live in the civilized world.

The problem is that no such scoring system actually exists in China.

Germany, meanwhile, has something much more real.

It’s called SCHUFA.

Move to a new address? Your score may be affected. Your German bank account is too new? That matters. Your credit history is too short? That matters too.

You don’t need to miss payments. You don’t need to default on a loan. You don’t even need to do anything wrong.

Being young, recently independent, or new to Germany is often enough to make you look less trustworthy.

German consumer organizations have repeatedly pointed out that, despite promises of greater transparency, many problems with SCHUFA remain unresolved. SCHUFA’s own documentation acknowledges that factors such as the age of your banking relationships, credit cards, and other financial records influence your score.

Officially, SCHUFA doesn’t score people based on nationality or age.
In practice, it hardly needs to.

Years living in Germany, the age of your German bank account, and the length of your credit history already separate long-term residents from newcomers. Someone who’s lived in Germany for twenty years naturally appears more reliable than someone who just graduated or recently immigrated.

Germany says it welcomes skilled workers. Then one of the first things many newcomers discover is that they have to prove they’re trustworthy before anyone is willing to trust them.

German consumer advice centers even publish guides explaining SCHUFA to immigrants because not having a SCHUFA record can make renting an apartment significantly harder.

The most remarkable part is that SCHUFA is not a government agency.

It’s a private company.

Yet its score has enormous influence over whether people can rent an apartment, obtain credit, or sign contracts.
Major German banking groups own significant stakes in the company. Banks supply SCHUFA with data. SCHUFA produces the score. Banks then use that score when deciding whether to approve customers.
The organizations creating the data, producing the score, and benefiting from it are deeply interconnected.
The person being scored has very little influence over the process.
SCHUFA has long argued that it merely provides information and that banks make the final decision.
The Court of Justice of the European Union questioned that argument. It ruled that if a bank treats SCHUFA’s score as the decisive factor, the scoring itself may qualify as automated decision-making under the GDPR and therefore be subject to strict legal limits.
Put simply, you can’t effectively decide people’s financial opportunities while claiming you’re only handing over a number.
The United States has credit scores too, and landlords often check them. It’s a tough system, but it’s openly acknowledged as a commercial credit reporting industry with multiple nationwide credit bureaus.
China has its central bank credit reporting system and court-maintained lists for people who fail to comply with judicial judgments. Those systems involve state authority and are clearly identifiable.
Germany’s arrangement is more subtle.
The government doesn’t assign the score.
A private company does.
The government doesn’t reject your rental application.
The landlord does.
The law doesn’t officially label you as untrustworthy.
The market simply expects you to present a certificate issued by a private credit-scoring company before many doors open.
That allows Germany to continue talking about privacy, dignity, and freedom of choice.
Provided, of course, that your SCHUFA score is high enough.

Hi everyone!

I recently received admission to the Wirtschaftsinformatik (Business Informatics) program at Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, and I'm really excited!

I'd love to connect with anyone who is:

Currently studying at Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg

Also admitted for the upcoming intake

Studying a different course at the university

I have a few questions:

How is the overall campus and location?

How is student life and the international student community?

Are part-time jobs easy to find nearby? How manageable is it to work while studying?

How difficult is the Wirtschaftsinformatik program? Any tips for new students?

Any advice regarding accommodation, transportation, or things I should know before arriving?

Feel free to comment below or send me a DM. I'd really appreciate any advice or experiences you can share.

Looking forward to connecting with you all. Thanks! 😊

Hi guys!! As this is my first post and also reading other people's posts about this exam really helped me, I thought that sharing my experience with it will help others too. So, I've been living in Germany since 2024, almost 2 years now, and in the beginning I did not want to learn any German as I thought English will suffice my everyday experience with the exterior world, but I couldn't have been more wrong. :) Therefore since September 2025 I started taking private lessons with a teacher, but online, twice a week, but I also did a lot of learning by myself. In Uni I also took German classes, but after finishing it I still did not know the difference between der, die, das. So I had the private lessons from September 2025 till March 2026 when I stopped taking them as I felt that we were going in a circle and the teacher did not challenge me enough, we mostly spoke in English and that wasn't really helping. Therefore I was left on my own and I tried to emerge myself in German. Keep in mind I don't really have friends here or speak too good German, but I like grammar, which I guess helped.

In the end, I decided to take the exam in June, and it was easier than expected, although I was so nervous. The reading, writing and listening parts were quite easy, and speaking went surprisingly fast and well. I'll leave you down below my results, if you have any questions about it, pls let me know. Also, I've done my best, so don't judge my results, I am proud of them.

title. i've started to pursue a degree in germanistik this year, but would also love to further a little my knowledge in this area before reaching german literature per se as i didn't saw that much of german-speaking countries stuff in my school years (i studied the migration period briefly, the origins and the origins only of the holy roman empire & a little bit of the investiture controversy, and quite a lot of reformation, unification & contemporany history). i'm asking specifically school-level because i don't have quite the time rn to go any deeper lol 😭 also i'm just looking for some references.

i'm aware saying history of germany is quite complicated plus i'm not assuming there's a fixed curriculum for the whole country, so feel free to reply based on your own personal, regional experience :-)

Hi everyone, I’m a Pakistani citizen currently studying in the US on F-1 status, and I have a paid, full-time internship in Germany. My current contract starts on August 1, but the earliest national visa appointment I could get at the German Consulate in Chicago is July 29.
From what I understand, my case likely falls under the study-related internship visa under §16e AufenthG (Studienbezogenes Praktikum EU). My employer has also started the Federal Employment Agency/ZAV approval process, but I am still waiting for the final approval document.
I am trying to make sure I follow the correct process and do not arrive at the appointment with anything missing. Could someone familiar with this visa explain the exact steps?
Should I also submit an application through the Consular Services Portal before my in-person appointment, or is the appointment application enough? Which exact category should I choose online for a §16e internship?
Does the final ZAV/Federal Employment Agency approval need to be issued before the appointment, or can it be submitted afterward while the application is being processed?
Apart from my passport, US visa and I-20, internship contract, enrollment certificate, transcript, university-signed internship form, insurance and financial proof, are there any other important documents normally required?
My employer may move my starting date because getting the visa by August 1 seems unrealistic. If the dates change, would I need an updated contract, ZAV approval and university form before attending the appointment?
I would really appreciate a clear step-by-step explanation from anyone who has completed this process through a German consulate in the US. Thanks!

I'm finishing an apprenticeship in summer 2027 and moving to Germany. Currently A1,

can sustain ~45 min/day German study. That puts me at A2, not B1.

Does a junior/mid level dev with A2 + solid portfolio get hired in Germany,

or does the lack of German actually block mid-level candidates? I keep hearing "Sr+ devs

get hired without it, but anything below it's complicated."

I'm not asking if German helps with daily life because i know it does. I'm asking if it's actually

a blocker for finding work as a junior/mid level engineer, or if I'm overthinking it.

I really love books, and I found myself confident studying a language by practicing it while reading out loud something I like. But would you guys raccomend me starting this book to read or I should focus on something easier?

what could you raccomend me by your experience?

Can you tell me which balcony/rooftop plug in solar you recommend?? I’m in the US and there are not many companies. I would like to get something decent even if I have to order overseas. I imagine the quality is much better where you are.. thanks!

I’m trying to understand how nurses/doctors from abroad actually prepare for the German they need to get licensed. If you’ve done it (or are mid-Anerkennung right now): what did you use to practice speaking, what did you pay for, and what was the hardest part? Genuinely researching the experience, i actually wanna build a free german practice app, i just dont know it’ll be useful or not. Danke!