I'm thinking of moving to Germany for love

Question for the Brits living in Germany... or of course, any other English speakers living in Germany.

Whilst over for the World Cup last year, I met a German woman living in Cologne and fell in love with her and the country.

I'm a journalist in the UK and feel ready to move on and live in North Rhine-Westphalia with her.

Here's the catch - they didn't teach German at my school, just French and Spanish so I speak very little German (I'm trying to learn, believe me).

This is the million dollar question: do any of you have words of hope for someone like me? Do you have any experiences of moving to Germany without speaking much of the lingo and making a go of it?

The only thing I can think of doing is work in an Irish Pub.

I have all the will and hunger in the world to learn new skills but without trying to sound like a snob (I'm not, honest!) if I worked in an Irish Pub the chances are I'd never see the person I moved to Germany to be with due to the anti-social hours.

Sorry for the long post, but I'm really keen to hear some of your stories.

Thanks, in advance, for taking the time!

GSF_UK

when i came here, i started giving private english lessons,i put an ad. in local paper, then later i had a conversation group, through a local language school. i recently did an online TEFL course, just so i could learn the basics, and maybe it looks better, as if you are serious, on your cv.( though i must point out it is not strictly necessary). there seems to be loads of work in the munich area, so even if you start with a couple of lessons a week, you can build on that. of course, it is usually cash in hand, too, so i dont know your current situation, but if you are unemployed for 1 month, you can claim benefits in another eu country for 3 months.thats how it used to work, anyway. its not much, but its better than nowt!. also if you where in germany, local charities sometimes run classes for immigrants and asylum seekers, much cheaper than language school or ' volksschule'( €5 instead of €145)check out clasified adds for your region, on TT .any questions, let us know. , good luck

I'd see where hte nearest British or US military base is to where you want to live. Thats what I did for a year when I came here. Lived in deepest Oberpfalz without a clue what the locals were saying compared to my VHS course!

most of us

Basically just go for it.

Depends maybe on what your skills and qualifications are, as a journalist you may be able to get some English writing jobs

Yes. Read this first: Reasons for moving to Germany and then do a search (upper-right corner), there are a number of threads in which people have recounted their experiences. Good luck!

Ahhhh, just do it. I moved here for love too and knew very little of the language (still just getting by!). You won't know unless you try.

When I got here I couldn't speak a word, and knew nobody. That was ages ago, now I speak the lingo a bit, enough to buy a flat here and argue in German at the Eigentuemerversammlung (look it up). Cologne is one of the four cities (Berlin, Hamburg, Munich being the others) where Germans reckon life is good, but usually for different reasons. Go for it. You can always fly home.

There are some English-language employers in Cologne, such as Ford, actually worked for Ford Europe myself (half Warley, half Cologne) and Cologne is quite a big media town being home to RTL for example.
But how feasible it is for you to work in your field only in English and without being on secondment from an English-language publisher, I'm not sure.
As Kay notes, the search function could bring something back and try online job searches too.
Good luck!

Lived in Munich for over 7 years, can barely speak a word of German. Good luck to you!

Came to Germany over 7 years ago with 5.000 gbp and no word of German - still here and fluent in accented and not always grammatically correct German

What I'd say is do it -what have you got to loose?

Freelance writing, teaching English and English proofreading seem to be the three most obvious sources of income for you. No reason why it won't work out, so go for it.

Why are you so sure that there will be no journalism work for you? Without knowing anything about the particular type of work you do I would think that seeking freelance jobs in that area might be an option even if you live in Germany. In addition to that many international companies have branch offices in NRW, especially in Düsseldorf. There might journalistic / PR work to do there as well.
Best of luck to you!

Thanks to everyone who's replied here.

It's really given me food for thought and appreciate your comments.

If I make the move (with every day that passes it seems more likely!) I shall attempt to post it on here.

All the very best,

GSF_UK (West Yorkshire).

If you're living with a German woman then you'll obviously be mixing with her family and friends and you can pick up the language from there.

the same, but after 17 years!

I picked it up as I went along.

I disagree with anyone that says "you can just pick up" a language. I know people who have tried the "picking it up" method, and after years they still cant speak the language properly. Take an intensive german language course. -- thats what I did, and it worked out great -- There are some pretty cheap ones. They are usually a few hours a day for a few months, but totally worth it.

I´m quite happy with my German, and I don´t get any complaints from others. I´m able to express myself in any way I wish.

I admit I did a couple of writing courses, but as far as the spoken language is concerned, I just did an awful lot of listening and avoided speaking English as much as possible. The best thing was doing a three year Ausbildung, though - the training for my job.

If you spend a lot of time in the company of people who speak only German then of course you begin to pick it up. At first it all sounds like meaningless babble, then individual words will stand out, eventually a complete phrase. It doesn't take too long to begin understanding a good proportion of what you hear, although at this point your speaking skills will probably still be weak.

It's all about listening carefully and being prepared to use whatever German you happen to know. provided you keep mixing with natives, it will continue to grow from there. I arrived in The Uckermark with basic schoolboy German and after a year I was speaking with confidence. Maybe not correctly but does that really matter? But then I was constantly in the company of non-English speakers so I was forced to learn fast.

i'd say follow your heart and all the right things will follow

keep learning german. ask your gf to speak to you only in german. it is easier than you think once you get the basics down. if you are a journalist you already have the facility with words. then i would advise you to look for work in your field, as previous posters have said. what about freelancing stories to media back home?

Hi

I'd say: If you move here for love reasons, go for it. Maybe you underestimate the power of love. Her love to you will give her the right words and way to teach you. Your love to her will help opening your ears and behind them to understand what she's teaching you.

Go for it

shibhile

Since getting a German boyfriend my language understanding is alot better. It's like have a tutor around all the time so you learn when you actually feel like it, and they don't mind answering dumb questions and you don't feel as silly asking them.

I'm also thinking of moving to Germany for love...but my bf is being transferred over to Frankfurt. Can someone give me some pearls of wisdom as far as looking for work? i don't speak a lick of german and my background is in insurance and real estate. (i'm sure that's going to be real handy.) I thought about teaching english or being a nanny, but i feel that it's going to be a hard long battle looking for work...any advice?

hi guys

Be entrepreneurial and take risks. You never know what might come off. I came here with 2 yers of German between 14 & 16 and a break of about 10 years without German. I moved with a voluntary project run by European Voluntary Service. It is a good way to test out a country with no real commitment. Then after mths I put ads on the Schwarz Brett of th Uni website http://dsb.uni-leipzig.de/anzeigenausgabe...zeigen=sprachen

A picked up work here and there, as well as the language. Now I have my own company providing language services and acquisition, as well as soon a business community website. A bridge for ex-pats and German speakers of English.

The industries you may want to consider are teaching, "journalism" or other subjects taught in English. Try the media schools or others that offer some tech or business based courses, as well as the International School. The IT and construction industry has a lot of ex-pats. Or try forward thinking companies, like

http://www.spreadshirt.net/en/GB/T-Shirt/Spreadshirt-1342/

Who employ English speakers. You would be surprised the companies that have English as their working or semi-working language.

There are many things you could do. And the status of freelancer or self employed is hard work but very attractive. As a Brit it is quite easy.

Mix with the community as quickly as you can, and network in a business sense. First stop would be www.xing.com. Choose your groups well and carefully. I have got lots of work that way.

All you need is the push, the will to put effort in and the reward will come.

If you would like to get more concrete info check out www.trans-lingo.com

We would be more than willing to help you on your way, and have between us about on average 12 years of experience living here and speaking the lingo.

Good Luck!

Hi
I came about 10 years ago and also had no previous German class. I really think you can get by with just English but I think learning the language is essential to truly understand and appreciate this culture. Otherwise you will never move past the stereotypes (Germans are cold, Germans are anal, The Hermans are miserable, etc...). Of course, don't get me wrong--they are, but you will learn to laugh at these things instead of constantly getting ticked off about it. I took a general three month course and that was all I needed. You learn the rest living here. Of course it is an investment. If you are sure of the relationship, then it is worth it. Have you thought about freelance journalism? You could still do that from here, couldn't you?
good luck