I'm thinking of moving to Germany from the UK

Hey, well where to start... I am a 24 yr old British uni student and for quite a few years I have been thinking of moving to Germany; three German exchanges, loads of good german friends in England and countless trips there have left me with quite a soft spot for the country. Therefore I am thinking of doing my masters there, but reading this forum has kinda reminded me how hard moving to a foreign country is and I suppose I want some reassurance that what I plan to do is realistic.

My German is intermediate, I have an A-Level in it, decent grade (tho about 5 years ago now), but I know that is hardly fluent. I would have to pass a TestDAF german exam to get into uni there and plan to spend a good few months at a goethe institute lang school preparing for it before I move, but in your experience how long did it take you to be sufficiently fluent in German to actually be able to make German friends/be remotely included lol. In addition how easy did you find it to settle in, and what reasons did you have for moving there in the first place?

A masters degree in Germany takes two years, so it is a big commitment in time and effort (tho cheaper to complete than in england) and in some ways would be a semi perm move (I am a mature student so beyond the age of moving back home during the holidays). My intention would also be to stay there after I had finished, being able to benefit from having a German qualification as my highest. So, I do have a plan, but still... ANY ADVICE??? :-)

Hey Skeet welcome.

So what exactly are your questions and what do you exactly want to know?

Hey! Moaning about the place is one of the great benefits of being here!

No, if you want to go to Germany, do it! There will be challenges along the way. But that sort of thing is character building!

To address this specific question: whether or not you can/do make German friends is not necessarily directly proportional to your ability to speak the language.
When I arrived in the early 80s my German was limited to school "O" level plus some trips with my parents through Germany/Switzerland. Thus I could avoid starvation in a restaurent (thats the first stage of language knowledge). To cut a longish story short I got involved with a gliding club and made friends there many of whom I count as active friends today. So one progressed to standing on the edge of a group trying to understand what they are saying (stage II). After a while you understand most and start to contribute (Stage III). Later you get so involved, take on responsibilities & end up telling THEM how to do things (stage IV).

I guess it was between stages III & IV I met my future wife

BTW: I found it easier to learn to fly than to speak German! However last Wednesday (holiday here) I flew a passenger - he was British - and my passenger-flying patter is in German so that was quite hard...

At 24, you don't really count as a mature student in Germany, where they start university at the age of 20 and take around 5 years to complete their course. So the good news is that, in terms of age, you'll fit right in.

You didn't mention if you already had a specific course lined up, but there are many Master's courses offered in English. These won't really help you with learning German or with making German friends, but they might be worth a look. See: DAAD International Programmes.

hey thanks for your replies! Yes, I think the fact that I wont be alot older than most other students will be when i start will be a great help, i suppose I just wanted some encouragment! I have sort of chosen a few courses through the daad already, but I will apply when I know my german is good enough to pass the entry tests. I could alway however spend a year in Germany first if I found my german wasn't good enough if I had to, so I will see what happens!

You obviously all like it there otherwise you still be there...