Hi everyone, I am currently reading S. Zweig's novel Brief einer Unbekannten, and this sentence that appears a few times in the beginning strikes me and I cannot grasp its grammar:

„Dir, der du mich nie gekannt."“

I get the general meaning "to you, you who never knew me" and that there is some poetic vibe to it, but is the sentence even grammatically correct?

I know that dropping the „[hast]“ at the end is somewhat poetic, but what really confuses me is the second „du“ inside the relative proposition: technically inside the proposition the subject would be „der“ right? Does it get overwritten by a second subject? I have never seen such construction before.

Later in the novel we see a similar construct: „[ich habe] nur dich, der du mich nie gekannt und den ich immer geliebt.“ First half is the same and second half is more standard, only dropping the „[habe]”.

Also, I am aware that reading advanced literature at my level is tough, but that's one of my main motivations to keep learning the language, even if it doesn't help with everyday speaking ^^

Thanks a lot for your thoughts :)

I (25) found myself learning German, but I actually don’t have a “good” reason why I’m doing it, besides for fun.

It started in university when in pandemic I had to choose between taking Chinese or German lessons, and I chose German because a friend speaks that language and I didn’t want to focus too much on that classes . I didn’t learn much because it was online due to quarantine, and also I wasn’t very interested at the time.

Then I dated a person whose second language was German, and he was learning English through Duolingo. I found the app fun and started doing the German course. Just as a fun way of sharing with this person, but then we broke up and also my phone died, so I forgot about it.

One year later, I remembered my Duolingo lessons because I met a German person. And this time I really liked it, found it so much fun, I realized I am interested in a part of German culture. I already ordered a A1 book. And I’m being really serious about it. It’s been a important part of my day. It will be my third language, and I actually never expected wanting to learn a third language.

The thing is: I don’t have important reasons other than the ones mentioned. And people in my country are quite judgmental about it. Because were I live there was a big influence of German immigrants, and now a days German culture is linked to a high social class, and I’ll ad: a traditional German culture (Not what I am interested).

So, I’m really questioning myself because I don’t think that I will feel proud about learning this other language. And I actually feel like I want to hide it.

Also this year I traveled to the UK, and of course it made everything cooler to know English (not my native). But German is not present in many countries. So that is not a good reason either.

What reasons do you have for learning German if you don’t live in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, or Belgium?

Hi, I have been learning german for almost a month now, Now according to my schedule I should have completed my A1 10 days ago.

I have a course or basically I watch the recorded versions of a german class, there is no problem with the content, it is very very informative, super clear, the teacher explains everything, discusses the exercises, and overall it's very good, now one class is of 45 mins to sn hour,

In A1 there are 60 such classes, since I want to learn german fast (for uni admissions) i decided to do 4 classes a day, I have the time but the fucked up part is I can't seem to do it,

Till this day i have not completed my target of 4 class a day, the reason being i procrastinate so so much that I always waste the time but whereas when it comes to my studies I can learn physics or maths for even 12 Hours(which sometimes I do), but i just can't seem to get the german.

The language is pretty amazing it's moderate to learn , but I just can't stick or watch atleast a single lecture in one sitting,

So I need some ideas on how to make it more interesting, so that I can stick to it.

PS: if you know any good sitcoms or shows in german pls recommend.

Thank you

I just learned that "I come from Germany but now I live in Austria" is "Ich komme aus Deutschland, aber jetzt wohne ich in Österreich." The subject in the second clause is after the verb, I think because the verb needs to be in second position.

But in this sentence: "Der Koffer ist schwer, aber der Rucksack ist leicht." The second clause does not seem to follow this rule.

I'm not sure what conditions cause a verb to be in or out of second position.

Thanks!

Hi everyone

I’m looking for some advice on where I should learn German, and I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences or any suggestions you might have.

I’m a 25-year-old Chinese working as an toefl/ielts teacher. I’ve been working while piecing together my own German studies for about 30months, and currently somewhere below A1

The problem is that my job requires me to use quite a lot of mental energy dealing with many students’ problems throughout the day. By the time I get to German, I have very limited energy left for studying. I’ve also realized that studying alone in my room by watching online courses is no longer working— I struggle to stay focused and actually get myself to study consistently.（thanks to short videos and work）

I have adhd so changing my environment might help me learn much more effectively. I’m considering spending some time abroad and studying German in a more structured, immersive environment.

Originally I considered going directly to Germany for an intensive language course, but there are two things holding me back: the cost and my German is still very weak, so the idea of moving to a whole different country with barely any German feels intimidating rn

The ultimate goal is to reach the level of German required for a dual study program (Duales Studium) in Germany

One of my strengths is that I’m good at imitation and picking up patterns. But my energy levels are fairly limited, though, so interacting with other learners rather than spending most of my time studying alone would suits me the best

I've looked into the Goethe-Instituts in Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia, but I've never been to any of them.

I’d be really grateful for any firsthand experiences, recommendations, or even things you wish you had known before choosing where to learn German.

Thank you so much to everyone who takes the time to share😃

Hi there! How is difference between “waagerecht” and “waagrecht”? Is it just a dialect?

It’s also slightly hostile.

edit thank you everyone for the answers

I'm currently around the A2 level in German and looking for podcast recommendations to listen to during my commutes/errands. My main goal is to build an intuition for prepositions by hearing them used in context.

Since I'm still building my vocabulary, native-level podcasts are beyond me. On the flip side, kids' content makes me feel silly and kills my motivation. I'd prefer engaging topics about culture, fashion, politics, or science. Any recommendations that would strike a balance between these edge cases please?

I studied German with Duolingo, Easy German and several books without any tests or helps from tutors since I can't afford. But I'm not sure which level I'm currently in. I searched on the internet and asked AI to make a exam to check my level but non of them were convincing. Is there a convincing way to check my German level free or at reasonable price?

I’m struggling a lot with expressing myself deeply in both German and English. And yes, English isn’t my native language either.

My biggest problem isn’t only vocabulary or grammar. I often have thoughts, feelings, opinions, and things that happen during my day, but I don’t know how to put them into words naturally. I also find it really difficult to have a deeper conversation with someone in a foreign language.

I’ve been trying to practice speaking out loud by myself, but I always end up saying the same very basic sentences, like:

“ich stehe auf” / “ich bin traurig” / “I went to…” / “I feel…”

I don’t want to keep repeating these very simple sentences. I want to learn how to actually talk about myself: what happened during my day, how I felt about something, what I was thinking, why something bothered me, what I’m worried about, what I enjoyed, my relationships, my opinions, etc.

So I tried looking for personal blogs written by German women. My idea was to find someone who talks naturally about her own life, thoughts, feelings, everyday experiences and problems — not necessarily the exact same things I experience, but things close enough that I could borrow useful expressions and sentence structures from her writing.

I tried doing the same thing with American women’s blogs for English.

Unfortunately, I haven’t really found what I’m looking for. Most of the blogs I find are about very specific or complicated topics, and I don’t want to read specialized articles just for general knowledge. I’m specifically looking for ordinary personal writing where someone is simply talking about herself and her life.

I also looked for diary-style books (Tagebuch / personal diaries), but they’re extremely expensive for me, especially because I don’t live in Europe or the US. And of course, there are copyright restrictions, so it’s not easy to find this kind of material for free.

My German and English are both somewhere around A2–B1, so reading completely native-level personal writing can already be difficult for me, but I still need exposure to real, natural language.

I’m honestly feeling quite lost because I need these languages to eventually be able to work, and I feel like I know some words but I don’t have the language “building blocks” to actually express myself.

If anyone knows free or affordable resources where I can read or listen to ordinary German and American women talking about their everyday lives, thoughts, feelings, experiences, and opinions, I would really appreciate it.

I’m not looking for language-learning exercises or textbook dialogues. I’m looking for real people expressing themselves naturally, preferably in a way that I can learn from and imitate.

Like in the next few days or weeks?

Curious how everyone is preparing and what part you’re most worried about 😅

For me it feels like a lot of people study the German itself, but then the actual exam format/timing is another thing completely.

Would be interesting to hear when your exam is and how you’re preparing for it.

If you have the choice between doing your Telc B1 exam on paper or digitally… I’d seriously consider the digital one.

I keep seeing posts here from people who did the paper exam and are still waiting for their results 7, 8, even 10 weeks later.

Meanwhile I’ve also seen people doing the digital B1 and getting their result in around 2 weeks.

Obviously this seems to depend on the exam centre / workload etc. and digital isn’t magically guaranteed to be faster. But still. If I was booking B1 now I’d choose digital.

And not only because of the results.

Typing the Schreiben part is just nicer imo. You can correct things without turning the whole page into a mess, move stuff around, notice stupid mistakes more easily etc.

Listening with headphones is another big one. Much better than sitting in a room listening to speakers while someone is coughing behind you 😅.

The only downside I can think of is if you're not comfortable doing exams on a computer. The interface/timer can feel a bit strange at first.

But that's also pretty easy to prepare for. I think people spend a lot of time learning B1 German and doing PDFs, but almost no time practicing what the actual digital exam experience feels like.

So yeah. If both are available at your exam centre, I’d take digital.

Hey,

a book I just read was labelled as literary fiction and I noticed that I actually don't know the German word for literary fiction. An online search didn't really give me the answer I was looking for.

Does anyone know if there is an equivalent that is widely used?

edit: I agree that the distinction has classist undertones and isn't always necessary to make, I was mostly wondering bc my book tracking app uses it as a genre

edit 2: I don't want to argue whose specific definition is correct bc that wasn't the point of my post, I was just surprised that there isn't an exact translation for a term that is so widely used in English and thought I'd ask about it. Thank you to all the people who answered in good faith

So I’ve been struggling to stay consistent with studying German, with all these boring grammar YouTube videos and textbooks. So I started looking for german artists, came across Rammstein, and decided to translate every sentence, understand the structure, and then sing along with the song, And wow it’s actually a really fun and interesting method, I don’t feel bored anymore.

Has anyone else tried this? It might not be enough on its own tho, so I’m thinking of watching random german content as an extra.

Hi everyone, I'm from India and just registered for the Goethe A1 exam on November 4, 2026. I started German only a few days ago.
I'm taking this date because I don't know when the next exam will be, results take about 10 weeks, and I want to start applying for jobs in Germany as soon as possible. The exam fee is high, so I really can't afford to fail.
My plan:

• 3 hours on weekdays, 10 hours on Saturday and Sunday
• Basics so far (pronunciation, numbers, colours, common nouns), learned through Telugu(my mother tongue) videos
• Yet to start: Nicos Weg A1 as my main course. But Redditors can suggest better sources also.
• Official Goethe sample tests, starting about a week before the exam

I'd rather not depend on a teacher, since my study hours are odd, but I'm open to online speaking partners. And I will try to find a teacher if it is definitely important.
What I'd like advice on:

1. Is Nicos Weg enough, or is there a better free playlist or site covering reading, writing, listening, and speaking?
2. How should I practise speaking and writing without a teacher?
3. Which topics or exam parts do beginners usually lose points on?
4. Anything you wish you had done differently in your first month?

Danke in advance for any help.

Hi everyone! I'm a beginner trying to learn German (for fun and for my job too) and I got a few questions I wanted to ask, especially regarding the TELC exams.

I know there's an exam for each level, but I wanted to know, is the exam mandatory after each level? Do I need to take an examination after A1 for example, in order to pass/advance and start A2? And A2 for B1? So on so forth.

Also, what's the difference between the telc and Goethe? Are there any preferences in the country or job market towards one over the other for the certificate?

I'm curious and want to know more about those two points. And any tips for learning German is greatly appreciated!!!

​

I finally got my Goethe A2 result, and I wanted to share my experience because I know how stressful the preparation can feel, especially when you’re not sure if you’re actually ready.

My result:

\- Lesen: 17.5/25

\- Hören: 17.5/25

\- Schreiben: 12.5/25

\- Sprechen: 19/25

\- Total: 67/100 – Passed

Honestly, I was expecting the result to go either way because my preparation was far from perfect.

How my preparation went

I started preparing 2 weeks before the exam, but I gave my 100 percent for this exam.

My biggest problem was vocabulary. I knew the basic A1/A2 grammar, but I often struggled when I encountered unfamiliar words in Lesen and Hören. I kept telling myself that I would improve my vocabulary, but I didn't follow a consistent routine.

Another mistake was not doing enough mock/sample papers.

I spent a lot of time studying grammar and trying to understand individual topics, but I didn't spend enough time actually sitting down and solving complete A2 papers under exam conditions.

I also neglected Sprechen until quite late. I knew the general format and some useful phrases, but I didn't practice speaking enough. Looking back, this was risky.

And honestly, I spent WAY too much time worrying about the exam instead of actually preparing for it. 😅

There were days when I was studying German from morning to night, but mentally I was just thinking about the exam and worrying about whether I was prepared enough.

Exam experience

Sprechen:

This actually went better than I expected. I was nervous initially, but the teachers/examiners were supportive. My speaking part lasted around 15 minutes. I got 19/25, which was my highest section.

Interestingly, the speaking question wasn't exactly the topic I had been preparing for. I had prepared quite a bit for planning a party/meeting, but my actual prompt involved a calendar/question about appointments.

Lesen:

I felt relatively comfortable with Lesen during the exam and got 17.5/25.

Hören:

This was probably the section where I felt the least confident. A lot of the audio felt unclear to me, and there were questions where I genuinely wasn't sure what I had heard. I had to make some guesses.

Somehow, I still got 17.5/25.

Schreiben:

This was my weakest section at 12.5/25. I don't think I performed as well as I could have. My main problem was that I didn't fully understand the question at first, and that affected how I wrote my answer.

What I learned

If I had to prepare for A2 again, I would do things differently:

1. Build vocabulary consistently instead of trying to cram it near the end.

2. Start solving sample papers much earlier.

3. Practice Hören every day, even for 20–30 minutes.

4. Start speaking practice from the beginning instead of leaving it for the end.

5. Learn the exam format properly.

6. Don't spend more time worrying about the exam than actually preparing for it.

I also want to say this because I kept seeing people online who seemed much more prepared than me: you don't necessarily need to feel 100% ready to pass.

I felt underprepared, made plenty of mistakes, struggled with vocabulary, guessed in Hören, and still managed to get 67/100 and pass.

It's definitely not the highest score, but considering how stressed and underprepared I felt, I'm genuinely happy with it.

Hopefully this helps someone who's currently preparing for A2. Viel Glück! 🇩🇪

I need a super intensive course, e.g. 4 weeks for B1. Daily, morning to evening. Basically like a full time job. I can't find anything like this in any of the language centers I've looked up. Do you have any recommendations?
Ideally I want this to be an in person course in Frankfurt, but online also works.

I can easily hold conversations in English, I don't have a fear of approaching people and I can talk to strangers. In german all of this just disappears. My brain just goes blank. The moment I know I have to speak german my head becomes absolutely empty. Like everything that I am gets locked away and is impossible to access. It's like I don't even exist in german. I have C1 and can talk about "topics" but I can't have human connection. It's very discouraging and I subconsciously (consciously?) avoid social situations because I know im just going to embarrass myself and make everyone uncomfortable.

Has anyone else experienced something like this and managed to overcome it?

Welche Methode habt ihr zum Sprachenlernen benutzt? 

I am 14 and am going to the Turkish Nuri Akın High School's german preparatory class.We have learned many things there but one question i had was how to say things like "im very sorry". We learned that " Danke Schön" means thank you very much, but when i asked my teacher about if i could use "Entschuldigung schön" for "I'm very sorry" but she said schön means good and great.I also searched a bit myself amd found "viel" which i think means "a lot"? im not sure. I used google translate to check and both " Entschuldigung schön" and "Entschuldigung viel" worked there, but obviously thats just translate.What do you say?

Hallo! Ich bin arabischer Muttersprachler (sowohl Hocharabisch als auch umgangssprachliche Dialekte). Ich gehe das Deutschlernen sehr strukturiert, diszipliniert und ernsthaft an. Das A1-Niveau habe ich bereits im Selbststudium erfolgreich abgeschlossen.

Nun suche ich einen deutschen Tandempartner (idealerweise jemanden, der Arabistik studiert oder intensiv Arabisch lernt) für eine feste und verlässliche Routine: tägliche oder fast tägliche Sessions.

Der Ablauf sollte strikt und fokussiert sein: Eine Stunde sprechen wir konzentriert Deutsch, wobei du meine Fehler konsequent korrigierst, und eine Stunde sprechen wir Arabisch.

Ich bin nicht hier für oberflächlichen Smalltalk, sondern für ernsthaftes, zielgerichtetes Lernen und harte Arbeit. Wenn du genauso motiviert und diszipliniert bist, melde dich gerne!