Could an English speaker move to Germany alone?
I'm from German decent and i love the German culture and language. I can speak well enough to be a tourist, but is it wise to travel to Germany (possibly just Berlin) and try to get a job? I want to be a nurse, could i make a living knowing lots of English and a bit of German? Is this a bad idea? I'd be starting out alone, but who says i wouldn't meet someone while i was there. :) Good, bad idea?
Other - Germany - 10 Answers
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1 :
yeah deffinately! europeans are always looking for employees who can speak english. and after spending a few months there, you'll be speaking perfect german!
2 :
No, First of all unless you are an EU citizen you need to apply for a visa to move to Germany. Any decent job over here requires you to speak German.
3 :
First of all what is your citizenship? To be of German descent means nothing at all unless you are a German citizen or another EU citizen you can not just move you will need a visa. Also be aware the salary of a nurse in Germany is really not good you will have a hard time to live on that money if you are lucky enough to get a job which is unlikely to happen if you don't speak fluent German. Also the fact that most Germans do speak English as as second language does not mean you can live in Germany without knowing the local language. EDIT 1) Since a couple of years it is indeed required to speak German when applying for a German student or work visa. 2) EVERY immigrant not speaking German is required to do an immigration course teaching German language history etc. It is nonsense that you can get any decent job in Germany without speaking the local language there are NO such jobs! Same is true for any other European country France you need to speak French Italy Italian etc. Unlike the US every European country has a national language and immigrants need to speak that language. EDIT II For the reason the UK is member of the EU British citizens do not need any visa to work in Germany !!
4 :
The question of citizenship has been well answered. As to the language: Berlin is an ideal choice, because if you're going to live anywhere with less than fluent german, then Berlin is the place to do it. Good luck, und viel Spaß!
5 :
once you have settled all the legalities, the reality is, can you handle understanding only some of the time? I lived in Austria and Germany for short periods of times each. Lots of people are willing to help you. You will be more well received if you are trying to learn German. But in general, it is a wonderful place to live, and if I could make it living that far away from my family, I would. The people are amazing and the country is beautiful. You will make many fast friends if you are open to it!!
6 :
The answer is a very clear NO ! One of the conditions to get either a work or a student visa are sufficient language skills. These skills need to be proved by passing a test. That means unless you are an EU citizen you need to pass this test since all others need to get a visa to work in Germany. If you are an EU citizen you can legally move to Germany and search during 6 months to get a job. To find a job is very unlikely to happen unless you speak German.
7 :
You'll have a hard time getting a visa by yourself. You could get a job for a company in the States (assume you're a US citizen) and try to get seconded or sent on an expatriate assignment. Job areas with lots of US expats in Germany are banking, engineering, software and accounting. You don't have to have language skills to get a visa like someone said. It would certainly make your life easier and you'd get more out of the experience but I've worked with many expats from around the world in Germany who don't speak a word of German. You can live your entire work career in Germany and never have to speak German if you keep to the expatriate community. That's a sad way to live in my opinion but it is possible. @Nathaniel - I suspect you are not a native English speaker since you seem to have made a few errors common to German speakers in your post. EDIT: There are thousands of expats in the Frankfurt area alone who don't speak a word of German. I worked for Ernst & Young, an accountancy firm, in Frankfurt for years and saw hundreds of expats from all over the world come through that office who couldn't order a meal at McDonald's in Germany. You'll never get an entry level job in Germany without speaking the language but at ESA in Darmstadt the official language is English and there are thousands of Americans working there who don't speak German. Check out the Intel factory in Leipzig or the Opel factory in Rüsselsheim where much of the leadership is from the USA and who send their kids to the Frankfurt International School. Not a word of German. I spent a month in the Barclay's office in Frankfurt and didn't hear a single British person working there speak a word of German. They ALL have valid work visas for Germany. It is simply not true that there is a test that they must pass. Simply not true. To claim otherwise is just ignorance.
8 :
If you are not an EU national, forget the whole idea. The fact is that it doesn't matter in the slightest whether or not you are fully German on both sides of your family, if your passport is not an EU one, in the current economic climate you don't stand a snowball's chance in hell of getting a job in Germany or any other EU country. You cannot just up and go to Berlin if you are not an EU national and expect to find a job there. You must look for one from your country of origin first, and only if your potential can prove that he/she cannot find a German and EU national to do that work will you be granted a work/residency permit to live and work in Germany. And given that there are hundreds of thousands of very highly qualified university graduates in Europe who speak German fluently as often at least one other language very well, you are out of luck. If you attempt to go to Germany on a one-way ticket, you will be deported right back to where you came from. There's no reason why you cannot come visit and show a return ticket, but you would be there as a tourist. And tourists are not expected to go looking for work. And despite your German ancestry, you would be considered a foreigner. Fact. Obviously you need to do a LOT of research into this, and not be all starry-eyed about it. So start.
9 :
In the moment it is a worse idea for we have not enough jobs for the people --- wait 2 years and the situation wil have changed and then we will have not enough people for the jobs. A better idea than Berlin is Hamburg --- more international and the jobless rate is very much lower. But Hamburg is not so expensive like Munich and Frankfurt.
10 :
In general I think it is a good idea. Of course you have to solve the visa issue, and you need to speak pretty fluent German to find a decent job. Also, do not forget that nurses in Germany are paid a lot less than nurses in the U.S. Good luck. There are lots of U.S. companies in Germany. I recommend to find a job with any of these companies to improve your German skills, and later start studying to become a nurse.
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