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‘Speaking little German is not a barrier to integration, it’s just a technical problem’

Reader Louigi Verona has spent years learning German and can just about get by but he argues there are far more important factors for integrating into German life than speaking the language fluently.

Published: 30 August 2023 16:30 CEST

People go in and out of the Foreigners' Office - which has become a symbol of German red tape - in Berlin. Photo: picture alliance / Kay Nietfeld/dpa | Kay Nietfeld

I think we first need to acknowledge what is usually kept unsaid, that all these conversations about foreigners not learning German are not about solving a real problem, but just a way to give shape to frustrations about foreigners.

In reality, there are rarely any real problems and the only problems that do exist are self-inflicted by the German government that mandates officials to only use German in any dealings with foreigners. Which is a bizarre idea and obviously hostile towards foreigners. You come to Auslanderbehörder and can’t find even a sign that would be in a lingua franca.

If we were to be extra charitable and take concerns about “integration” at face value, obviously there are multiple systemic ways to significantly improve the situation.

So why do all of the proposed solutions place the whole burden on the foreigner?

Not only should one learn to live in a new country, understand its customs, bureaucracy, and work hard at their new job, but they also need to get into the project of learning a completely new language, a language that is immediately required at basically native level in all the establishments that the foreigner must deal with.

For instance, some countries in the EU designate English as their second official language. Is that such an unthinkable proposition? Wouldn’t that immediately make Germany a much more prosperous country, where people would be able to integrate much faster, too?

Not to mention that defining integration as “learning German” is superficial and dramatically undermines the idea of integration that they seem to care so much about. Integration into society is a complex process where one’s system of values is at the core. As long as you value democracy, human dignity and all those other things so proudly pointed out in the Einbürgerungstest, I shouldn’t care which language you speak. Not being able to speak the language is a technical problem that has multiple solutions. Instead, it’s made into the core problem.

Many of us do learn German. We really do. The fact we can’t string together a proper sentence together doesn’t mean that we’re not spending an inordinate amount of time trying.

‘I’ve spent three years learning German… I can understand the basics’

Someone hearing me trying to talk to my neighbour in German might assume that I’ve hardly spent any time learning the language, and boy will they be wrong.

This May I have received what could’ve been one of the most important letters in my life – I got my B1 certificate.

Someone hearing me trying to talk to my neighbour in German might assume that I’ve hardly spent any time learning the language, and boy will they be wrong.

I came to Germany in 2015. After I more or less established myself at the job, I went to evening courses in one of those big language schools at Alexanderplatz. Four days a week, three hours per day, 4 months, covering A1 and around A2.1.

It was brutal. Imagine a full day of work and then having to go to school. And there’s also homework! And the language is far from easy.

So, 4 months at this school were then followed by 8 months at Volkshochschule – 3 or 4 days a week, 3 hours each time.

Textbooks were not very effective, unless you worked in a German-speaking company, which I hadn’t. Many tech people work in companies where the working language is English. Going through a grammar exercise once and never coming back to it meant that by the time the course is over – you remember almost nothing.

I then received my permanent residence and was able to give myself a bit of a break. Finally, I could have “just work” for a while.

Finally, I began my preparations for the B1 exam. This time I opted for a private teacher. I had one and a half years of lessons. This time it was much more effective. At least I felt I was getting a bit better. This time the homework was being checked properly and there was a lot of it. I had 2 lessons per week. Which doesn’t seem like much, but it basically means that every second day you have homework. And you always feel guilty if you are not studying.

After the lessons were over, I then spent 3 additional months preparing for the exam on my own.

The exam felt very difficult and as I said, I was prepared that I wouldn’t pass. It’s been 3 months now, and I am still celebrating! This B1 certificate was stamped with my blood.

So, all in all I’ve spent around 3 years of my life learning German. Right now I am capable of understanding really basic sentences, especially if they are spoken slowly. I still get easily confused by an unexpected question when ordering in a cafe. I can hold a limited conversation at a reception at a doctor’s office.

‘I will never scold a foreigner for not speaking German’

At the same time – am I a foreigner who doesn’t learn German?

I am pretty sure many people who hear me trying to speak think so. Especially when they find out I have lived here for 8 years now. But I really did learn German, spent loads of my time doing it, while being fully employed. I pay my taxes. I share democratic values of this country. I belong here. And I am calling this my home.

Learning a language is a very serious undertaking. There are a lot of hurdles, many self-inflicted, like not allowing people in an official capacity to speak English.

We’re not kids, we perform serious jobs and speak using adult vocabulary. Jumping to that level of proficiency in a couple of weeks is impossible. For me it was impossible in three years. So either an adult has to revert to kidspeak or else they try to find ways to use the language they do have the command of.

When I become a citizen of this wonderful country, I will never scold a foreigner for not speaking German. I will focus on what their values and contributions are, and the vast majority of foreigners I know are the secret sauce that will continue making Germany a prosperous, free and fantastic place to live.

Louigi Verona, Berlin

This comment was in response to a recent article on The Local titled: Is it ‘arrogant’ to live in Germany and not learn German

Do you agree with our reader? You can give you own opinion in the comments section below or if you have any tips, insights or views about an aspect of life in Germany you want to share with readers then email us at news@thelocal.de.

Member comments

Anonymous - 30 August 2023 at 23:01 CEST

Thank you for this wonderful article. Makes me feel that I am not the only one in B1 level who does not understand locals.
Anonymous - 31 August 2023 at 08:10 CEST

Pretty much sums it up.
Anonymous - 31 August 2023 at 17:38 CEST

I personally think that a native speaker could help foreigners who are trying hard to learn German by telling them the right expression or sentence. Why not ask a German neighbour to do so? It might be difficult or shameful to ask for some help, but I am sure that a kind neighbour would not hesitate to help out.

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'No-one will offer me a job': How having a foreign name affects life in Germany

Life in Germany can be challenging sometimes. Whether it’s the stress of finding an apartment, trying to progress in your chosen career or navigating the world of online dating, foreigners face many of the same difficulties Germans do – but they may also face more disadvantages.

Recently, a now-deleted post on social media outlet Reddit claimed to have “cracked the code” for finding a job in Germany. The author of the post had gone from receiving a response on around 1 in 40 applications to receiving a response to around 1 in 4 – all after changing their name to a German-sounding one.

As dramatic as this may sound, it is far from the only story of name-based discrimination in Germany.

Foreigners regularly complain of being passed over for apartments, regardless of their financial status, because their status as an “outsider” is obvious from their name. From dating apps to the doctors’ surgery, can a foreign name sometimes act as an albatross around your neck, making it harder to succeed in the Bundesrepublik?

When The Local surveyed readers on the issue, the answer appeared to be “yes”. Around three quarters (76 percent) of respondents said that their name had affected their life in Germany, with 12 percent saying it hadn’t and a further 12 percent saying they didn’t know.

Of those affected, around 90 percent said it had either impacted their lives moderately or to an extreme degree, with 30 percent saying that it had had a profound impact on their lives.

Finding an apartment and looking for a job emerged as the areas where people felt most discriminated against, with 64 and 60 percent citing these issues respectively. Career progression (44 percent), online dating (40 percent) and applying for loans (20 percent) came next, with eight percent also mentioning discrimination in a medical setting, such as a clinic or GP’s office.

Adithya Srinivasan, a 29-year-old software developer living in Berlin, charted his experience of house-hunting in a blog on his website. Having applied for 36 apartments and been ghosted on each of his applications, he decided to use the name of his then-partner instead, who had a German-sounding name.

Immediately, he started getting responses, either to say that the apartment had been taken or to invite the couple to viewings.

Ultimately, after just 11 applications using the new name, the pair were offered a place to live.

‘Implied’ discrimination

Though a case like Adithya’s may feel clear-cut, the problem faced by many foreigners who experience this kind of discrimination is that it is often more implied than explicit.

This can lead foreigners to wonder if they’re building things up in their heads, or whether they really are being treated differently.

Berlin resident Tarik, 30, said he felt like he received more rejections on dating apps due his foreign-sounding name – but that he had no way to prove it.

Shah, 34, said he had received abuse on dating apps, struggled to find an apartment and had also had difficulties in his job search.

“People just don’t invite you unless they have an alternative,” he said.

A user scrolls on popular dating app Tinder. Foreigners have complained of the difficulty of dating in Germany with a non-German name. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Sina Schuldt

A similar problem was faced by, Mr. Heriberto, a 53-year-old US citizen of Hispanic descent who has been struggling to find a job in Germany.

“It doesn’t matter that I have two university degrees and one is a Bachelor of Science; I have sent over 300 CVs in the course of one year and no-one will offer me a job,” he said, adding: “I firmly believe it is because of my foreign-sounding name.”

The Baden-Württemberg resident also said he faced xenophobia on the street on a regular basis.

“I have been told several times to get out of Germany, even though I am married to a German and have three children,” he said. “It is utterly disgusting how poorly I have been treated here.”

Summing up the issue, one respondent who also lives in Baden-Württemberg said that xenophobia in Germany could be difficult to prove but was clearly felt by those who experienced it.

“Germany has a long way to go compared to the English-speaking West when it comes to ingrained, systemic xenophobia,” they said. “This is often implied rather than clearly demonstrated, making it difficult to prove, but clearly experienced and felt by anyone who is ‘different’.”

‘People won’t go on a date with you’

Just like Adithya in his house search, many foreigners are tempted to test the waters with a real – or imagined – German name to see if they receive a better response.

One respondent who preferred to remain anonymous said that they had done this while both flat hunting and looking for a job.

“Recruiters have rejected my CV but called me for an interview when I changed my name to an imaginary German name on the exact same CV,” they revealed. “Landlords have refused my application outright, but accepted when a German friend applied.”

When job offers had been given, they added, they had sometimes have to contend with salary offers that were up to €30,000 lower than anticipated.

A sign outside Stuttgart Jobcenter. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christoph Schmidt

“The hiring team implied that I was not German enough despite being highly qualified and with more than 12 years of experience,” they said.

This feeling of being held back and underestimated was echoed by 39-year-old Vipul, a Munich resident who has lived in Germany for more than 16 years.

“I can say with complete authority that one’s name is everything in Germany,” he explained. “You can’t really progress in your career beyond a certain point, no matter your credentials, and no matter how brilliant you might be.”

Beyond the struggle to build a career, Vipul said he had experienced everyday racism in places that are meant to be caring environments, like doctors’ surgeries and hospitals, as well as in numerous other contexts.

“In this so-called super-diverse country, people won’t even go out on a date with you if you are a foreign man with a ‘strange’ name,” he said. “And of course, the worst kind of xenophobia, or discrimination occurs when you want to find a place to live. It’s one’s worst nightmare!”

Coming from the ‘right’ country

US-citizen Helen, who lives in Bonn, encapsulated the feeling of many readers: “In every aspect of life, having a foreign name is a disadvantage in Germany.”

However, some pointed out that there were also degrees to the discrimination foreigners faced – particularly when it comes to your country of origin.

“I have been treated with scepticism on numerous occasions given that I have a visibly non-German name,” said one reader who lives in North Rhine-Westphalia. “I do come from what Germans consider to be one of the ‘right countries’ but this has not necessarily made things easier.”

Nevertheless, this sense of the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ countries – of the cultural insiders and outsiders – appears to cut to the heart of why, seemingly, a name is everything in Germany.

People enter the immigration office

For foreigners who move to Germany and settle in Berlin, a visit to the Berliner Landesamt für Einwanderung (LEA) is ultimately unavoidable. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Britta Pedersen

That was the view of 36-year-old Andrés, who said he had noticed a distinct difference between the treatment of Europeans and non-Europeans in Germany, and particularly those from the Global South.

“Sadly, it seems to depend not on the name itself sounding foreign, but to where specifically the name might be from,” he explained. “My Spanish name has made no difference at all, but I’ve seen people with Middle Eastern names have a different experience.”

By a stroke of luck, Freiburg resident Sonny was given his nickname as a youngster, having grown up in a country where only Islamic or native names are allowed in official documents.

As a non-Muslim, he identified more with the nickname than his official name – which has proved to be an advantage in Germany.

“Every time I use the nickname, it is much easier to get the initial talk going for people to get to now me as a person first and then I don’t care if they get a surprise seeing my name in official documents,” he explained.

“If I use my official name to begin with, I don’t even receive a response!”

For Sonny, the answer to the dilemma is clear: “My ‘life priority’ is to get a new identity after citizenship,” he said.

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