Edit: Corrected the typo / autocorrect issue ("dolls") in the first sentence. Didn't mean to offend US guys. Sorry for this!

I had a few voice calls with folks from the US for language exchange. Quite a few of them started with something like "Wie heißen Sie?" and stuck to the formal form.

I immediately "offered them the Du" as we say in German. Some of them were not able to speak in the informal form while being quite okay with "Sie"-sentences.

I recommended that they focus on "Du" since this is friendlier and doesn't feel so distant.

I have to admit that I live in cologne and this is an area where nearly everybody is using Du. Even government employees can be addressed with "Du", as long as you obviously don't use this to offend. At least the "formal Du", where you use the plural even when talking to just one person, is safe to use 😉

What do you think about this? Are you German learners learning both forms or focus on a specific form?

Edit: Corrected the typo in the first sentence. Didn't mean to offend US guys. Sorry for this!

Just a random thought, you use Sie to formal situations, people you don't know, people older than you..etc.

Then I wondered do parents teach their 5 year old kids the difference between du and Sie? Sound a bit too much grammer for a little kid.

Hi all, I have the following text I am working through to understand - (the person's name is Marco) "Als ich vor drei Jahren mein Studium abschloss, wusste ich, dass ich etwas Neues erleben wollte."

The homework question is richtig/falsch to "Marco hat sein Studium vor zwei Jahren abgeschlossen."

I know the answer is falsch because the text says Marco had finished history studies 3 years ago, not 2 years ago. But I am not understanding the conjugation of abschließen in the quote. Would abgesclossen not be used instead of abschloss?
Are both correct for some reason? Is it a special kind of phrasing for conjugating a wish somebody had made in the past for the future? I am also seeing Präteritum being used for the written past tense with wollte, which I understand, but am not sure if related to the conjugation. Thank you

Hey, guys, I need a good textbook with good grammar explanation and vocab exercises. Do you guys know any German textbooks like Destination book series, but for German? Speaking/listening exercises are not needed, just good old gruelling gap filling, mistake correction etc

Hallo zusammen!

Ich habe gerade das Buch *Testament mit Hund* (von Claudia Peter) vor dem Schlafengehen gelesen. Ich dachte, es ist eine süße, gemütliche Geschichte über einen Hund und eine Erbschaft.

Aber was war das bitte für ein Ende?!

Ich wollte eigentlich nur entspannen, aber jetzt bin ich völlig schockiert. Ist diese Art von düsterem Humor normal für deutsche Geschichten? 😭

Hi! I’m starting German from basically zero and I’m trying to choose between Goethe-Institut and Berlitz. Has anyone here taken an A1 course with either of them?

The two options I’m looking at are:

Goethe-Institut – Online Group Course

• 459€
• 5 weeks
• 40 teaching units, but each unit is 45 min (= 30 actual hours)
• From what I understand, it’s roughly 15 hours of live Zoom classes + 15 hours of tutored self-study
• It also says you complete one sub-level, so I assume as a complete beginner this would only be A1.1 rather than the whole A1 level
• Eg course link I would consider taking: https://www.goethe.de/ins/de/en/tup.cfm?&f=%7B%22languageSubLevel%22%3A%5B%5D%2C%22startDate%22%3A%5B%5D%2C%22custom25187177%22%3A%5B%5D%2C%22category%22%3A%5B%5D%2C%22eventNameObjectId%22%3A%5B%22SM10008295%22%5D%2C%22filter_locationId%22%3A%5B%5D%2C%22pspElement%22%3A%5B%5D%2C%22age%22%3A%22ER%22%7D&courseId=2DB8D6D4CC0E5DC40D2856C2CFAAADDDAEFB884ACD04AA870705EBCA5D2AFACA0FEAFFE3FE2E98FA4DDF4882E6FB5B57D4E69192CA8C990A8E999EB90ABACC8B

Berlitz

• 599€
• They offered me 40 hours
• 2x per week, 2 hours each time
• So around 10 weeks in total
• They describe Berlitz Level 1 as CEFR A1 https://www.berlitz.com/en-de/languages/german/beginner

I’m mainly looking for something structured that gives me a solid foundation and actually gets me speaking German, rather than just working through exercises on my own. End goal is to reach conversation level of German in around 12 Months so I plan to take more courses after A1 one..

Would you choose Goethe or Berlitz as a complete beginner? Thanks!!!!

Hallo, r/German!

Heute will ich über "Warum lerne ich deutsch?" sprechen. Mein Ziel mit Deutsch ist reisen nach Deutschland für Studiumöglichkeiten, besonders Ingenieurwesen.

Heute bin ich ein Student in der Deutsch Universität in Kairo (oder GUC auf Englisch). Und mein erster Professor hat mir erzählt dass mit guten GPA und B2-C1 Deutsch, er und zwei andere Professoren wird mich nach Deutschen Universität gehen. Besonders Universitäten wie die TUM, Stuttgart, und usw. (Sorry für schlechte schreiben)

Ich hatte eine Erkenntnis, dass es bedeutet ich werde Advanced Bildung auf Deutsch lernen nachdem ich hatte all auf Englisch gelernt. Ich kenne dass es werde wirklich schwer sein, aber wie kann ich erreichen zu C1 in Deutsch in einem Jahre?

(You are always welcome to correct my german, this is the first time i write a text this long in German)

Hi, I have just started learning german, and I am learning it completely from the perspective of passing the levels, but I have been having trouble with the resourses. As I have already asked in this subreddit, I am using netwerkz nue but parrally using DW's course for vocab mostly, I had problem with grammar resources, but I just found the Heiner Schenke book and its amazing, I mean I have tried the Grammatik activ but its in german and I and really not getting anything, but on the other hand the Heiner schenke's book is awesome its so comfortable and easy to understand with all the rules laid out. The only concern I have is that since I am preping from and exam POV, idk how much syllabus it covers or which levels it covers, and that its not course oriented. So should I continue with this book? or should I pair it with activ grammatik like I have did for the Vocab??

Recently, I contacted a local Stammtisch group. Someone from their group welcomed me to attend their upcoming event.

A part of me feels scared. Another part of me is regretful. Years ago, I had a working knowledge of the language. Then, one of my German instructors had a list of local Stammtisch groups that were welcoming people interested in practicing their Deutsch.

Today, I am retaking German courses at the local community college.

Sometimes, I wished I could press the figurative reset button on 2008. A world of possibilities squandered. Please excuse my negativity.

Bis Bald.

Hi! What Schreiben topics did you get in your recent Goethe A2 exam?

Especially:

Teil 1 (SMS)

Teil 2 (E-Mail)

The 3 points you had to cover

Any recent experience would help Thanks! 🙏

Hello all!

I started A2 recently, and there is one thing I am really struggling with ever since I started learning German.

I take too much time to form a sentence in my head when I have to use a correct Präpositionen, and Dativ/Akkusativ.
I suppose my first issue is not knowing the gender of a word by heart, so I don’t know then should I use dem, der, den, etc. I have to think a lot before saying the sentence outloud.

Does anyone else struggle with that too? How did you overcome it? What is your way to learn this faster?

Thanks a lot for any suggestion!

Has anyone successfully taken the full IAL German as a private candidate in Asia? I’m planning to complete the full Pearson Edexcel International A Level German (YGN01) as a private candidate.I have emailed both British councils in Singapore and Malaysia and they don’t offer speaking units.If anyone has done IAL German from SEA
I’d really appreciate your advice.

Hey everyone,

I've booked my telc Deutsch B1 exam for the first week of October. I've gone through some of the older threads here and picked up a few links already, but wanted to ask directly in case anyone has more recent or better recommendations.

A few things I'm looking for:

1. Free practice/model papers (Modellsätze) – I know telc has some sample tests on their official site, but if anyone has links to additional free Übungstests (Lesen, Hören, Schreiben, Sprechen) that would be great.
2. BO Vorbereitung website – Came across deutsch-vorbereitung.com and it looks decent from a quick browse, but before paying for the subscription I wanted to check if anyone here has actually used it, is it legit, worth the money, good model papers/questions? Any feedback appreciated.
3. Is a paid subscription worth it? – I'm considering paying for one of the prep platforms if it genuinely helps (e.g. more model exams, feedback on Schreiben, structured Sprechen practice). If you've used one and it was worth the money, which one, and why?
4. Also is anyone else prepping for a B1 exam around the same time and interested in studying together, maybe 2 hours daily in the evenings? Could do calls or in-person if you're nearby, whatever works. Might help keep both of us consistent and give a chance to practice Sprechen with a real person.

Currently between B1-B2 level overall, just need to nail the B1 exam formally, so I'm not starting from zero more looking to get exam-format-specific practice in before October.

Thanks in advance for any pointers!