Making sure you speak German
In Germany you are going to meet two different types of people: Those who want to speak English to you and those who don’t. Both are equally important and helpful to you when trying to learn German. When we were in Rostock we started hanging around with a German girl who spoke perfect English and didn’t want to speak any German to us – the best way to learn new things is to listen to them speaking to other Germans (their friends or even strangers in shops or cafes that they talk to). This makes it much easier for you to learn how to handle yourself when you ever find yourself alone in such situations. And, you can always ask them how to say certain things. Another really helpful way is to ask your roommates how to say certain things, like asking them the names of things you’d find around any apartment.
Definitely try to buy a TV in Germany. They’re quite cheap and can really help you improve your German. All the English shows are dubbed over in German and reality shows on MTV are in English with German subtitles. Constantly listening to it all helps you learn new vocabulary and phrases and some shows are repeats and are really easy to follow because everyone has already seen them and knows the translation.
Nervous about speaking German?
When you first get to Germany you’re probably going to be nervous and won’t want to speak German – don’t worry – everyone is the same! You’ll find that when you go out for a few drinks you’ll have a new-found confidence to speak the language. This is a really good way to start off and get settled into speaking and you’ll end up getting used to speaking and then you’ll have more confidence to speak during the day when you’re out and about. Don’t be afraid that the German you’re speaking is bad. The best way to learn is to speak badly and learn from your mistakes – you have the advantage that most German people aren’t afraid to correct your German if it’s wrong! And don’t be afraid that people are going to laugh at you for speaking German – they are likely to be just as self conscious about their English.
Get involved
Try get involved in sport – it doesn’t matter if you join a team or just go play once a week with a group of friends. The vocabulary you learn from it can be really useful, especially if you and a group of friends decide to watch a match on TV because you know how to talk about sport in German. Talking about these sort of things helps you gain more confidence to speak German as well. I used to just play every Friday and it really helped me learn more German which was handy because the world cup was on at the time!
During the year, your host University will be organising trips away – never pass up the opportunity to go on them. They’re always a load of fun and you will end up talking German because the tour guides or the people organising it are always Germans.
The best advice I can give you is to just not be nervous about speaking German! If you don’t speak it you can’t learn so don’t be afraid, just talk (even if, at the beginning, you think it’s terrible) and you will learn fast.