Moving to germany

[voidcat]

I've decided to move out the US. To Germany. Im exhausted and feel my talents are better served elsewhere. I dont feel i have a choice but to move i cant stay here or itll affect my mental health too much. I am too stressed. This is due to politics and a wide array of other issues im not going to get into. I just dont want to stay here. First imma wait a few months to get my papers in order, learn some German get fluent if possible, read up on german culture, save some money, get my associates as I'm sure Germany will want to know before accepting me that I got skills they could use.

Thing is this is throwing me in hot water. I've never lived alone. I plan on moving in with a friend who is also looking to leave
But who knows that plan might fall through and even if it don't it may still be rough. I also never been outside the country. It'll be a huge culture shock

Anyone got any advice? I'd love for any and all I can get.

Post automatically merged: Feb 4, 2025

What I got in my planning so far-
Stop by the DMV Friday. They take walk ins and it's much faster doing that then making an appointment online everything is booked. I'll go there early in the morning and wait. Get my real ID

Spend 10 minutes a day learning German.

Wait till I get my pell grant back- I'll have an extra $2000. Pay off my rent and for the next few months. Rest goes to savings and getting a passport.

Read up on everything Germany and immigration I can. Everything I can about the culture. Practice speaking German with German friends. Try to see if using social media I can make more friends in Germany. See if there's resources to help a someone out.

Continue saving for when I move out

 

[Xenophon]

I've decided to move out the US. To Germany. Im exhausted and feel my talents are better served elsewhere. I dont feel i have a choice but to move i cant stay here or itll affect my mental health too much. I am too stressed. This is due to politics and a wide array of other issues im not going to get into. I just dont want to stay here. First imma wait a few months to get my papers in order, learn some German get fluent if possible, read up on german culture, save some money, get my associates as I'm sure Germany will want to know before accepting me that I got skills they could use.

Thing is this is throwing me in hot water. I've never lived alone. I plan on moving in with a friend who is also looking to leave
But who knows that plan might fall through and even if it don't it may still be rough. I also never been outside the country. It'll be a huge culture shock

Anyone got any advice? I'd love for any and all I can get.

Post automatically merged: Feb 4, 2025

What I got in my planning so far-
Stop by the DMV Friday. They take walk ins and it's much faster doing that then making an appointment online everything is booked. I'll go there early in the morning and wait. Get my real ID

Spend 10 minutes a day learning German.

Wait till I get my pell grant back- I'll have an extra $2000. Pay off my rent and for the next few months. Rest goes to savings and getting a passport.

Read up on everything Germany and immigration I can. Everything I can about the culture. Practice speaking German with German friends. Try to see if using social media I can make more friends in Germany. See if there's resources to help a someone out.

Continue saving for when I move out

Learn the lyrics to "Auslaender Raus." You're gonna need it. Today's Germans are even deeper into "nationaler Selbstmord" than their American "daddy-handlers."

 

[stratamaster78]

I've decided to move out the US. To Germany. Im exhausted and feel my talents are better served elsewhere. I dont feel i have a choice but to move i cant stay here or itll affect my mental health too much. I am too stressed. This is due to politics and a wide array of other issues im not going to get into. I just dont want to stay here. First imma wait a few months to get my papers in order, learn some German get fluent if possible, read up on german culture, save some money, get my associates as I'm sure Germany will want to know before accepting me that I got skills they could use.

Thing is this is throwing me in hot water. I've never lived alone. I plan on moving in with a friend who is also looking to leave
But who knows that plan might fall through and even if it don't it may still be rough. I also never been outside the country. It'll be a huge culture shock

Anyone got any advice? I'd love for any and all I can get.

Post automatically merged: Feb 4, 2025

What I got in my planning so far-
Stop by the DMV Friday. They take walk ins and it's much faster doing that then making an appointment online everything is booked. I'll go there early in the morning and wait. Get my real ID

Spend 10 minutes a day learning German.

Wait till I get my pell grant back- I'll have an extra $2000. Pay off my rent and for the next few months. Rest goes to savings and getting a passport.

Read up on everything Germany and immigration I can. Everything I can about the culture. Practice speaking German with German friends. Try to see if using social media I can make more friends in Germany. See if there's resources to help a someone out.

Continue saving for when I move out

Get a US Passport asap if you don't already have one. You can pay extra to rush the process if need be. But you want to get that out of the way so it's not holding you back.

Also wrt learning German I just want to say it's an incredibly long process becoming fluent in another language and you won't be able to get far fast only studying for 10 mins a day.

I don't say that to discourage you but just to make sure you are aware.

You have to study for hours a day to make progress and when you are studying you have to immerse in that language with both Audio input and Visual reading.

You have to learn the phonetics of the Alphabet 1st and foremost. Drill that hard for a few weeks and then start learning the Grammar rules of how the sentences are constructed. You don't have to memorize that part but just become familiar with it so sentences you read and hear make sense structurally.

Then the real grind is learning vocabulary. Install a Flashcard program on your digital devices like Anki and add a Core German Deck and try to start learning 5-10-15 words a day and review them daily. Anki uses and SRS algorithm to predict when you're likely to forget a word and then it will show you that word to help you convert it from short to long term memory.

But the most important part is the Immersion. You will need to find some Podcasts in German that are made for a German audience and listen to those when and wherever you have free time. It's best to pick ones where the topic is something you are interested in anyway so you are engaged with the content and find it interesting. Listen for words you are learning from your flashcard studying and try to get a feel for the sound of the language.

If you enjoy films and tv you can also try to download shows that were made in Germany in German and watch those and learn how to make your own flashcards to add to a Mining Deck for Anki. Mining is watching that media and hearing a sentence where you understand almost all the words but 1 or 2 and you create a flashcard for one of those words using the whole sentence as context and include a screenshot for a visual cue. You can also clip the audio to go with it so when you review that card audio plays as you read the sentence.

There are many guides on how to use Anki and create personal flashcards and decks on youtube.

I'm going into semi detail to stress how time consuming and difficult learning a new language can be. You can do it but it's going to take a lot of commitment and time.

The entire German lexicon is est to be 300,000 to 400,000 words. It's going to take time to learn enough to be fluent.

Having said all of that, you don't need to be fluent to go there. Most foreign countries use more English than you would think wrt to signs and things that help you navigate and get around and you could probably get away with using google translate for a bit. I'm sure there are many people in Germany that happen to speak at least a little English as well so it's not like you'll be or feel like you're on another planet.

Good Luck to you and I hope everything works out.

 

[voidcat]

Also wrt learning German I just want to say it's an incredibly long process becoming fluent in another language and you won't be able to get far fast only studying for 10 mins a day.

I don't say that to discourage you but just to make sure you are aware.

I'm aware. I mean at least 10 minutes. Not exactly 10 minutes each day. And that's just starting out cuz I have a lot of school work to do. Want my associates first. I'm not looking to be completely fluent just enough to get around at the bare minimum. I want to get fluent and I'm sure I will get to that point eventually. And I do got a lot of apps to help with immersion. The 10 minutes thing is more to learn vocabulary not the immersion aspect and practicing vocab. I'm just not fully expecting to be fluent before I leave I don't think I'll have the time but I know I'll get to the point of fluency eventually.

Post automatically merged: Feb 4, 2025

Get a US Passport asap if you don't already have one. You can pay extra to rush the process if need be. But you want to get that out of the way so it's not holding you back.

Oh I'm on it. That's why I'm doing a walk in to get my Real ID rather then making an appointment online. It's the only way I'll be able to get that without waiting months and it's needed for a passport

 

[Pseudodracon]

Firstly, good luck with your move. Sounds exciting - albeit potential to feel scary too.

Having moved around quite a bit, things I found useful were to get in touch with local ex-pat community (InterNations can be useful, as can meetup and so on). Although it can be tempting to want to start engaging with non ex-pats, if you do not already speak German you may struggle and feel totally isolated initially. I really echo what stratamaster78 says, learning German is easier said than done; all their suggestions are really good! ...On a brighter note, Germany is a great country for accessing language courses at really low cost (sometimes even free, depending on your study/work status or situation).

I'd also recommend looking up any local Sportverein, or your local sports club, as it can be a good way to just do something active and meet others. Unless you are allergic to sports, no judgement here - many people just aren't into sports.

Another useful tip I found helped me in the past, was to volunteer for a local charity in any way/capacity. I've always found that people will go the extra mile when they experience you doing something for nothing and I have found it can be a good way to meet people and make some contacts when you're a stranger in a foreign land. And in all honesty, it's never something for nothing as I have always come away from volunteering feeling like I got more in return than what it cost me (in terms of time/effort etc).

If all else fails, try to get shifts in an Irish pub! No joke. Irish pubs are everywhere, it'll allow you to at least interact with the punters and you never know who you'll meet or how they might make your experience all the better - plus you might even get a bit of extra cash to boot!

Don't be put off by learning German, whilst learning any new language can be daunting it is neither impossible nor will you be a beginner forever!

Best of luck and hope you find what you are looking for.

 

[voidcat]

Here I was worried the real ID was required to get on a US plane or something...I actually don't know my thought process...I just heard you need a real ID to travel on a plane in the US if you an american



Turns out nope only if domestic travel. This would've been good to know before waiting 2 hours in the DMV only to be told that there's too many people no walk in appointment today for me


I thought maybe you needed the real ID to get the passport or something. Nope. Ha. My normal state ID will suffice.

 

[frater_pan]

Spend 10 minutes a day learning German.

I'm an american who was born in Germany and grew up bilingual until my parents (mostly) banned speaking German at home. Still I partly grew up in Germany and had my sexual awakening in Germany with Germans.

I'm not fluent like a German although I am pretty good. It is true that no one would take me for American although sometimes they think I'm French because I have a peculiar but authentic French-German accent and sometimes some think I'm Swedish. 10 mins a day esp. if you don't really know that much is not enough to become fluent. You'll need to get immersive although not everyone adapts well to that. Depending on exactly how much you understand now, you could get to B1/B2 (on the A1/A2-B1/B2-C1/C2 European language scale) within a year or two but you have to be dedicated to speaking, listening and reading. The speaking part can be a problem because German speakers will immediately try to switch to English.

 

[voidcat]

I'm an american who was born in Germany and grew up bilingual until my parents (mostly) banned speaking German at home. Still I partly grew up in Germany and had my sexual awakening in Germany with Germans.

I'm not fluent like a German although I am pretty good. It is true that no one would take me for American although sometimes they think I'm French because I have a peculiar but authentic French-German accent and sometimes some think I'm Swedish. 10 mins a day esp. if you don't really know that much is not enough to become fluent. You'll need to get immersive although not everyone adapts well to that. Depending on exactly how much you understand now, you could get to B1/B2 (on the A1/A2-B1/B2-C1/C2 European language scale) within a year or two but you have to be dedicated to speaking, listening and reading. The speaking part can be a problem because German speakers will immediately try to switch to English.

I agree. 10 minutes isn't enough. That was me starting out. Now I'm pushing around an hour and a half minimum and am working towards when not doing homework, at work or sleeping and such, studying german. Taking a break on occasion but mostly studying whenever possible. My goal is by december to be at least a B1 level so I'm constantly studying now. I even have started playing videos in german and leaving my phone on that while I sleep. I'm working hard.

 

[frater_pan]

I agree. 10 minutes isn't enough. That was me starting out. Now I'm pushing around an hour and a half minimum and am working towards when not doing homework, at work or sleeping and such, studying german. Taking a break on occasion but mostly studying whenever possible. My goal is by december to be at least a B1 level so I'm constantly studying now. I even have started playing videos in german and leaving my phone on that while I sleep. I'm working hard.

Excellent! Videos will be very helpful. There are lots of German TV shows on YT and many German language media programs (German, Austrian and Swiss mostly plus some Belgian and even sometimes Alsatian). There used to be lots of movies too that I saw as a kid but many of those aren't complete anymore. Wishing you the best on your journey!

 

[Magpie]

Check out "Easy German" on YouTube. Pretty useful supplement for traditional language coursework. Welcome to the EU! Herzlich wilkommen etc etc

 

[emoprinzessin74]

Always makes me happy to know people want to actually come to Deutschland wishing you a fair and well arrival

 

[voidcat]

Check out "Easy German" on YouTube. Pretty useful supplement for traditional language coursework. Welcome to the EU! Herzlich wilkommen etc etc

Always makes me happy to know people want to actually come to Deutschland wishing you a fair and well arrival

It'll be after December I move as I'm planning on finishing my associates degree in early childhood education first. This should give me plenty of time to learn German and learn more on the culture.Also I'll check that youtube channel out.

 

[voidcat]

I have a passport now.

Also:
Some good news.

My aunt and her husband are considering letting me live with them while saving up for germany and finishing my associates. Only issue is they are considering moving to virgina. Which im ok with. My classes are all online so it should be fine. So they are talking it out and such and will be calling me later this week about the living situation if I'm moving in and where. They said I may not even have to work as I'm on SSI and they aren't going to charge me as much as the group home. All I'd have to do is clean and do my part of the chores. I'd likely still want to work but it's doable.

This would make it much easier to save for germany.

I also have a german friend that's willing to sponser me if needed and because they have a degree that allows them to be a translator they said they'll translate my documents for me so I won't have to pay for that

Another thing to note: I have started having some dreams in german. So while not yet at an A1 level I'm retaining the language