Over the years, Germany has had a large British expatriate community, mainly through military personnel stationed there since 1945.

Then, there was an influx of British builders & workers in the seventies and eighties who came to work in Germany – immortalised in the television series Auf Wiedersehen Pet! However, they did not settle permanently, but went back to the British Isles as the economy improved.

Since the early nineties, there has been once more a steady influx of British professionals & today approximately 96,000 Brits are working & living in Germany. Most of them are young professionals: age group is between the years 25 to 40.

British expatriates in Germany enjoy the relatively high standard of living & safety of the country. In comparison to the UK & other EU countries, Germany has in certain cities low levels of crime &  higher standards of living.

What about the German language you may wonder? Most Germans speak English & are more than happy to practise their English instead of speaking German. Hence, it is possible to get-by in every day life just by speaking English.

But, in order to work & fully integrate in Germany, it is vital to speak the native language. Maybe you are thinking of relocating to Germany & are thinking of attending German classes, or hiring a German tutor? Then, get in touch!

What do Germans really understand when the English talk to them?

The English language has many subtleties that do not exist in German. The German language is very literal and & as a result, Germans may come across as rude or off-hand to the English speaker. Of course, Germans are not rude at all.

When attending meetings with Germans, managing German staff or dealing with German management, it is worth considering these differences in language use, to ensure effective communication.

For example, ‘I hear what you say’ means the English speaker disagrees and & does not want to discuss the matter further. However, the German listener would think the speaker is accepting his point of view.

The phrase ‘I was a bit disappointed that‘ means the speaker is annoyed. The German listener, however, may think the disappointment is only slight.

The term ‘quite good’ will be understood literally as ‘quite good’, although it means ‘disappointing’.

‘Very interesting’ means it ‘is clearly nonsense’ and & may be understood as ‘they are very impressed’.

Consider the Following Examples:

To avoid such communication problems in the future, why not start German Lessons in 2012, with one of our native speaker tutors?