You can
get by without German (unless you start taking classes in German, of
course, or need anything from your University that's not available in
English), but you'll be restricting yourself severely. You will be able
to feed yourself, maybe even find German friends who aren't averse to
speaking only English whenever you're in the room, and you can do some
basic housekeeping, financially and otherwise.
But you'll always be a dependent. You'll depend on the kindness of Germans if you have to do anything bureaucratic, as translators in buses and trains (very often changes in schedules or an unscheduled end to the line will be announced in German via the PA), and for most anything else that's not basic living.
The spectrum is pretty wide in terms of English skill in Germany. Most people in the cities speak a fair amount of English, and some of my friends even speak it fluently. You will definitely be able to survive with just English. Even if you do take language classes though, it will be some time until your fellow German friends, teachers, flight attendants, warm up to speaking to you in German.
That said, there a few good reasons to learn German nonetheless:
- Announcements in public areas such as the train stations (you will be taking the train a lot) will be mostly in German, and not understanding anything will put you in significant troubles.
- A growing number of shopkeepers or government employees nowadays are immigrants, especially from Turkey. Without wanting to seem racist, most of these people do not even speak perfect German (as expected, of course), and may not understand your English.
So, don't depend. Learn a little German, which goes a long way, and you should be fine to start out. Once you're there you'll rapidly gain more language skills.
But you'll always be a dependent. You'll depend on the kindness of Germans if you have to do anything bureaucratic, as translators in buses and trains (very often changes in schedules or an unscheduled end to the line will be announced in German via the PA), and for most anything else that's not basic living.
The spectrum is pretty wide in terms of English skill in Germany. Most people in the cities speak a fair amount of English, and some of my friends even speak it fluently. You will definitely be able to survive with just English. Even if you do take language classes though, it will be some time until your fellow German friends, teachers, flight attendants, warm up to speaking to you in German.
That said, there a few good reasons to learn German nonetheless:
- Announcements in public areas such as the train stations (you will be taking the train a lot) will be mostly in German, and not understanding anything will put you in significant troubles.
- A growing number of shopkeepers or government employees nowadays are immigrants, especially from Turkey. Without wanting to seem racist, most of these people do not even speak perfect German (as expected, of course), and may not understand your English.
So, don't depend. Learn a little German, which goes a long way, and you should be fine to start out. Once you're there you'll rapidly gain more language skills.
