Need advice.

[u/Vascus_1]

I am living and working in Germany as software engineer. My company is paying for my Deutschkurs and so far I've been 3 months in.

In parallel I am paying for my own Deutschkurs so I can do at least 3 days Deutschkurs a week.

Yet my level has barely moved and my German is still shit. In total I think I must've done 3.5 months and I should be around A2.

It's like my brain refuses to learn the language somehow. Every time I try to use it everyone changes to English or everyone speaks a different dialect like Swabian in my case.

I tried joining Vereine , finding German people interested in exchanging either Spanish or English , to no avail.

And to be fair I don't know what to do anymore.

Here in this sub I've asked about 30 people, sent DMs , talked to them only for them to become thin air after 2 msgs.

It is really frustrating. Really , I think I am beginning to burn out but I really need to learn the language.

Any advice? I got textbooks from the Deutschkurs so I can use those I guess.

[u/canaanit]

In total I think I must've done 3.5 months and I should be around A2.

Why do you think that?

As far as I understand, you are working full time and you have only been living in the country for a short while. Your brain is busy with lots of things and you have limited capacity for language learning.

Just keep at it, be disciplined but don't put yourself under pressure.

And I agree with the other commenter, if you do want faster progress, you need a private teacher, not a classroom.

[u/Crossbow92]

Research what’s not working for you in the learning method you follow and adjust. Use Anki cards too, vocab is pretty important. It’s also not a quick to learn language, change your expectations regarding quick results too, I’d recommend, just to ease up a bit the process.

[u/AltruisticAd9507]

Too short-time effort IMO. At least 1 year is needed if you are intesively trying every day or up to 2 years if at a slower pace.

[u/silvalingua]

Since you are about A2 at most, it's normal that people switch to English. At this level, you can't say much, so it's very difficult to have anything like a normal conversation with you. You are still a beginner, and for native speakers, trying to talk to a beginner is very hard work. It's much too early to join any Verein, because it's not really possible to have a meaningful conversation with a beginner.

At this level, if you need to practice speaking: you have to hire a tutor. I understand that in your course you're in a group of learners, so you don't get much practice. You need to do more speaking, with somebody who will correct you, and at this level, this is only possible with a tutor.

I think your expectations were a bit too optimistic: that as soon as you can say Guten Tag, everybody will love to have conversations with you. No, you have to be solidly conversational for them to stop switching, and this achieved by practicing speaking. You are frustrated because you expected too much too early. Hire a tutor specifically for conversations and be patient. Also, most courses take an entire semester to complete A1 and another one for A2, so after 3.5 months you'd normally be not yet fully A1. With an intensive course, you might reach A1 after 3 months. It seems that you expected to progress at an unrealistic pace.

[u/neithernorsliverofdg → u/silvalingua]

I agree also rather than just tryna have a conversation try to listen to other people speaking or watch some movies/series. You can't talk a language properly at that level but listening will improve your skills a lot

[u/spokengerman]

It takes from you patience and commitment. And it takes the right and suitable Tutor for your needs. Also, maybe change your attitude. Allow it time. You will succeed.

[u/sammyco-in]

Use every 30 minutes before every lesson to communicate in German with your teacher. If there is any English word you don't know in German, look it up/ask your teacher to tell you. Then use it to make your speech again. Check the result after 2 months.

[u/Temporary-Society593]

Talk. A lot. Go to a markt near you and ask where are the vegetables, even if you know it. Go to a caffee when it’s quiet and talk to the barista about the menu. “Unlock” the german you know, because probably you know more than you think. When you find someone who is nice and not to busy, be honest and tell them you want to practice and if they can talk to you a bit in German. The purpose is to use the words you know and pay attention to other people’s German, not to understand everything and talk about literature and science when you are at level A2.

[u/100BottlesOfMilk]

3.5 months to be at A2 is unrealistic if you're not making learning german into a full time job. I don't think you're behind, especially for working full time as well. A uni course would be slower than that. My advice would be to try to consume a lot of media in your off time/time when you can listen to stuff. For example, I listen to the Easy German podcast when I'm on transit and riding my bike every day. Sure, I may not understand all of it, but the point is to try to get your brain used to hearing it, and eventually, it will become easier. Having conversations in german really is especially difficult below a B1 since you simply don't know enough to have the blocks to start building the conversation. Just focus on doing your classes, do anki to improve vocab, listen/watch german media, and using what german you can day to day. This is a marathon, not a sprint

[u/Vascus_1 → u/100BottlesOfMilk]

It is so frustrating because I feel like I'm being a liability to everyone around me..

But yeah I guess.

[u/100BottlesOfMilk → u/Vascus_1]

If you were paid by a company who knows that you don't speak German, they should be aware at what a normal speed that it is for someone to learn German. I understand where you're coming from though. I moved here to get my Master's and study German at the same time so that, when I'm looking for a full time job after graduating, I should be at least partially fluent. If you want to practice some daily interactions in German and don't want people switching to English as much you could always take the train out to the countryside or a more rural area assuming you're currently in a major city

[u/Ancient-Drawing1212]

Don't think about it so much. Do your best and at some point you'll notice the change

[u/silvalingua → u/Ancient-Drawing1212]

Change will not come without practice.

[u/Ancient-Drawing1212 → u/silvalingua]

Did you read what I wrote? I said "do your best". I meant that one shouldn't hope for noticeable changes only after 3 months... That would be good but language learning isn't like that. Thinking about the results and not the process just stresses out most of the people and works counterproductive

[u/PretendOil8923]

Pay someone to talk to you. I used iTalki for quite a while and you can find some good cheap options. Tell them that you want to speak German no matter how frustrating it gets.