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‘Speaking little German is not a barrier to integration, it’s just a technical problem’

Reader Louigi Verona has spent years learning German and can just about get by but he argues there are far more important factors for integrating into German life than speaking the language fluently.

Published: 30 August 2023 16:30 CEST

People go in and out of the Foreigners' Office - which has become a symbol of German red tape - in Berlin. Photo: picture alliance / Kay Nietfeld/dpa | Kay Nietfeld

I think we first need to acknowledge what is usually kept unsaid, that all these conversations about foreigners not learning German are not about solving a real problem, but just a way to give shape to frustrations about foreigners.

In reality, there are rarely any real problems and the only problems that do exist are self-inflicted by the German government that mandates officials to only use German in any dealings with foreigners. Which is a bizarre idea and obviously hostile towards foreigners. You come to Auslanderbehörder and can’t find even a sign that would be in a lingua franca.

If we were to be extra charitable and take concerns about “integration” at face value, obviously there are multiple systemic ways to significantly improve the situation.

So why do all of the proposed solutions place the whole burden on the foreigner?

Not only should one learn to live in a new country, understand its customs, bureaucracy, and work hard at their new job, but they also need to get into the project of learning a completely new language, a language that is immediately required at basically native level in all the establishments that the foreigner must deal with.

For instance, some countries in the EU designate English as their second official language. Is that such an unthinkable proposition? Wouldn’t that immediately make Germany a much more prosperous country, where people would be able to integrate much faster, too?

Not to mention that defining integration as “learning German” is superficial and dramatically undermines the idea of integration that they seem to care so much about. Integration into society is a complex process where one’s system of values is at the core. As long as you value democracy, human dignity and all those other things so proudly pointed out in the Einbürgerungstest, I shouldn’t care which language you speak. Not being able to speak the language is a technical problem that has multiple solutions. Instead, it’s made into the core problem.

Many of us do learn German. We really do. The fact we can’t string together a proper sentence together doesn’t mean that we’re not spending an inordinate amount of time trying.

‘I’ve spent three years learning German… I can understand the basics’

Someone hearing me trying to talk to my neighbour in German might assume that I’ve hardly spent any time learning the language, and boy will they be wrong.

This May I have received what could’ve been one of the most important letters in my life – I got my B1 certificate.

Someone hearing me trying to talk to my neighbour in German might assume that I’ve hardly spent any time learning the language, and boy will they be wrong.

I came to Germany in 2015. After I more or less established myself at the job, I went to evening courses in one of those big language schools at Alexanderplatz. Four days a week, three hours per day, 4 months, covering A1 and around A2.1.

It was brutal. Imagine a full day of work and then having to go to school. And there’s also homework! And the language is far from easy.

So, 4 months at this school were then followed by 8 months at Volkshochschule – 3 or 4 days a week, 3 hours each time.

Textbooks were not very effective, unless you worked in a German-speaking company, which I hadn’t. Many tech people work in companies where the working language is English. Going through a grammar exercise once and never coming back to it meant that by the time the course is over – you remember almost nothing.

I then received my permanent residence and was able to give myself a bit of a break. Finally, I could have “just work” for a while.

Finally, I began my preparations for the B1 exam. This time I opted for a private teacher. I had one and a half years of lessons. This time it was much more effective. At least I felt I was getting a bit better. This time the homework was being checked properly and there was a lot of it. I had 2 lessons per week. Which doesn’t seem like much, but it basically means that every second day you have homework. And you always feel guilty if you are not studying.

After the lessons were over, I then spent 3 additional months preparing for the exam on my own.

The exam felt very difficult and as I said, I was prepared that I wouldn’t pass. It’s been 3 months now, and I am still celebrating! This B1 certificate was stamped with my blood.

So, all in all I’ve spent around 3 years of my life learning German. Right now I am capable of understanding really basic sentences, especially if they are spoken slowly. I still get easily confused by an unexpected question when ordering in a cafe. I can hold a limited conversation at a reception at a doctor’s office.

‘I will never scold a foreigner for not speaking German’

At the same time – am I a foreigner who doesn’t learn German?

I am pretty sure many people who hear me trying to speak think so. Especially when they find out I have lived here for 8 years now. But I really did learn German, spent loads of my time doing it, while being fully employed. I pay my taxes. I share democratic values of this country. I belong here. And I am calling this my home.

Learning a language is a very serious undertaking. There are a lot of hurdles, many self-inflicted, like not allowing people in an official capacity to speak English.

We’re not kids, we perform serious jobs and speak using adult vocabulary. Jumping to that level of proficiency in a couple of weeks is impossible. For me it was impossible in three years. So either an adult has to revert to kidspeak or else they try to find ways to use the language they do have the command of.

When I become a citizen of this wonderful country, I will never scold a foreigner for not speaking German. I will focus on what their values and contributions are, and the vast majority of foreigners I know are the secret sauce that will continue making Germany a prosperous, free and fantastic place to live.

Louigi Verona, Berlin

This comment was in response to a recent article on The Local titled: Is it ‘arrogant’ to live in Germany and not learn German

Do you agree with our reader? You can give you own opinion in the comments section below or if you have any tips, insights or views about an aspect of life in Germany you want to share with readers then email us at [email protected].

Member comments

Anonymous - 30 August 2023 at 23:01 CEST

Thank you for this wonderful article. Makes me feel that I am not the only one in B1 level who does not understand locals.
Anonymous - 31 August 2023 at 08:10 CEST

Pretty much sums it up.
Anonymous - 31 August 2023 at 17:38 CEST

I personally think that a native speaker could help foreigners who are trying hard to learn German by telling them the right expression or sentence. Why not ask a German neighbour to do so? It might be difficult or shameful to ask for some help, but I am sure that a kind neighbour would not hesitate to help out.

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Which foreign residents are likely to become German after citizenship law change?

Germany’s highly anticipated citizenship reform, which comes into effect as of Thursday June 27th, is intended to make Germany more competitive as a destination for skilled workers and also to allow long-term residents an easier path to naturalisation.

The biggest changes to current rules around citizenship include: allowing dual citizenship, reducing the residency requirement from eight years to five, and allowing for birth right citizenship to be extended to children born in Germany to a parent who has resided here for the past five years.

On Monday Business Insider shared data from a legal service provider that specialises in citizenship applications and immigration law to identify trends among those getting ready to apply for citizenship.

Additionally, The Local previously surveyed 121 of our readers about why they were applying and how the process is going so far.

Here’s what we can say about Germany’s incoming citizens based on those sources.

Gainfully employed long-term residents

Many long-term residents who haven been put off from getting citizenship previously – perhaps due to the stricter rules – will be considering applying now. The majority of applicants for citizenship in Germany are expected to be employed.

Generally being able to support yourself economically without depending on social benefits like Bürgergeld or long-term unemployment insurance is a prerequisite for German citizenship. Specifically, under the new law you need to have supported yourself for at least 20 months out of the previous 24 before you apply.

Business Insider looked at data from 50,000 requests for naturalisation in the first five months of 2024 that was shared by legal service provider PassExperten, which specialises in citizenship and immigration cases.

Of those 50,000 applicants for naturalisation, 86 percent had permanent employment or self-employment. Also, a significant portion had already earned professional credentials within Germany – 43 percent had completed a degree or professional training programme in the country.

READER QUESTION: Can I still get German citizenship after claiming benefits?

For many, access to a German Passport and freedom of movement within the EU are among the most important benefits offered by German citizenship. Photo by Anna Gru on Unsplash

In addition to steady employment, the majority of those applying for citizenship have spent the last decade in the country.

Of the 50,000 applicants reviewed by PassExperten, 60 percent had been living in Germany since at least 2015 and one-third since 2012: “Most of the people from whom we receive an application for naturalisation have been living in Germany longer than the fourth World Cup title,” lawyer Mohamed El-Zaatar told Business Insider.

Of course that number may be expected to fall somewhat following the reform, which will cut the minimum residency requirement from eight years to five.

Applicants that just barely meet the five year residency requirement would have come to Germany in 2019 – meaning they had been living in the country through the entire Covid pandemic.

Asked what citizenship meant to them, readers of The Local most often highlighted the value of becoming more integrated, gaining the right to vote and securing the right to live and move within the EU.

Where are Germany’s newest citizens coming from?

Statistics show that newly added citizens are a diverse bunch coming from every corner of the globe – people from 157 different countries became German in 2023 according to Germany’s statistical office (Destatis).

In 2023, Syria was the most common country of origin by far, followed by Türkiye, Iraq, Romania and Afghanistan – these countries combined amounted to a little more than half of all the newly naturalised citizens.

But these proportions, as well as the total number of applicants, are constantly changing and have shifted dramatically in recent years. Around the turn of the century, immigrants of Turkish descent – many from the so-called ‘guest worker’ generation who helped rebuild infrastructure after the war – made up the biggest group of incoming citizens. In the following years, the total number of incoming citizens fell significantly until it spiked again last year.

The recent spike in Syrian immigrants is linked to the surge in refugees who came to Germany between 2014 and 2016, many of whom became eligible for German citizenship within the last couple years.

The new law also has carve-outs specifically to encourage people who came to work in Germany following World War II – the so-called guest-worker generation. The government is hoping to to encourage members of this group, some of whom have lived in Germany for 60 years now, to apply for naturalisation.

Meanwhile, Brits – who lost many rights due to Brexit – are also expected to be keen to become German partly to regain EU rights.

INTERVIEW: Germany’s new citizenship law is ‘historic’ moment for foreigners

But it’s hard to predict how these trends may change in the coming years. For example, the influx of Ukrainian refugees following Russia’s invasion of the country in early 2022 has led immigrants and refugees from Ukraine to outnumber those from Türkiye and Syria in some parts of Germany.

While the majority of surveyed Ukrainian refugees say they plan to return home following the war, some of those who have integrated well in Germany could eventually be tempted to apply for citizenship, especially to make moving between the two countries easier.

The statistically average applicant is a young married man

PassExperten found that most of the applications for naturalisation it reviewed were submitted by men – at about 70 percent. About 41 percent were married, most of them were childless.

The male-dominant trend is confirmed, if a bit less dramatically, by Destatis data. Of those successfully naturalised in 2023, about 45 percent were women.

A German citizenship certificate and passport.

A German citizenship certificate and passport. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Fernando Gutierrez-Juarez

The average age of naturalised citizens was 29.3 years, which is about 15 years younger than the average age of Germany’s population.

Abdulghani, 26-year-old Master’s student in Munich from Syria, told The Local that he will apply to naturalise when he’s finished his studies. Having lived in Germany for three years so far, he’ll be close to the average age of Germany’s citizenship applicants by the time he is eligible under the updated law.

He noted that the ability to integrate and naturalise here “means everything” to him and was among the top reasons he chose to study here.

Primarily living in the cities and the west

Interestingly, if not surprisingly, there are dramatic differences in the number of people applying for citizenship from region to region.

The city-states of Bremen, Hamburg and Berlin are home to the largest proportions of citizenship applicants, according to PassExperten, followed by North Rhine-Westphalia.

The five states that make up former East Germany – Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg, Thuringia and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania – are home to the smallest share of new citizenship applicants. Combined, they account for about seven percent of the country’s naturalisation applications.

In comparison, Berlin accounts for about eight percent by itself.

This aligns with results to our readers’ survey – the majority of respondents were living in major cities or towns in west Germany.

But there were a few readers in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg who said they were getting ready to apply for citizenship this year.

For Nida, 28, who lives in Thuringia, Germany is the “land of ideas”. She adds that her motive to naturalise is to “be part of the culture and society where [she] can contribute to science”.

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