By traveling - 09/07/2013 11:18

Today, I arrived in Germany for a summer-long stay. The family I'm supposed to stay with had said they spoke fluent English. They don't. I don't speak German. It's going to be a quiet two months. FML
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Top comments

BingleBop 18

Well at least you should be pretty good at German by the end if your stay. You always learn faster when you're forced to!

279 5
CammyGal 26

Why would you choose to go to Germany if you didn't know the language? You couldn't have expected the family to do everything for you. If you were forced to go, you still should have known beforehand and made an effort to learn.

145 32

Comments

jackiemora 18

Are you sure it was the family that told you they speak English or some troll translator?

7 2
TheJester12 15

God forbid you * attempt * to learn the native language of the country that you are staying in. Think of this as a learning opportunity ! :)

34 3
DriAA7 17

I was an exchange student to Brasil a few years ago. Immersion is honestly the best way to learn a foreign language. You'll be fine. Your language learning skills will pick up. I learned about two phrases before i left but came back pretty fluent.

21 2
raphanne_fml 33

You can always come to visit me in Strasbourg, which is right next to Germany, if you like. I speak English and I can show you the city.

24 1
circuitboynm 8

If I were spending the summer in Germany I probably would have learned some German. I'd get Rosetta Stone if I was you!

3 5
monnanon 13

what on earth are you doing on an exchange if you do not speak any of the language? thr exchange family should be english if they are taking on a kid from an english country but you should at least know the pleasentries in German.

8 7
AngrySailor 17

Isn't that sort of the point though. OP will learn with a little effort won't take long to get by

0 5
monnanon 13

to go there knowing nothing is not the point of an exchange. you do them to build on your knowledge of the language, dialects, the people and the country. exchanges are often set up by languages classes making the fact op knows no german even worse.

11 1
monnanon 13

i meant the family should speak english not be english. that kind of defeats the purpose of an exchange otherwise :)

3 2
VeganVampyre 26

I agree, 26! You should learn a few basic phrases any time you travel, but especially if you're going to be living there for 2 months! I also don't understand why OP would go on exchange to a place they apparently have no interest in? :/ OP- "ja"- yes, "nein"- no, "bitte"- please, "bitte schön- you're welcome", "danke (schön)"- thank you (very much), "wie geht es ihnen?"- how are you doing?, and the ever important "sprechen sie auch anglisch?"- do you speak any English? are your new best friends!

2 1
JasonUMN 15

Now you will have more time to focus on your Hausaufgaben.

14 2
american_desi 2

If they don't understand English and you don't speak German, How did you even ask them "if they spoke English?"

6 3
random_commenter 9

Don't worry, for basic communication purposes German and English are similar enough not to cause you too many problems. And maybe you can visit a language course? This is usually a pretty good way to meet interesting people!

2 4
laurenasabutton 26

If basic communication extends as far as "Hallo", then sure. Any further and the languages are not similar enough to be mutually intelligible.

5 0
7Diamond 12

Bier and beer sounds similar enough. I don't see a problem.

1 1
laurenasabutton 26

Sure, if beer is a necessity for your basic communication :p.

0 1