German speakers of English are often able to speak English more correctly than native English speakers themselves. The ability of Germans to learn languages to such an astonishing ability raises questions about their language learning. In the language world, it is common to view Germans as great language learners who usually have excellent English skills. Are Germans simply better languages than other people, or is there something more going on?

Germans grow up with a positive attitude towards language learning and take every opportunity to practice their skills. English songs and TV shows help Germans develop their English, as Europe generally follows American pop culture. This means that a lot of media in Europe is English, which helps to develop English language skills while it is being viewed. Besides this, German schools have a higher focus on language learning than perhaps American schools which gives younger Germans a solid foundation from which to build their language skills.

As a language learner yourself, these are some skills and attitudes that you are able to take on board for your own learning journey.

The German Attitude Towards Language Learning

Learning languages for Germans is part and parcel of being in school. Schools often offer languages such as English, French as well as Latin or Greek, with some schools extending this beyond also.

But German schools take language learning to the next level to make sure language skills are learned.

As well as having the usual language classes, students may also enroll in normal subjects such as History, or Biology, but these classes are special. The classes themselves are taught in another language, for example, French, instead of German. Not only are students learning new content in the class, but they are also doing this in a language they are learning at the same time. Talk about dedication! If the best way to learn a language is by using it, surely this is a concept that could be taken on board in English-speaking countries as well!

You will find that there are many Germans who can speak very good English.

Perhaps you are in Germany for the first time and you have learned some German. You’re excited to test yourself and see how much you know and can understand in a conversation. You walk up to a German at a bar or in the street, and maybe some sentences are prepared in your head. You think you’ve said the sentence right, and you see their eyes light up. They open their mouth…and start speaking to you in flawless English.

You may even feel that a German speaker can speak English better than you!

It can feel like a kick to the guts to be in this situation. You may ask yourself why you even bothered spending the time and energy in learning a language if those people can speak your own language better than you can!

Of course, there will be times when speaking in your target language will be beneficial, and it’s a fast way to make new friends while travelling in the country. But this leads to my next point, Germans are very keen to practice their English with a native speaker and will try this at every opportunity.

Germans Take Every Opportunity To Practice English

If you’ve ever been to Germany, you’ll find that once the person you are speaking to knows you are a native English speaker, they will immediately switch to English to practice their own language skills on you.

Don’t make the mistake of following suit and switching to English.

You may find yourself asking why Germans only ever want to speak English with you. This isn’t a comment on your German skills, this is simply an attempt to practice English with a native speaker. Make sure you continue speaking in German so that you are still practising your German language skills. This may end up with two languages in the same conversation, and you may need to use some English words if you don’t know the German ones, but as much as you can stick to German.

Don’t be discouraged in your own language-learning journey when you see others ahead of you on that path.

Remember that language learning is about the journey but that everyone is travelling on their own route and possibly to a slightly different destination. There are many different areas of language vocabulary, so you may feel that another speaker is more fluent than you, while they have simply learned more vocabulary to use in that particular area than you. This doesn’t mean you are failing or doing things wrong.

Germany Is Closer To More Countries With Foreign Languages

Germany borders nine countries by land while America borders two other countries, with many states only bordering other American states.

Germans who travel to any country that surrounds them will more often than not need to speak a language other than German. Americans may need to do this too, however, English is prevalent in at least in Canada. This means that Germans have a more personal motivation to learn foreign languages if they have any desire to travel more than a few hours in any direction from their home: foreign languages are all around them.

The closeness of these countries also means that Germans practising say, French, can easily take a short weekend trip to France to brush up their skills. If you were learning French you could also do this in Canada, but only in certain parts of America. This means that Germans are probably more practised at learning foreign languages, and are able to have real-life practice more often than you could, though this can be solved through the internet.

This is not to say that if you don’t live in Europe your chances of reaching the same level of fluency in German are impossible. There are certainly individuals in Germany who have less-than-average language skills and individuals in America who have above-average language skills. Overall as a nation, however, Germans are geographically placed with a higher need for knowing more languages and have a culture that supports this need. Perhaps if America had more foreign-speaking neighbours there would be a greater language learning culture than currently exists.

Remember: everyone learns languages for different reasons and at different speeds, keep at it, and before you know it your skills will be extraordinary!