Be honest about the language

Can you live in Germany with English only? Sort of — but you'll feel it.

• Many master's programmes and tech jobs are fully English. Daily life in student circles works in English.
• Bureaucracy is German. Letters, forms, and most counter staff at the Bürgeramt or Ausländerbehörde operate in German. Google Translate on your phone is genuinely enough for most visits, and this guide (plus our Letter Helper) covers the common letters.
• Landlords, doctors and job markets strongly prefer German. Each level of German you gain unlocks cheaper housing, better part-time jobs and actual friendships with locals.

Practical target: arrive with A1–A2 (a few months of app practice + one course). Take an integration or evening course to reach B1 during your first year. If you're coming to work in a German-speaking role, your employer will tell you what level you need — believe them.

Where German is legally required, not just useful:

• Spouses joining most permit holders need A1 before the family visa (Blue Card families are exempt).
• Permanent residence (Niederlassungserlaubnis) requires B1 for most people.
• Regulated professions (medicine, nursing, teaching) require B2–C1 for the licence itself.

Red flags:

• Programmes or agents claiming you'll "never need German". Even in a fully English degree, the Amt, landlords and doctors mostly won't switch.
• Certificate mills selling language certificates without a real exam — embassies and universities verify TestDaF, Goethe, telc and DSH results, and a fake certificate ends the application.
• Putting off German "until you're settled" — the cheapest and best courses (university language centres, VHS) are available from week one, and the people who start early are the ones still happy in Germany five years later.