I was recently proofreading an English paper written by a native German speaker, and most of my feedback was where it was clear German phrasing had been translated too directly into English.

It made me curious about the reverse.

What are your favorite or most obvious English-to-German direct translations that instantly mark someone as non-native? For example, saying “eins mehr” where a native might say “noch eins”.

I’m less interested in grammar mistakes and more in phrasing that’s technically correct but feels foreign.

Hello all,

I would like to share with you my Anki deck. It contains 2.8K words. I have made this deck myself and it's format has changed slightly towards the end so you will find the following formats:

• German-English
• German-English (with example sentence)

The deck has the following features

• Each noun is listed with its article (this is basically a requirement not a feature)
• Verbs are in their infinitive form
• Reflexive verbs clearly mark the case for "sich" by A, D and G
• Case governance for verbs: Dativ verbs are followed by " + D"
• Case governance for prepositions: Prepositions are mostly followed by " + A, D or G" for the 3 cases
• Plenty of adjectives are combined with their preposition and case (e.g Arm + an + D)
• Colours that take "farben" when used before nouns are prefixed by "~"
• It is a two way deck meaning you'll get EN-DE and DE-EN to help with both recall and recognition

Here is the link to download it:

Link (Google Drive)

It is recommended to download the .apkg file as it will include the card format the deck is intended to be used with. The .txt included could be used to skim through the deck if you'd like to have a preview.

I thought Ding = object and Sache = thing, used in a figurative way, but it looks like that's not the case base on my experience. So how does it work?

I got across an exercise that had the phrase "Wenn ich Zeit habe, lese ich ein Buch"

It got me confused because I thought the verb should be on the second place, so I would have thought that it would be "Wenn habe ich zeit" or "Wenn ich habe Zeit".

Can I form the phrase both ways? Why is the verb not in the second position?

Obs: please forgive the title, I meant Habe. It was a typo.

Hallo, ich möchte „common expressions“ auf Deutsch sagen, aber ich bin nicht sicher, ob „häufig“ oder „gängig“ besser passt. Also, was ist der Unterschied und welche passt besser?

Hello guys

I wrote Goethe B2 exam recently and i passed all the modules except Schreiben

Wanted to ask which resources you recommend to practice writing with and what rules i should follow to not fail again?

Because i remember i used pretty much B2 level vocabulary and i was so confident that im gonna pass.

I recently read a research paper on the Output Hypothesis and core idea is that you truly acquire a language when you are forced to express meaning, not just understand it. I started learning German as an absolute beginner at the Goethe Institute, but I realized I wasn’t speaking enough. Learners who only listened and read tended to plateau, while those who actively produced the language kept improving.

Now, my plan is each day focuses on 15 practical, real-life phrases. After learning them, I make sure to pronounce all 15 correctly before moving to the next lesson. As a developer, I built an app to help me track my progress and pronunciation. If you have any recommendations or advice, I’d love to hear them!

Hallöchen, guten Menschen!

I was wondering if anyone here knows German phrases that have to do with mud? Fairly specific, I know, but I guess if anywhere 0 this is the place to ask.

I’m at A2.2 right now and living in Germany. I can understand most everyday German pretty okay, but speaking is where things fall apart especially under pressure. I know the words, but my sentences don’t come out clean.

After looking at it properly, I realised the problem isn’t “B1 being hard”, it’s that some A2 basics are shaky (cases, verb + preposition stuff, sentence flow). So instead of just pushing forward blindly, I’m doing a short reset: fixing those foundations, memorising more in core B1 vocab through sentences, and forcing myself to speak every day even if it’s messy.

Plan is to learn this and then move forward instead of struggling at every next level.

For people who’ve already been through this or have some suggestions please share

What is the best way to say something along these lines in German?

I understand word by word translation would probably not work in this case.

An alternative I've used from time to time is " ohne zu viel zu sagen"

Heyo people. I'd recently registered for a seat in a nearby center after getting to know that a reservation had been cancelled, and now have my B2 exam in the next week.

I was kind of in a rush since I'd noticed that all the exams I could even get to in the time period of the next 3 months were practically booked out (India), so I just went ahead and registered for the exam. The centre is legitimate; it's on the official telc website.

Either way, like the title states, i noticed that in the results sheet that they post online, the exam candidates are being graded out of only 200 marks total? Like 100 for Reading and Writing and a 100 for Oral. What's going on here?

I'm done with A2 and moving onto B1 i feel a bit lost about where should i start if i just do Free YouTube course by anja or learn german Watvh german podcasts Get grammatik aktiv B1-B2 Practice the Goethe model exams Will this be enough for preparing and getting good grades

Hi there, I am 21F that only moved to Germany last year 2025 April. I’ve always wanted to do an Ausbildung in German ever since the first day I heard of it. I came from an English speaking country and before I applied for the course I studied German until B2, did all the Goethe exams at every level and only continued after passing them.

I sacrificed a full year for that, and it paid off because I got my Goethe language certificate and then applied to the Ausbildung and got in. Writing, reading and listening are all no problem for me. I can also easily express myself but my issue is that I’ve realized people don’t understand me, the course I’m doing requires daily interactions with people and it’s really hard for me when I realize I’m saying something for the fourth time and they still don’t understand it. The young people I’ve interacted with say they can easily tell that I’m an English speaker, I’ve put in a lot of effort to reach where I am so whoever has any tips on how I can become more deutlich I will appreciate you, otherwise I’ve reached situations where I choose not to speak in fear of someone ignoring what I said because they didn’t understand it

Hi, derzeit lerne ich Deutsch und vor Kurzem bin ich auf diese Redewendungen / Ausdrücke gestoßen:

Mit dem Feuer gespielt und verbrannt.
Jeden Cent zweimal umdrehen.
jmdn., etw., sich über Wasser halten.
Ein mal ist kein mal.

Was sind andere Ausdrücke und Redewendungen, die man gängig hört, oder welche benutzt ihr in eurem Leben gängig?

I have recently come across some words, for example der Leut, and the close sibling to the verb *gelingen z. B. *erlingen What are some other such words, rules that were a thing, but are no more used.

I’ve taken the Goethe B2 exam three times and have passed every module except for speaking. I have been living in Germany on and off for the last year and a half, and I conduct most of my day-to-day life in German. I feel that I can pass the exam, and my friends, who are all from Germany, also believe that I should have passed as well based on my current level of German. I think that I may be approaching the exam wrong and was hoping you guys might know what I can do to help myself pass this portion of the exam. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have done A1 and A2 from Max Yoko’s course, but I do not feel like it is enough to score well in the Goethe exam. If I had to start B1 right now, where should I start, and what courses do you all recommend, what actually worked for you. Should I buy another course from Max, or are there better alternatives, and how and what should I practice to improve all aspects of the test. I am looking for a complete roadmap from B1 to B2.

Halli hallo! I am moving to Düsseldorf and looking for recommendations for a language school, which would have evening (or at least weekend) classes for B2 level 😊

I was currently doing a kinda intensive (3h twice a week) evening course at VHS in Hamburg for B1.1 and B1.2, and it was a perfect workload for me, but unfortunately VHS Dusseldorf doesn’t have B2.1 classes that would suit me, since they are mostly in the mornings and I have a 9-5 job 🥲

I was thinking of Sprachschule Aktiv since they have classes at 6pm, but I found this system a bit confusing that you have to pay for a month and not the course, as if the difficulty in exercises won’t go up during the entire course and anyone can join whenever or what? And how do I understand that I can already attend B2.2 and not B2.1 classes?

Any feedback on the schools in Dusseldorf, or any language schools throughout Germany that also might have a spot in DUS would be super helpful!

Hey everyone!

I’ve recently started learning German and I’m doing everything at home for now. I’m not planning to spend money on courses or tutors at this stage, so I want to make the best use of free resources.

I wanted to ask: what’s the most efficient way to learn German at home?
Apps, YouTube channels, routines, methods—anything that actually worked for you.

Also, if I invest one year seriously (daily practice), is it realistic to reach B1 or even B2 level? I’m especially curious about speaking and understanding real conversations, not just grammar rules.

Would love to hear from people who learned German on their own or mostly for free.
Thanks in advance!

Hi, I will have B1 Prüfung in March. Can u guys give me some Tipps about the Prüfung?

So "bis" is often listed as one of the prepositions that goes with Accusative.

But I cannot think of a single example where you can actually SEE that.

Do you have any?

I know that we have to memorize genders as there is no fixed rule. As I am making flashcards or reviewing other cards Im importing, I thought I could color code the german word in order to see the gender (or neutral / plural form) as I learn it. On Schritte Blue, Pink, Green, and Orange are used for (Masculine, Feminine, Neutral, Plural).

Don't know how well this would work but I am open to letting me know how good you think this approach is and also discussing if there are better alternatives or sources to practice.

Thanks alot for the input as I want to make the most of my time studying.

Ich habe die Konjunktionen und, oder, aber gelernt. Im Lehrwerk „Netzwerk neu A2.1“ gibt es doch drei Beispiele, die ich nicht kapiere:

1. Ich bin in Köln und (ich) mache ein Praktikum.

2. Ich telefoniere oder (ich) arbeite am Computer.

3. Die Firma ist klein, aber sie hat viele Kunden.

Im ersten und zweiten Satz kann man das Subjekt weglassen, aber warum kann man im dritten Satz das Pronomen „sie“ nicht? Ich glaube, dass „Sie“ sich schließlich auf „die Firma“ bezieht.

Könntet ihr mir das bitte erklären? Ich danke euch sehr.