"All Germans speak English" is a myth. Many Germans like to say that most of them do, and it's a friendly thing to say. But it ignores everyone who gets left out of English-language conversations, and that is far more people than you'd think.

Who the myth leaves out

If you live here and your German is still growing, the Germans who talk to you in English are mostly the ones who are confident enough to try. That is a particular slice of the population.

Far more people have stories about life here that you will simply never hear, because the conversation doesn't happen in a language you can join.

The shame nobody mentions

Many Germans were also taught to feel ashamed of not having learned English. That is part of why the conversation is not as open as it looks from the outside.

[CHRISTINE: THIS IS YOUR SENSITIVE TOPIC. ADD HERE, IN YOUR OWN WORDS, WHAT YOU WANT READERS TO TAKE FROM THE SHAME POINT.]

What this does to your German

The myth is comfortable for everyone. You can get through most days in English, and the people you meet can feel they were helpful. The cost lands on you: fewer conversations in German, fewer repeated situations, less of the material your brain needs to acquire the language.

That is not a moral failing on anyone's part. It's what a comfortable arrangement does.

Please don't blame the learner

And please don't blame yourself for not being "good at languages". It's never the fault of the learner. Every human is born with the ability to acquire languages, and the mechanisms are the same for everyone. If the conditions are missing, the language doesn't arrive, however clever you are.

What we do about it

This is one of the reasons we built a network of local businesses that know why you've come, and keep speaking German rather than switching to English the moment you hesitate. It's a way of being in on the conversation the myth leaves you out of.

If you'd like to read about the cost of staying comfortable, the last post in this series is about exactly that.