german language in germany Archives

01/10/201811/10/2018

What Learning German Taught Me

The much awaited envelope arrived in the post. The address stamp confirmed my suspicions.

With my hands shaking, I tore it open, half-terrified to discover what I might find. Whatever that’s in there could make or break me. I’ve not felt this way since the time I got my SPM results (High-School leaving examination to the uninitiated).

The paper felt thicker this time. My eyes quickly scanned to the grade given and relief washed over me as it dawned on me: “This is it! No more German-language exams for me again. Ever!” I finally passed my TELC C1 Hochschule exam!! The operative word here is finally. Why?

Because I’ve failed it once before.

An epic guide: German Language Visa application to learn German in Germany*

*For Malaysians

For the life of me, if I don’t know why you’d want to learn German in the first place. It’s difficult (trust me, it is), it takes forever to master and it’ll take you a lifetime before you could pass off as a German native speaker. However, if you’re doing it out of love, for a university programme, or if you’re just plain masochistic, well then, where else would you rather learn German but in Germany? I don’t need to extol here the benefits of learning the language at the country of its origin and embracing the experience of living abroad so I’ll just get on right to how to go about applying for the German Language Visa.

First of all, if you find a programme that could be completed in three months, you could just sign up and learn it on a regular “tourist visa”. For Malaysians, we could enter and stay within the EU/Schengen zone for 90 days within 180 days without a visa. Which means, you have 90 days to remain and travel freely within the Schengen area.