It’s already the fourth year for me to live in Germany. Today I want to summarise the points that I’ve learned during the past four years.
Learning German is not necessary, but it helps a lot
One clear example is when you have to go to the city government to apply for new document (e.g. registration of your living status in Germany, aka Anmeldung), on the email it specifies that “please bring someone who can speak German if you cannot really speak German.
Another common case is when you want to book a doctor appointment, you have to select the ones that also provide English service — it is not that uncommon here in Germany for you to find a doctor that can speak English, but neverless, the option you have decreased if you have to apply that filter 🤷♀️
German learning resources
If you are really interested in learning German, there are tons of free resources on the Internet you can use, here I just list some:
- VHS: The full name of VHS is Volkshochschule, which translates to English will be Adult Education Center / Community College. In the link that I provide, you can find free online video course from A1 (A, B, C..) to C1, and it also provides specific courses for job category such as logisitics, nursing assistant, certifited caregiver etc.
- DW Deutschlernen: The full name of DW is Deutsche Welle. It is Germany’s international broadcaster, similar to BBC World Service or Voice of America. DW provides videos and podcasts for German lerner from A1 to C1. The resources that I personally have used include
- Nicos Weg: this is a story of a Spanish guy moving to Germany and starts learning German.
- Harry gefangen in der Zeit: this is a story about a guy that is trapped in a loop of time, and many things keep repeating — you can also find it on podcast list (spotify, apple podcast etc). Since it is set up as repeating story, it helps the learner to repeat what they have learned, and every time it adds up a little bit more new information.
- YouTube: Thanks to Internet, nowadays we can really learn almost everything online. Here I would recommend some channels that I use before
- Easy German: I think this might be the most popular german/language learning material in the form of street interview. They also have their own podcast and app, called Seedlang.
- DeutschLera: clear explanation of German grammar (early video) as well as videos that covers different topics (more recent focus)
- Deutsch mit Rieke: she has a strong focus on German words that have different prefixes, such as abmessen, vermessen, ausmessen, bemessen etc. I would recommend her videos for more advanced lerner (B2).
Make use of your health insurance
In Germany, everyone has to pay health insurance, either through statutory health insurance (Gesetzliche Krankenversicherung, GKV) or private health insurance (Private Krankenversicherung, PKV). Usually people start with statutory health insurance, since there are additional requirements for PKV, such as salary threshold (around 69,300 euro annually), and also the contributions are more dynamic based on the health condition at entry and chose benefits.
In the contrast, contribution for statutory health insurance is based on your income, which is around 14-15% of gross salary and split between employer and employee. It’s not cheap. However, the German healthcare system designs, in my opinionn, a smart mechanism that motivates people to keep themselves healthy.
The health insurance I use is TK (Techniker Krankenversicherung). When you download their TK App (Apple / Google Playstore) and go to Bonusprogramm, you will find a series of activities that you can accumulate points, which can be used in the future to reimburse for the expenses that you spend on things such as pilates courses, apple watch, gym membership etc.
Also, there are many free body checks that I think is beneficial and necessary, such as Gesundheits-Check-Up, this is a blood test to check the overall health condition; Gynecological cancer screening for women; dental check-up twice per year. Vaccines such as Tetanus + Diphtheria booster and FSME vaccine are the ones that I have got here in Germany.
Additional Insurance Could Be Very Helpful
I know that we have paid a lot in the insurance — but the so-called Zusatzversicherung (additional insurance) is really useful in specific cases. For example, the professional teeth cleaning (professionelle Zahnreinigung) in Germany really worths it, at least in my opinion.
The statutory insurance will cover 40 euro per year for your professional teeth cleaning, and full reimbursement for normal cleaning. The price for a professional cleaning is around 130 euro, which means that you have to pay 90 euro yourself; if you want to have more than onc cleaning per year, the cost will be even higher — here is why an additional health insurance is needed.
For example, I choose Allianz Mein Zahnschutz 75 program, which covers unlimited times of professional cleaning per year, but with a maximum reimbursement of 1,000 euro per year — which is already completely enough for me. The cost for this insurance program is 12.94 euro per month, which is 155.28 euro per year.
Keep Your Invoices — It Is Useful for Tax Return
As soon as you start working, you are going to pay the tax, unless it is a Mini job. There are multiple apps that you can use for tax return, such as Taxfix, Check24, Elster etc. The one that I have used is Taxfix, because its user interface is pretty good. Moreover, it explains all the items in the App, so you know what you should fill in, and how to fill could make it beneficial to you.
If you are interested in Taxfix, you can use the my referral link to get 50% off. Alternatively, you can also use the promo code: Taxfix-24199597
Another App that many people use is Check24, which is FREE. Check24 is the most well-known price comparison website in Germany, and they also provide the tax return filing service. I have not used it so I could not give my opinion here.