Finding Our Footing in Germany with Preply – Europe Diaries

Two Expats, One Language: Finding Our Footing in Germany with Preply

There is a quiet satisfaction that comes with living in a country whose language you have slowly, imperfectly, made your own. I have been in my current city in Germany for five years, after a long period in Switzerland. I built up my German gradually, through bureaucratic necessity, through daily life, through years of trying, attending various group classes, repeatedly failing, and trying again. And somewhere along the way, I took small steps towards a line. Now, when the immigration officer at Frankfurt Airport glances at my residence permit and switches to German, I switch with him. When I attend a doctor’s appointment, I follow the conversation, ask my questions, and leave understanding (most of) what was said. Last week at the supermarket, a tourist was stuck trying to explain something to the cashier. I stepped in and translated. That moment, small as it was, felt like something. This is what language actually gives you, I think. Not just the ability to communicate. A sense of belonging. The feeling of being part of a place, not just passing through it.

And yet, I know there is a long way to go. While I have been gaining confidence in my German in daily life, I want greater fluency in both personal and professional contexts, particularly in the pharma and healthcare sector where I work. I want to feel less like I am composing sentences and more like I am just speaking. So when I came across Preply, I decided to try it.

What struck me from the start was how personalised the experience felt. Preply matches you with a tutor based on your actual goals, availability, time zone, and learning preferences — not just your language level. I took a trial class: twenty-five or fifty structured minutes of actual conversation, not grammar drills. The platform also has built-in learning tools to track vocabulary, review lessons, and practice between sessions. It felt less like signing up for a course and more like finding the right person to learn with.

That last part matters more than it sounds. Because language learning, I have come to believe, is not really a solo endeavour. Progress takes two.

I mentioned Preply to my friend Khushboo, a fellow expat living in Germany. She had her own reasons for trying it out, and they were considerably more urgent than mine.

Khushboo’s Story: Four Years In, Still Searching for the Click

Khushboo has lived in Germany for over four years. She passed her B1 exam. On paper, that should be enough. But as anyone who has sat a language exam knows, passing a test and holding a real conversation are two very different things.

“Even after passing B1, I still don’t feel confident enough. I notice my own mistakes while speaking, and that makes me hesitant. It affects my confidence.”

She had tried everything: language apps, online classes, in-person courses, exam preparation programmes. They worked, in the sense that she passed. But something was always missing.

“They helped me pass the exam, but not have a real conversation.”

What she wanted this time was different. No rigid curriculum, no shame for her level of German – Just a real person, a good rapport, and lessons that actually reflected her life: office situations, going to the doctor, the kind of German that comes up on a Tuesday afternoon, not in an exam hall.

Through Preply, she found exactly that. She was matched with a tutor whose teaching style suited her personality — someone warm, flexible, and genuinely interested in what Khushboo needed. Her tutor builds every session around her actual life, not a textbook.

“We choose different topics every time. It feels like a conversation, not a class.”

Her tutor has noticed her commitment too. In written feedback after a recent lesson, her tutor wrote: “I can see your strong motivation, and you attend our lessons regularly.” She added that Khushboo also practises German outside of class, which “really helps with learning.”

Seven lessons. 420 minutes. And then something happened that no exam result could have given her.

Khushboo had visited her doctor the month before. This time, in the same practice, something felt different. She was speaking more freely, reaching for words without freezing. The doctor noticed. Unprompted, she said:

“You are speaking really well this time. That’s impressive.”

That moment, unrehearsed, in the middle of an ordinary appointment, is exactly what Khushboo had been working towards. Not a certificate. Not a test score. Just a doctor in Germany telling her, in German, that she was getting somewhere.

Her goal now is bigger: job interviews in German. She wants to communicate naturally, to feel more integrated, to walk into a room and not feel like the language is working against her. Her Preply lessons are building toward that: practical, purposeful, and entirely on her terms.

When I ask her what fluency would actually feel like, she paints a picture. “I will feel fully at home in German when I can respond instantly, the way I do in my mother tongue. And I imagine it like this: sitting with a group of people, all of us just talking, laughing, enjoying the conversation in German. Right now it still feels like everything is bouncing around in my head. But everything takes time, and everything comes with practice.”

And her advice to anyone sitting on the fence?

“Now I go into lessons more confidently. Even if I make mistakes, I make them confidently because I know she will correct me. Unless you make mistakes and someone highlights them, you will keep repeating them. So my advice is: make more mistakes, and let someone correct you.”

What Progress Actually Looks Like

Listening to Khushboo, I find myself thinking about that supermarket moment – the tourist who was stuck, and the fact that I could help. Several times, I had been the one who was stuck with simple things and several times, also felt helpless in more complex situations.

Preply offers something that neither of us found in apps or exam classes, and that’s the key to truly retaining a language: a real person who adapts to you, notices your motivation, and chooses topics that align with your life, while also confirming your successes.

Progress, it turns out, rarely happens alone. It takes a tutor who pays attention, a friend who nudges you to try, a doctor who notices the difference, a stranger at a supermarket checkout who gives you the chance to show up for someone else. Progress takes two — sometimes more.

Khushboo has a job interview to prepare for. I have work meetings to start navigating in a new language. We are both, in our own ways, still finding our footing.

But we are finding it.

Ready to find your footing? Get 70% off your first Preply lessons and find a tutor who fits your life, your goals, and your schedule: Start learning on Preply

This is a sponsored post created in partnership with Preply. All opinions and experiences are genuine.

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