5 OF THE BIGGEST AND MOST EMBARRASSING MISTAKES I'VE MADE AS A FOREIGNER IN GERMANY 😫

You know those tear-jerking moments where you’re just so embarrassed that you want to crawl into a hole and never come out? YUP. I’ve had enough of those here in Germany, but here are my top 5!

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AND if you use my code “JENNA50” you can get $50 off your course package!

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#expats #germany #lifeingermany #expattips

MY TIPS FOR LIVING IN GERMANY ✅

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00:00 - Video begins
00:12 - Intro Chats
01:02 - #1 Most Embarrassing Moment | My Wedding Day
03:29 - #2 Most Embarrassing Moment | Fake it ’til you make it
04:27 - #3 Most Embarrassing Moment | That Ain’t Classy
06:16 - EUS | OUR VIDEO SPONSOR
08:05 - #4 Most Embarrassing Moment | Same Word - VERY DIFFERENT MEANINGS
09:49 - #5 Most Embarrassing Moment | Ants in my Pants?!
12:08 - Outro Chats

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ABOUT ME

Hey there, I’m Jenna! A Canadian who has been living in Germany since 2014. 🇩🇪

Like many, I had a difficult time relocating - all the paperwork, making sure I wasn’t getting scammed, finding a flat, a phone plan, a job, etc. So, I took it slowly, documented all my learnings along the way, and partnered up with expats in every field so that I could help others avoid making the same mistakes I did. Let’s look at it as… PAVING THE WAY FOR NEW EXPATS TO SAVE TIME & MONEY!

... and now I’m bringing it all to YOUTUBE! ♥️

[thof]

I so knew it was Brennnesseln before you said it. Welcome to the German outdoors. ;)

[Pewtah]

Kudos for your courage to tell such embarrassing situations. In your last point you did literally what the german idiom says: "sich in die (Brenn-)Nesseln setzen" (ouch, every child knows that pain). In means "to sit down in the (stinging) nettles" as a metaphor for putting oneself in an unpleasant situation or in general doing something embarrassing. At least you can learn how to pick stinging nettles without any pain in your fingers.

[Dahrenhorst]

Most Germans know that foreigners have difficulties to distinguish between "du" and "sie". So usually they may react somewhat irritated at first, but then just accept you as not being that adept in German yet. Just make sure that your accent is thick enough that you are identified as a non-German even on the phone.
Don't be afraid to say that you missed what was said. Most people will try to tell it again more slowly and probably with other words. Nobody with a clear mind will hold that against you. And you surely will have experienced yourself that many Germans immediately switch to English when they realize that you are an English speaker.

[thomasstehmann]

"Gekotzt" HaHa...selten so gelacht.... Man soll das Übel auch beim Namen nennen!!! :)) Es macht Dich nur sympathischer. ;) Mehr solche lustigen Geschichten wäre echt super! Bei der Geschichte mit den Brennnesseln lag ich am Boden. :))

[fobbitguy]

I was at the hauptbahnhof. Had to change my ticket at the DB service center. I thought I had explained it perfectly in German. The woman at DB stared at me and then in perfect accent free English said to me: "I have no idea what you just said to me." Jeez..what could I say?

[suzetteospi]

Die Brennnessel-Geschichte ist zum Totlachen! Der Knaller!

[frankmitchell]

I had the opposite experience when I first worked in Düsseldorf. I learnt German at the Volkshochschule and at work and only learnt the more formal way of addressing people. Result was that I found it difficult to speak to friends.

[see_the_journey]

Imagine going to the doctor to talk about your sick child and you start the conversation with "Yo what's up dude" 😂 Thank you so much for the advice and for sharing your experience with us! 😊

[wernholttempelhoff]

You are very entertaining Jenna. I laughed a lot listening to the adventures you experienced in Germany.
Sometimes being an extrovert can be a disadvantage. For example, when you answer questions at the courthouse (registry office) and suddenly you get divorced before you got married.

But when you learn a language, the benefits of being an extrovert outweigh that. Because you only learn a language fast and easy if you dare to speak a lot. Even if it is not always quite correct..

Stay as you are. With you there will be definitely a little more fun in Düsseldorf.

[judyhorstmann]

My husband's entire extended family on both sides still live in Germany (Celle). Over the years (38) I've learned various words and phrases. Sadly. most of the older generation has passed and the bilingual speakers don't speak German very often. I miss hearing it! Thank you for your awesome channel. You are lovely!! 🤗

[JimWorthey]

Thank you for a really educational video. With regard to saying "ja, ja" when you are losing the thread of the discussion, when I visited Germany years ago I don't think it worried me too much. I was learning quickly and (at age 20) I reverted to the attitude of a child, that I was allowed to make mistakes. And yet I identified with your experience totally! It's because now I have hearing loss and I lose the thread in English, especially if the speaker has an accent, plus a mask, plus background noise. I'm a child once again.

[hannofranz]

The tricky thing with answering "Yes"or "No" to questions you don't understand is that the dialogue may be like that: "So you definetely agree that you are a complete fool?" - "Yes"

[Andi_mit_E]

In German we also use "bitte" for "you're welcome"

[robertzander]

Good morning Jenna 🌻
Mistakes makes you human,
people that don't make any mistakes, doesn't really life and work.
Absolut perfection doesn't exist in nature, we learn every day and it never stops no matter how old we are.
When i went to work in Ireland in 2003, i wasn't familiar with all terms and word's and i thought minced beef would be meat with peppermint flavour and sometimes on telefon i misunderstood the time of reservation, when they said half eleven for example, i was not sure do they mean, half past eleven like i learned that in school or is half before eleven like I knew that from Germany. So after the first mistake, i asked a couple of times until I finally got it. It was really embarrassing.
The final song at the end of the night in club or disco was always the national anthem of Ireland, that was something i didn't know at the beginning, i had no idea what to do, that was a little embarrassing too.

[hartbigfan]

Wir hatten früher ein Planschbecken im Garten und ein Klettergerüst mit Rutsche - die haben wir dann in das Planschbecken gestellt quasi als Wasserrutsche...soweit war alles gut...und dann haben wir uns gedacht in diesem einen Kinderbüchlein "Conni muss ins Krankenhaus" hat Conni ihre Rutsche mit Seife eingeschmiert um schneller zu sein (dass Conni dabei voll in die Schrankwand gebrettert ist und sich ein Bein gebrochen hat haben wir gekonnt ignoriert)...bestimmt voll die gute Idee 😂🤦‍♀️ endete jedenfalls damit dass ich mich über das Planschbecken hinweg, durch den ganzen Garten bis in die Brennesseln katapultiert hab 😂 Mein Beileid also 😂 Ich erinner mich immernoch an das Gefühl

[fraeuleinsommer]

Haha, beloved childhood memories... having to go pee in the middle of nowhere and ending up sitting right in the mother of all stinging nettles :-D

[nordwestbeiwest]

Actually, you could write a funny book about your misadventures in the German language, which are so funny that I had to grin myself at your story.It is possible that you often go to the "Fettnäpfchen tritt". Dana Newman also did it with the title: "You go me on the cookie!".

[marilai]

I think a lot of woman had the same experiance in the forest . I remember when I was a kid cycling with my grandma in the forsest and I felt into a big field of those Brenneseln. It was summer and I had some light clothes on . Like shorts and a top. I can still remember this pain. But I also made the same experiance like you😂🤣🤣. So don't worry about that .

[MoDKoP]

foggy = nebelig and schwül = hot and humid

[alextrip]

When I was a kid visiting in Hungary, I was out in nature with my aunt and relatives. I had a bag of clams I collected, and after a while I got bored of carrying them, so I threw them in the woods. My aunt worked in Természet védelem (wild life protection service) so she got super upset and made me retrieve them. Where did they land? The Nettle patch. Lol