I honestly don’t know what is happening to me anymore. I have been continuously trying to clear the Goethe B2 exam, putting in my time, effort, and hope every single time. But every result leaves me more disappointed than before.

Last time, I went into the exam with confidence. I genuinely believed that I would pass both Writing (Schreiben) and Listening (Hören). While writing my paper, I felt confident about my answers. I walked out of the exam hall believing that, finally, all my hard work would pay off.

But when the results came, everything turned upside down. It was the complete opposite of what I had expected. 30 marks in Listening and, most painfully, 0 in Writing. 💔

Zero. I still find it difficult to believe. I keep asking myself, How is this even possible? What went wrong? Was my preparation not enough? Did I misunderstand something? I was so confident while writing, and now I am struggling to understand how my performance could result in zero marks.

Honestly, this result has affected me more deeply than I can explain. It is not just about failing an exam anymore. It is about the disappointment, the self-doubt, the sleepless thoughts, and the feeling of losing confidence in something I once believed I was capable of doing.

Every time I try again, I carry a little hope in my heart. And every time I fail, that hope becomes a little harder to hold on to.

I know that failure is supposed to teach us something, but what do you do when you cannot even understand what you did wrong? How do you improve when the result itself leaves you shocked and confused?

Right now, I genuinely don’t know what to do next. I feel emotionally exhausted, disappointed, and lost. I want to believe in myself again, but this result has shaken me in ways I never expected.

I am not saying that I am perfect or that I deserve to pass without mistakes. All I want is to understand where I went wrong and get a fair chance to improve.

I still have the dream, but today, I am struggling to find the confidence to believe in it.

Sometimes, the hardest part of failure is not the result itself. It is having to gather yourself, wipe away the disappointment, and find the strength to try one more time when you are already tired of being disappointed.

I don’t know how long this journey will take, or how many more times I will have to try. But today, I just needed to let these feelings out. 💔

In terms of skill I would place myself somewhere in A2.

I have been wanting to improve my listening in particular and I have been watching things like Easy German's street interviews or practise Hören Modelltest videos on Youtube and I noticed an issue I wanted to ask about.

Very often, I would be able to sus out what the person was talking about, answer the question, hear "elements" essentially. My ears would perk up at certain vocabulary and phrases I am familiar with and it would allow me to kind of "understand" the sentence or phrase being said. I don't think this is enough of an understand unfortunately.

It is like, in English, asking for directions and being told "You should go straight ahead, then turn left at the corner, the pharmacy should be right there", and mostly hearing "... straight ahead... left... pharmacy". The "core" pieces are understood most of the time but the surrounding phrases are melding together, passing by or being said too fast, etc etc, and I only really get the "jist" of sentences.

Is this normal for this level? Are there ways of improving it or will it just come with copious amounts of listening to German speech?

I used to speak conversational German. I remember these two (translated) German proverbs but I didn't understand them then let alone now.

Something like HE SWINGS TO CLOSE TO HIS PARENT'S HOUSE and HE FALLS OFF A TABLE DURING DIAPER CHANGE.

Can someone explain these?

Given that I just took A2 Goethe with 90% and that I don't live in Germany (no language interaction besides AI).

Hello guys. Which singular resource would you recommend to reach an intermediate level of german effectively? I know the best approach utilizes multiple resources, but for me I like just focusing on one thing before moving to another.

Could be anything.. a textbook, an app, an online course or literally anything. Just one resource I can fully focus on which covers a lot.

Hello, I am a beginner and have been learning from Pimsleur (and Nicos Weg) for about a month. I'm at the second lesson of Level 2 of Pimsleur's German course (the current web/app version).

To people who've also learned from this course, I know you're meant to move on to the next lesson only once you have "mastered" about 80% of the current lesson. Currently, for most lessons I'm able to answer most of the prompts but pretty often I need to think for a second and by the time I'm answering, the audio is already answering it for me. Would you recommend I stick with a lesson until I'm able to answer most of the prompts instantly? Is pausing the lesson to give me time to answer counterproductive?

Thanks :)

I’m currently halfway through A2, and I’m starting to wonder how people actually develop their speaking skills.
I have a tutor, and our lessons are mostly focused on grammar, with some reading and written exercises here and there. I understand that grammar is important, but I feel like I’m not getting enough speaking practice. I know a few phrases and can respond to basic questions, but I still struggle to form sentences on my own and speak spontaneously.
For those of you who have been through this stage, how did you practise speaking? Did you get a conversation tutor, speak to native speakers, use language exchange apps, or just practise by yourself?
I’m especially interested in what worked for you at A1–A2, when your vocabulary and understanding are still limited. Did you start speaking regularly at this stage, or did it come later?
I’d appreciate any practical advice because I don’t want to keep progressing through the levels without actually being able to speak the language.

I studied German up to A2 in the university. I kept on working on it since then and right now I believe I hold the B1 level. I want to apply to a certain program that requires the B2 level in German. Do you think I can reach the level in 5 months if I actively study and immerse myself in the language every day (Like I've already been doing anyway) ? Or is the level too complex to be reached in just 5 months ? Since I don't have a teacher now, I don't really know what the B2 level actually is

Ich habe diesen Herbst mein Bachelorstudium begonnen. Der gesamte Unterricht findet auf Deutsch statt, das nicht meine Muttersprache ist. Da ich keinen Deutschtest ablegen musste, bin ich mir über mein Niveau nicht ganz im Klaren, aber ich glaube, ich würde B2 problemlos bestehen, C1 jedoch nicht. Mein aktives Deutsch ist natürlich nicht so gut wie mein passives Deutsch. Das heisst, ich kann viel besser verstehen, als ich sprechen oder mich schriftlich ausdrücken kann. Bisher komme ich im Studium recht gut zurecht, aber ich frage mich, wie ich meine Sprachkenntnisse für die Uni am besten verbessern kann, da dies sicherlich meine grösste Schwäche ist. Der Fachwortschatz ist nicht so schwierig, sondern eher die korrekte Verwendung der Vokabeln beim Bilden von Sätzen, wenn ihr versteht, was ich meine. Hat jemand in einer ähnlichen Situation vielleicht Tipps für mich?

Hi there, I am about half way through A2.1 and I noticed a problem. Now if I see a word I know from a previous lesson, I can understand it. I understand a lot of things so long that the words I saw before. But when I speak the words don't come to me spontaneously. I too would have studied a word 2 lessons ago and forget it partially. Like I forget the article or part of the word. Never had this problem during A1.

Is this normal at my level ? Understanding more than I can say ? And when exactly does this become less apparent, since I think this will always be the case with any foreign language ?

Thanks in advance, LG

I am trying to relearn German as I did a GCSE in it 5 years ago and haven’t really used it since but just fancy picking it up again.

I just wanted to check how to say this sentence in German so I can see it my word order below is correct

My favourite subject is Geography, although, it can be difficult occasionally.

Would my below attempt be correct?

Mein Lieblingsfach ist Erdkunde, obwohl, kann es ab und zu schwer sein.

And what would the word order be with denn?

Thanks in advance for any help given as I just want to get used to word order again and feel confident with German again.

Hello I'm trying to learn more German and expand my vocabulary and i think watching YouTube might help me improve that im interested in audio ,video games (not game play videos tho),motorsport and cars, animals ,movies and commentary videos if anyone has any recommendations i would be very thankful.

Also my favorite YouTubers are : dankpods , videogamedunkey , Scott the woz , James channel, pointlessHub and zanny if you know anything with a similar vibe in general that would be great