So far, you might have heard a lot of positive things about studying in Germany, that the country has high quality education, that there are many people from different cultures at the university, the beer, all the good stuff. But on this channel, I want to be transparent with you. So here is the full picture, the ugly side of studying in Germany So the first thing people are not fully aware of are the high academic demands in Germany. I also wasn't aware of this when I started my university journey here, even though I went through the entire German education system. I really didn't know how high the workload at a university actually is. And the German system is different compared to the ones outside of Europe Studying at a university in Germany is not about memorizing things or standardized learning. No, you need to actually understand the subject to pass the exams. Here in Germany, we don't spend much time in class and much more time studying independently. At university, you usually have a lecture period during the semester where you can go and listen to the professors. You don't have to attend though. Nobody forces you to go to the lectures and nobody will check your name. I knew people who even went on a long vacation to Italy during that time. Then at the end of the semester, you're going to be confronted with a two week hyper stressful exam period. You have to become an academic weapon, a beast in these two weeks because it's going to be something like seven exams in two weeks. And the people from Italy also came back for that. And most classes based the grade for the entire course on the final exam or term paper. And this means that the final exam period at the end of each semester is a very intense time for all the students on the campus. And you can really feel the tension in the air. And one thing I can tell you is don't forget to register for your exams. Like seriously, The fact that you're registered for a course at university doesn't automatically mean that this is also the case for the exam. There were many issues in the first semester of my degree program because of this. So many people forgot to do that and had to argue with the "Prüfungsamt" later. And oh boy, the German Prüfungsamt, it's really German. Trust me, you don't want to experience this. Of course, there's also support for all of this. You can get in contact with tutors, create your own study groups and take advantage of coaching programs. You're not alone at university and all the other people in your degree program are probably going through similar things, but it's not easy. A lot of students here, whether German or international students, get absolutely surprised when they enroll in university. The first two semesters are usually your hardest. Another problem that you're inevitably going to encounter in Germany is the train system. And oh boy, this is a really ugly side of Germany that I'm not that proud of. Everybody in Germany is deeply annoyed by the train system because it's so garbage. And I can really understand that if you were to take a train in Germany and things go wrong, My heart goes out to all the students who have to take the S-Bahn or regional trains on a daily basis to get to a university. If you suddenly hear announcements about "Weichenstörung" or "Signalstörung", your whole day is basically ruined. And I found it quite funny. We Germans are known for being on time and they put so much emphasis on punctuality, punctuality in the workplace and appointments. But when it comes to trains, well, something at some point must have gone terribly wrong. Every person here hates the Deutsche Bahn, the German train company, because their trains are known for being late all the time. And with late, I don't mean three or 10 minutes. No, I mean one hour or three hours. But in such a developed country like Germany, the train and public transportation system is supposed to be functioning properly, right? It's not. And I know we Germans complain a lot, but this is actually a valid reason to complain. The German train system has almost become a meme. And I think people here can deal with it because our expectations are now so low that we can't get disappointed anymore. In 2023, 36% of the regional and long distance trains were late. And this number is increasing every year. So if you were to take an interrail express from Munich to Berlin, for example, there is a really high chance that there is going to be some kind of delay. 30 minutes or three hours. I don't know. Both are very common. In addition to all of that, the trains also love to strike. Apparently, it's normal to have strikes in Europe. And every other month, there is a big strike in Germany. A strike means that the employees stop working to go out and protest for higher pay. And during a strike, no train or plane is operating and traveling becomes a giant nightmare. Germany has strikes because there are no automatic increases in wages if inflation is high. So every time the labor unions have to negotiate with the employers to get their wage increased. And a lot of the time the negotiations get so heated that the unions decide to strike. Sometimes it's the taxi drivers than the airlines and also the trains. Sometimes I wonder where my tax money is actually going. So next, let me address more or less the elephant in the room. You need German language skills in Germany. Otherwise, it's going to be difficult. And I think every person who is living in Germany right now and watching this video can confirm this. For most people, the German language is key to being able to succeed here in Germany, both at university and in your job. Yes, most Germans can speak English. They're actually not that bad, but they actively avoid speaking it. Why speak a lot of English when you're in your home country, right? Sure, you can find a lot of English speaking friends and there are many international students, especially in big cities. But this means that you will also end up in a bubble and I can speak from my own experience. Once you get too comfortable in any sort of bubble, The competition for English-taught programs at university and jobs in English is also very, very high. Not many spots are available, but so many people go after these kind of jobs because yeah, learning an additional language is hard and a lot of people simply don't want to do that. But if you can speak German, your opportunities are going to increase like crazy in your day to day life. You need to go to the supermarket, to the doctor, to the government. You cannot expect everyone to be fluent in English. And if you're living in a smaller town, it's even more important to be able to communicate in German at some level. You have to forget these movies where the whole world seems to speak fluent English. Reality here is far, far away from that. And many international students, unfortunately, learn it the hard way after coming to Germany. And on top of that, for opening a bank account, buying SIM cards and all that stuff, Now, I know that many people struggle with these things, even Germans struggle with it. So to make your life in Germany instantly easier, I have launched a 100% free online course called Germany's starter kit. Inside of it, I will exactly show you how to set up your life in Germany, what bank account to pick, explain phone contracts, accommodation, and much more. Even if you've been living in Germany for years, So far in the first days, more than 100 people have signed up and they absolutely loved it. So check it out. The link is in the video description. So another disappointing thing in Germany is the internet. In the past, I thought that the internet in Germany wasn't that bad until I visited other countries and compared the global internet speeds with Germany. And that was a bit of a shock. Apparently, Germany's internet connection is known around the world as one of the slowest and most unreliable in Europe. And let me tell you, it's frustrating when your website is loading too slowly or your zoom call suddenly gets disconnected. I think it's genuinely hard for some to move to the first European economic power and experience to the internet like it's 2010. When it comes to internet and mobile offers, And the biggest problem is that a lot of people and companies are stuck in conservative ways, especially if you live in the countryside, you will notice the lack of good internet infrastructure. In bigger German cities, it's okay. You get decent speed and mobile data coverage, is also not that bad. In Germany, there are three big internet providers. Telekom, Vodafone and O2. And they basically control the entire infrastructure and the prices. I study computer science and good internet is the foundation of a good workflow. But my old internet provider has been so bad, so bad in fact, that my zoom meeting froze almost every time. So I recently switched my internet provider and you know, I had to look at the prices and compared to prices in other countries, they are insane. And the same goes for mobile data. Picking the right internet provider in Germany is a whole different topic. I also talk about it in detail in the free Germany Starter Kit course. And don't forget to download the free studying in Germany guidebook in the video description and join our huge discord community. Love you and stay focused.