Applying for German visa - Help?
 

I am applying for a German visa tomorrow (resident of the USA) to become an Au Pair in February, 2017. I have all of the necessary documents, however my language skills when it comes to German are pretty poor. I don't have much time to learn the language and I work two jobs so it has been difficult for me to find time to study. My host family has me enrolled in language classes starting in February as soon as I arrive. Is it likely that an exception will be made for my lack of skills because I am enrolled in classes, or am I surely to be denied? Some advice would be extremely helpful. Thank you in advance!

You require at least A1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). Just speaking and listening, such as being able to answer in Germany 'my date of birth', 'how many brothers and sisters I have' and 'where I live'. There is usually no language test as such (though they can require one), but you need to enclose evidence of language skills such as a test pass or certificate from a language school. Being enrolled in a German class in Germany is unlikely to be sufficient.

'in German' I meant!

I have seen au pairs coming from Poland years ago speaking not a word of French.
That I'd usually the reason for being au pair - to learn the language.

But Polish workers wouldn't need a visa to work in Belgium or France...

pop onto duolingo and work a bit a day (start 15 minutes/day put push for 30 minutes every day). You'll soon be able to order a beer.

How many German classes have you taken? Can you sign up for conversation at a local community college or something. It sounds like you need a couple of months of solid work on the basics to qualify.

The good part about German is that it's the root of English and that you can intuit the meaning of a lot of words. The bad part is that the sentence structure is completely different.

Just what does pretty poor mean?

Can you read a toddler's book? Read a menu? Ask simple questions?

<<Can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type. Can introduce him/herself and others and can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, people he/she knows and things he/she has. Can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.>>

I've studied a lot of languages in my life, and relatively speaking, German isn't exactly easy. As nytraveler notes, it's not so much the vocabulary that's hard, but the sentence structure. If you've had years of Latin you'll pick it up. But even to get to the A1 level I should think would require quite a few months of study.

Verstehen Sie? Es wird nicht einfach sein!

I don't think German is easy either, and I wouldn't say it was intuitive at all. I think French is pretty intuitive, and Spanish secondly, but not German.

I've seen descriptions of the A1 level taking about 60 hrs of study on average. So if you studied an hour every day, that would be almost 10 weeks.

No, I don't think they will waive the requirement, and I think they might require a certificate from a language school saying you've reached that level. Since this is tomorrow, you'll find out anyway, but I don't think any exception will be made just because you are enrolled in classes in the future. If you are just worried you aren't fluent enough and DO have that certificate, then it should be fine. But I notice the application just asks you where you studied German, how long, and for you to rate your ability, so not sure they require the school A1 certificate.

time will tell, nothing you can do about it now

German and English have the same root words. And since in German they tend to make new words by combining old words rather than making new ones (schwimmbad versus pool) you can pick up a lot of meaning without really knowing it. I mean what else could schwimmbad be?

But puttinng together whole sentences - beyond how much does that cost? how do we get to? where is the toilet? what thime does the tour start? is a howl other issue.

Caveat: I have never studies German. My father's grandparents were from Germany and he grew up with them but could never learn it - he said it was too hard. He taught me to count and a few choice phrases from his time there in WWII - but the rest of mine is from intuition or desperation while traveling.

English is actually the bastard child of German and French/Italian with a hint of Viking thrown in.

You just need time and consistency.

If you want to do it fast.
Duolingo as described
italki to find someone to talk to (exchange language practise)
online proficiency test give you an idea how you are getting on