Master vs Bachelor's course in Germany, which one is better?

I was a bachelor student in Germany studying renewable energy engineering. It was pretty much a very tough course, considering that all of the content, lectures, and exams were and are still 100% in the German language. Not to forget, both the internship and bachelor thesis were also in German as well, all for the duration of 5 years! Did I survive? Sort of. There were quite a few ups and downs that I lived through learning the German language.

So, you are trying to enroll yourself in a bachelor's course in Germany...

If you have prepared yourself really well up to the C1 level, as in you have passed the C1 exam, I wouldn't say that there won't be many issues in terms of recognizing the words that the professors are saying. Only in the first semester will you have the difficulty of first adjusting to what he or she is saying. And I said 'recognizing,' not 'understanding'; they're 2 different things. Understanding what your professors say depends on the content he or she is explaining to you. And of course there are a few weeks of difficulty to first adapt to the German language spoken by the natives, who speak a couple of totally different words, and the way they speak will definitely be different. Even more so when they speak with a dialect. (If they spoke difficult dialects like Bayerisch it's going to take more time, but generally you can adopt well with C1 certification.)

But if you are going there with B2 certification... then... 😮😫😫

There are some German universities that are allowing students with B2 certification to enroll into universities, sometimes even under the student exchange programs, where they ask for B2 instead of C1, and I can tell for sure from my own experience as well as my international colleagues with B2 certification that it's just not the best feeling ever or even the best place to be.

You're going to have 3 issues here: one, not recognising the words spoken; second, understanding what those words uttered by professors or even students; and lastly, what are they saying in general🤯

And if you are to enroll yourself in a master's course in Germany...

At the same time, I have seen others undergoing the enrollment of master's degrees 100% in English. And the master's course can take a max. of 3 years to complete, sometimes even 1.5 years, depending on which course you are taking. And if your German is at a good enough level, like B1 or B2, when you graduate from your master's course, there's a much higher chance of getting a job in Germany or the DACH region (Germany, Switzerland, Austria). And sometimes if you were to enroll in a research institute, where more often than not they don't put the German language much of a priority, you can just use English in your daily tasks of the research jobs. Trust me, there are plenty of them. And of course there are jobs in the IT industry and at well-known Fortune 500 companies where knowledge of the German language is much less needed.

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So comparing a master's course that is taught in English with a study period of an average of 2 years to a bachelor's course that is taught all in German with a study period of an average of 4 years, it makes it a no-brainer to think that a master's course makes much more sense than a bachelor's course in German.

A master's degree holds a better prospect in terms of finding a job compared to a bachelor's, as long as your German is up to B2 and not lower than that! However, in the German market, aside from the R&D and IT jobs, almost all the other industries require you to have fluent C1 German, sometimes even C2. This is where a graduate with a bachelor's degree stands out.

So how do you go about deciding which path to take?

If you're taking the bachelor course's path --> It's simple: reach German up to C1 within 1 year (with the right method & efforts, of course, and not some brute force or lazy learning style😅), enroll in the course, and later with the job search you'll have PLENTY of job opportunities to apply to, as the biggest pool of job opportunities available right now are the graduates, and it's a super high bonus that you have a fluent German level, or otherwise written in the job description as verhandlungssicher.

If you're taking the master course's path --> You may start your master course in English and think that you can focus on learning German later on. Of course you have learned some German that is up to A2 level and decide to never learn again. And you don't need to learn the German language ever again if your plan is to not work in Germany or even in other German-speaking countries. But if your plan is to get a job in Germany, then you better not procrastinate learning German at any point living in Germany! Believe me when I say this: German is not a language that you can pick up in 1-2 months; you definitely need to have a continuous practice of learning and applying the language. Up until when you are graduating from your Master's course, no matter how busy you get with your Master's course, take at least 15 minutes per day to learn the language, and of course, try practicing it whenever and wherever you can! 💪 Because trying to learn German while searching for a job is a very bad idea, trust me, it has never really worked for anyone so far! Everyone I know who spoke German really well during their master's course are working and excelling in their career in Germany, and those who didn't learn German really well and don't use it

Hope these insights give you a better reflection of the choice you want to make before taking the decision of pursuing your degree in Germany. All the Best, viel Glück!