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Is it? That is the opposite of my experience! I spent a few months in Berlin and I had to struggle to get people to speak German -- nine out of ten times someone would hear my American accent and immediately switch over to English... I wonder if it varies region to region (I admittedly didn't get out of Berlin too often)?

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Berlin is pretty much an exception. My wife has family all over Germany and outside of Berlin and possibly Hamburg I find that very few people speak decent over even any English. And it gets worse the further east you go.

That being said it also seems to be generational. People under 30 tend to know English at a much higher rate than those over 50.

Berlin != Germany

Just like Austin != Texas

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