Skip to main content

Some things are just different

Manuel Soria from Argentina gives tips and advice in Spanish in his videos about life in Germany.

Carsten Hauptmeier, 17.10.2022
Manuel Soria from Argentina has been living in Berlin since 2017.
Manuel Soria from Argentina has been living in Berlin since 2017. © Manuel Facundo Soria

Manuel Soria had neither a permanent job nor any concrete plans for the future when he moved to Berlin from Buenos Aires in August 2017. His basic attitude was: “OK. Let’s see how it works out.” He had studied German in his home country and simply decided to try living in Germany. And because he has both Argentinian and Spanish citizenship, he was able to enter Germany as an EU citizen without a visa.

He had worked out that his savings would last for six months. After just one month he managed to find work as a photographer. And now he makes very successful videos talking about life in Germany and helping people who want to come to Berlin or other German cities. We asked Manuel the following five questions.

Dieses YouTube-Video kann in einem neuen Tab abgespielt werden

YouTube öffnen

Third party content

We use YouTube to embed content that may collect data about your activity. Please review the details and accept the service to see this content.

Open consent form

Piwik is not available or is blocked. Please check your adblocker settings.

What is your most important tip?
The most important thing is to keep an open mind. It’s important to understand that some things are just different, but that doesn’t make them better or worse. The different kinds of experiences in different countries enrich my own life.

What struck you most when you first came to Germany?
The very first time I came to Germany in 2014, I was surprised to discover how green even the major cities are. I’m delighted to be able to live in a city where there is so much nature. It’s also interesting to discover that it can sometimes be very quiet in a big city. Apart from that, I feel very safe here. In everyday life I’ve noticed that the cars usually stop for pedestrians at zebra crossings, and that red traffic lights are respected.

What do people ask you when they are interested in coming to Germany?
The focus is often on German language skills. A lot of people want to know whether being fluent in English is enough, or even just Spanish. Apart from that people naturally ask about job prospects.

And how important do you think it is to be able to speak German well?
Ideally, you should be able to understand a few words. Then you won’t be totally helpless in everyday situations, for instance if you want to know where the exit is. Germans open up a lot quicker if you can speak a bit of the language. But generally, in big cities like Berlin, it’s easy to get by with English. But to me, German is a lovely, attractive language.

But people often say that German is complex and difficult. What do you think?
I can’t say that German is easy. And it is definitely complex. But it also has very logical constructions, and clear rules. That helps when you’re learning a language. When I started learning, I wanted to be perfect and speak without making any mistakes, but that put me under too much pressure. Now, I just say to myself that my German will never be as fluent as my native Spanish. And that’s fine.

© www.deutschland.de

You would like to receive regular information about Germany? Subscribe here: