[jk4930]

Some resources that could be helpful:

http://www.howtogermany.com/ http://www.exberliner.com/ http://www.meetup.com/berlin-expats/

Guess one could get help and exchange info there. But I'm speaking without experience here.

Could you (and others here) give some experiences with the issues you mentioned? Doctor, shopping for something more complex etc. I can imagine it's difficult with governmental stuff, but for the others I assume there should be solutions. E.g. going to doctors in expat-heavy boroughs, going shopping in tourist-oriented areas etc. But I could be completely wrong. So please tell me about your (negative) experiences and the barriers /showstoppers.

[SneakerXZ]

You find solutions to these problems and you survive. You ask your HR to help you, you ask your acquaintances or friends to go somewhere with you or call somewhere for you and you start limiting your options only to places where they speak English based on sites where they gather English speaking places.

But at end of the day you limit your options because of your handicap and it decreases quality of your life.