[FirmwareBurner]

>I spent the summer in Berlin and, as an American

That's a pretty bad way to get an impression of a whole country. That's like those American tourists visiting only the instagramable parts of Paris and Rome and then say they "saw Europe" lol.

Especially that Berlin is basically an American/Expat enclave in Germany where the native Germans are a minority to the point they're annoyed that nobody at cafes, bars and restaurants can take their orders in German.

Try vising smaller cities in Germany where the locals are a majority to get an actual feel of the country's culture and people. Berlin is too far from representative, it's just the place most foreigners feel comfortable because they're surrounded by other foreigners.

[pitkali]

> Especially that Berlin is basically an American/Expat enclave in Germany where the native Germans are a minority to the point they're annoyed that nobody at cafes, bars and restaurants can take their orders in German.

This is a pretty tired trope. As an immigrant living in Berlin since 2020, first in Prenzlauer Berg and now in Schöneweide, I still haven't found those enclaves that even speak English, let alone don't speak German. I'm sure they exist, but generalising from them to the whole 4 million+ city seems as misguided as generalising from your Berlin experience to the rest of the country.

[jonp888]

I have eaten in Restaurants and and shopped in shops in Berlin where at least some of the staff were unable to speak even the very basic German needed to take an order or inform the customer of the price. This seemingly wasn't considered a reason not to employ them. As another example, there are plenty, perhaps even the majority of Yoga studios that work in English only.

It's probably going too far to call it an "enclave", but I don't think any of this would happen in any other German city.

[FlyingSnake]

They might be talking about the famous Kreuzkölln bubble around Görli, Kotti and Schlesi.

[whstl]

I find it easier to hear Turkish than English there.

[FlyingSnake]

Why smaller cities? OP would be shocked to see other parts of Berlin like Steglitz, Moabit or Weißensee, where this isn’t a norm.

[JAlexoid]

Berlin is cosmopolitan, not "Expat enclave".

Berlin attracts people from all over Europe and the common language is English.

[bakchodi]

What are some expat neighborhoods in Berlin? I was just trying to find American expat enclaves like Chinatown in NY - couldn't really, outside of Antigua in Guatemala

[whstl]

> Especially that Berlin is basically an American/Expat enclave in Germany where the native Germans are a minority

C'mon, let's not exaggerate, it is 71% of ethnic Germans according to Wikipedia.

[FirmwareBurner]

And if you go for a walk in the city you mostly hear English.

[whstl]

Only in tourist areas, but that's tourists. During Covid it was very different.

[JAlexoid]

I mostly hear German, so I don't know what you're talking about.