Honestly, no. Berlin is one of the most English-friendly cities in continental Europe, and you can comfortably handle everyday life , supermarkets, public transport, restaurants, flat-hunting, healthcare , in English alone. Most younger Berliners speak fluent English, and many workplaces, bars, and cafés operate in English by default. That said, picking up a bit of basic German makes things smoother and is genuinely appreciated by locals. We help students with simple survival German alongside their main English studies so you feel confident from the first week.
There's a moment most students have within their first week in Berlin. They're standing in a queue at a bakery, or trying to order a coffee, or asking for directions on the U-Bahn, and they realise something unexpected. The person behind the counter is answering in English. The couple next to them are speaking French. The barista is from São Paulo. And suddenly, the city doesn't feel like a language barrier at all. It feels like the easiest place in the world to land.
That's Berlin. And honestly, it's one of the main reasons we love teaching here.
A city that already speaks your language
Berlin has always been a magnet for people who don't quite fit in elsewhere - artists, founders, musicians, students, expats who came for a summer and stayed for a decade. The result is a city where roughly half the population under 35 speaks fluent English, and where entire neighbourhoods (Neukölln, Friedrichshain, parts of Mitte) operate almost bilingually. Walk into a creative agency, a tech startup, a coffee shop, or a bar in Kreuzberg, and English is often the default working language.
For students, this matters more than it sounds. It means you can practise English in real situations from day one, without the panic of "what if they don't understand me?" You can order food, make friends, get a flat, join a gym, find a job - all in English. The city meets you where you are.
The Schengen advantage no one talks about
Here's something quite specific to EP Berlin: we're one of the EP school inside the Schengen Area that teaches English. That's not a minor detail. It means your student visa, once you have it, doesn't just give you Germany. It gives you 28 other countries. No extra paperwork. No border queues. Just a train, a bus, or a budget flight.
A long weekend in Prague costs less than a night out in London. Amsterdam is six hours by train. Paris is direct from Berlin Hauptbahnhof. Copenhagen, Vienna, Krakow, Rome, Barcelona, all reachable on a Friday afternoon and back by Sunday night. We've had students treat Europe like a side quest to their English studies, and frankly, that's part of what we want. The classroom gives you the language; the continent gives you the reason to use it.
Why EP Berlin feels different (the cooking club, mainly)
Anyone can put students in a classroom and run them through tenses. What's harder, and what we think actually moves the needle, is getting students to use English when no one is grading them.
Our cooking club is probably the clearest example of how we try to do that. Once a week, students cook together. Sometimes it's a Syrian student teaching everyone how to make proper fattoush. Sometimes it's an Italian student getting passionately upset about how the Brazilian students are handling the pasta. Either way, the kitchen is in English, the chaos is in English, the eventual meal is eaten in English.
It sounds small. It isn't. The thing that actually breaks down a language plateau is using English when you're relaxed, distracted, slightly hungry, and not thinking about grammar. That's when fluency starts to feel automatic instead of effortful. The cooking club is one of the most popular things we run, and there's a reason for that.
Berlin is also just... a good place to be
It would feel dishonest not to mention this. Berlin is cheap by European capital standards. The public transport is excellent. The food is some of the most diverse in Europe — you can eat Vietnamese, Georgian, Ethiopian, Turkish, Korean and Lebanese all within a 20-minute tram ride. There are lakes you can swim in during the summer. There are 175 museums. There's a flea market culture that has to be seen to be believed. The nightlife is famous for a reason, and so is the café culture, the parks, and the casual, slightly scruffy openness of the place.
You come for the English. You leave knowing a city.
So, is it for you?
If you're looking for a place to seriously improve your English, prepare for IELTS, get into a European university, or just live somewhere genuinely interesting for a few months, Berlin earns its spot. Add in the Schengen passport, the multicultural baseline, and a teaching team that thinks cooking together is part of the curriculum, and EP Berlin starts to look less like a language school and more like a way in.
Come and see it.
Build Your Future in Berlin While Mastering English
Get a QuoteFAQs
Do I need to speak German to live and study in Berlin?
Can I travel around Europe while studying at EP Berlin?
Yes, and we actively encourage it. Your student visa gives you visa-free access to 28 European countries. Direct trains run from Berlin to Prague, Amsterdam, Warsaw, Copenhagen, and Vienna, and budget flights to almost anywhere else cost very little. Plenty of our students treat weekends as mini-trips abroad, which is genuinely one of the biggest perks of choosing Berlin over a UK or Ireland-based school. Europe becomes part of your study experience.
What makes EP Berlin different from other English schools?
A few things, but the one students mention most is our cooking club, a weekly session where students from different countries cook together and use English in a completely relaxed, low-pressure setting. It sounds simple, but it's where real fluency tends to click. Beyond that, we benefit from being in an incredibly multicultural city, our location inside Schengen for easy European travel, and a teaching team focused on practical, conversational English rather than just textbook drills.
How much does it cost to live in Berlin as a student?
Berlin is one of the more affordable major European capitals, which is part of what makes it work as a study destination. As a rough guide, students typically spend between €900 and €1,300 per month covering rent in a shared flat, food, public transport, and a reasonable social life. A monthly transport pass costs around €63 with the Deutschlandticket, and a meal at a casual restaurant runs €10 to €15. Shared accommodation in student-friendly areas like Neukölln or Wedding is significantly cheaper than central Mitte. Your exact costs depend on lifestyle, but Berlin stretches a budget further than London, Paris, or Dublin.