Living and Working
Expat arrival in Frankfurt - basic info about living and working in Frankfurt as an expat
Frankfurt Expat Community - A place to connect with other expats in Frankfurt
Frankfurt Expat Information - Especially for families with children; recommendations for groups, schools, etc. in the Frankfurt area
Toytown Germany - lots of info for English-speaking expats throughout Germany; also really helpful for buying/selling furniture or appliances here in Germany.
Frankfurt's official webpage (in English) - Frankfurt's webpage with information and tips about living and working here
Language
Frankfurt is a very international city. Many people speak English and it is possible to be here and speak English-only. I am very thankful, however, that I was able to put in the effort to learn German (several big helps were 1. my in-laws live here and don't speak English, 2. I knew we would be here more than just a few months, 3. I do have a good ear for languages - it was challenging but some things did come more easily to me that perhaps to others)
If you move here and are planning to acquire legal residency (not with an expat contract), there is now a legal requirement that you must start language classes by the end of your first year lving here and take a certain number hours and pass a German test before permanent residency is awarded...I need to look up exactly where this information is (it's all in German - very helpful).
There are many German language schools in Frankfurt. I personally took 3 months of lessons at the Volkshochschule before being able to move on to "Baumschule" - by that I mean that I spent time with amazingly patient German friends. It's funny to remember my first few times having coffee with friends and spending the whole time discussing the words for cup, spoon, coffee, etc.
From my experience, the best things I ever did for my German were to join a choir and to find a German-speaking church. These weekly interactions with German-speaking people who had similar interests as I do helped my language development immensely. I would highly recommend, if possible and reasonable, to seek to join a German-speaking club or group in an area of your interest (sport club, music, art, hiking, etc). If you would like help finding such groups in Frankfurt, feel free to contact me at: marysbiskup_at_googlemail_dot_com
