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Although it is easy to get around Berlin without learning any German, as most official offices speak English and most Germans will want to practice their English on you, it goes a long way if you know a little. The German language can prove a little tough at times: for one thing, you can't be 100 percent sure whether you will be kicked or kissed until the end of the sentence; for another, the German's quirky habit of joining words together, or even splitting them, can be hard to keep up with.
Another tricky aspect is that everything has a gender: male, female or neutral i.e the cat = die Katze (feminine), the dog = der Hund (masculine) the girl = das Mädchen (neutral?) but the boy = der Junge (masculine), and all hell lets loose if you need to order a knife, fork and spoon as they are all different sexes! 
If you are staying in Berlin for a longer period of time then it would be worthwhile to enroll in one of the many language schools. a few words... 
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