Why don't I understand English TikToks?

It's pretty similar for me, even though I work with English-language medical content professionally. But TikTok and YouTube are a whole different ball game, because everything just moves so much faster and people speak really casually. The problem usually isn't just one thing, but a combination of several factors. English content creators often speak really fast because they're trying to pack a lot of information into short videos. On top of that, a lot of them use slang that doesn't appear in textbooks at all - stuff like "lowkey," "no cap," or regional accents that are just hard to understand. YouTube is often a bit better structured than TikTok, but creators there can also speak really quickly, especially if they want to appeal to a younger audience.

What you can actually do: Watch your videos with English subtitles, not German ones. That helps your brain connect the words with the pronunciation, and you'll quickly notice which phrases you're missing. Start with something that really interests you - for me it was aquarium content for years - because then you automatically learn the technical terms and the rest becomes easier. The more you do it, the more your ear gets used to the speed and the different accents. Don't sweat it if you don't understand everything either - even native speakers sometimes miss stuff in fast TikToks because the quality and clarity just often aren't that great.

To be honest. A lot of content creators deliberately speak fast and just rattle through their sentences because attention spans on TikTok are just really short - they don't articulate like in an English class. Plus, a lot of native speakers use slang and colloquial language that you don't learn in school, so don't be too hard on yourself. Best thing is to watch channels where people speak more clearly, or turn on English subtitles - that helped me a ton when I was starting out.