Acknowledge being extremely awkward with German (5)
I believe the answer is:
admit
'acknowledge' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'extremely awkward with german' is the wordplay.
'extremely' suggests removing the centre (only the extremes of the word are used).
'with german' becomes 'mit' ('with' in German).
'awkward' with its middle removed is 'ad'.
'ad'+'mit'='ADMIT'
'being' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for admit that I've seen before include "receive" , "Grant entry to" , "Provide student with place" , "Confess - let in" , "Fess up" .)