Moving to GERMANY ! ?

Question

Alright , so my family is moving to Germany. We've lived their before but then my parents thought Canada was better?

Well turns out they miss home.. SO yes.

Both parents speak German but us kids.. forgot :|

im going to be going.. first year of high school?

Is the education there harder?

& whats it like there?

and the kids.

is alot different then here in Canada?

Is there anything i should know before i move?

thaaaaaanks for the advice !

Answer 1

Hi, I don't have a lot to add to what the other people have already posted, except that I think you will pick up the language very quickly. If you were exposed to it as a child and have just fallen out of practice, you will be surprised how quickly it will come back to you. Try and get you parents to start speaking in the home in German and it will start to wake that part of your brain up.

The education system isn't easy if you come in to it as a non-German speaker, but make sure you go to either a Gesamtschule or Gymnasium or your options will be limited when you finish school. Do NOT allow schools to put you off saying your language skills are not good enough. As long as you start learning before you are fifteen you have the potential to become properly bilingual. You will need some extra help with languages however, make sure your parents get you and your siblings some extra help. As an English speaker you will be seen as cool, so son't worry about integrating - German kids are pretty open-minded anyway.

Good luck!

Answer 2

You could always enrole in one of the English Forces schools out there.

When I lived in Germany as a child, (my Father was based there in the Army) there were a lot of kids at the Forces School whose parent were not in the Forces at all, but were working in Germany for other reasons.

Some of the students were another nationality altogether, such as Isreali, they came to the English school just because their parent thought it a better choice and of course for them to be exposed to English. Some of the students were even German.

I have no idea whether they would have had to pay though.

Answer 3

High School is much much harder, especially if you are going to attend a gymnasium. People are nice though...a big part of my family is German and I have friends in Munich, and Germans are generally nice and happy people =) you will love it! It is different though...but in a good way,in my opinion.  

Answer 4

Well, I'm in my second year in learning the German language.

We learned this last year about the school system.

GRADES  ... AGES ...  SCHOOLS   ... FOCUS

                ... 3-6    ...   kindergarten   ... like elem. but slightly better  

                               (private)

                

1-4th ...        6-9    ...    grundschule

                

                

6-9     ....      10-14   ...   hauptschule  ...   lowest track-basic elem.

5-10    ... 10-15  ...   realschule  ....  middle track-more options for jobs

5-13 ....     10-18+  .... gynasium    ....   college prep

5-?  .....    10-? ....   gesamtschule   .... all schools in one

after grundschule depending on how much money you have is

wich school you could get into..the low and middle coast less than college prep and gesamtschule...watch i probly have this all mixed up but for the most part this is th oreder...

Answer 5

First thing - you will have to learn German and that is not easy. We Germans have it easy to learn it from childhood. (sorry about that :-) )

I will compare it to the US, as I can not speak for Canadian conditions. You will know the differences.

The school system is different here and the requirements are harder. When my daughter (German and 16) and my friends son (American and 18) met and compared, they were on the same level. This was some years ago, but still remains true.

Your parents can chose between the different kinds of schooling (according to your knowledge, of course) independent of the financial situation. Except private schools, all schools are free. In many parts of the country the books are free, too.

Due to the high unemployment rate a very good education is essential. Best will be, if you can reach the "Abitur" (German graduation) which allows you to study and finish with a bachelors or masters degree. To study at a university is much less expensive than in the US. It is nearly free (only about 200,- € per Semester in some states).

In General it is not so very different, here. More history and less space,  a much lower crime rate, more strict opening times for shops, plenty of US music, some German groups, approx. 100 channel TV satellite receivers or cable, MTV, MacDonald's and Malls ... Kids in gangs use US slang cuss words (often without understanding them *smile*) less kid gangs, ...   I bet, if i wrote for ever, I would find more.

You should know, that the top label clothes are more expensive and always a little later here. So things you wear for some time are still new here. Same with music and videos. It takes some time until you can buy it here. Which brings me to the electricity. We have 220V instead of your 110V. If your music system is not switchable, don't care about bringing it. Same applies to TVs coffeemakers etc. If you have no dual system, your videos will not work in German recorders. You will have to buy multi function equipment if you want to watch your own videos.

The rooms are smaller in general. No room for those huge beds in normal apartments. No room for those huge vans in average garages.

That's about all I can think of right now. If you have further questions, please mail me.

Answer 6

The language is really easy to pick up. I went to high school in Germany and found it pretty difficult, but if you have english as a subject that makes it much easier :)

You'll find that most people in Germany speak english too, so you'll be able to understand people fine. As for German kids...from my experience, they're generally quite impressed and interested in people from english-speaking countries and are pretty laid-back.

Hope you enjoy the experience and get on well, best of luck

Answer 7

> Is there anything i should know before i move?

Just one thing:

Try to be open-minded. The education here is different, but not any harder than it probably is in Canada.

My school career was like that:

class 1-4, I went to basic school (Grundschule)

class 5-13, I went to a lyceum (Gymnasium)

I could have attended university afterwards, but decided not to, and rather chose a professional training (which comes close to a university degree) at an FH (Fachhochschule).

In between, I served 15 months in the German army.

There are many different ways of school education and professional training here in Germany, and I think you can find out what you like best once you're here. I understand that it will not be easy for you because, as it seems, you're not moving here volontarily, but you'll experience that most of the people you'll meet will do their best to make you feel at home and taken care of. The only problem you might encounter among younger people is that they'll continue to ask you to speak English to them, as they're eager to learn the language. You should make a deal with them: Every odd day, you'll speak German, and every even day, you'll speak English. All of you. On Sundays, you may speak French.

Answer 8

I knew a German exchange student, he came to school here in the U.S. a few years ago. He had already taken everything offered in our school, there wasn't much for him to do in school except socialize. Which leads me to believe that German schools are much harder than American schools - and probably Canadian schools, too.