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Post Titled: So I'm not completely delusional...
Readers of this blog know that I ocassionally touch upon immigration issues here in Germany, often pointing-out the LACK OF integration. So, I was happy t find this article in Der Spiegel today which gives validity to past rantings, evn if it is an op-ed:
When It Comes to Integration, Silence Is Golden
By Charles Hawley in Berlin
"Integration is back on the political agenda in Germany these days. The xenophobic rhetoric underscores decades of foreigner bashing by the country's politicians. And it may explain why immigrant youth here have fewer opportunities than in any other industrialized country." READ MORE
After a talk with Helen last night I was delighted a the possibility that I might actually be able to get financial compensation to take German courses, that would be excellent, and also that passing a language certification test might be easier that I had assumed at my skill level. That is hopeful- especially in a country where certificats, diplomas, and documents might as well be gold.
Anyone who knows me in real-life is bored by the story of why I think my German is so effed-up, which is: I moved to a small German village in the summer between 7th and 8th grade, none of the German kids were interested in hanging out with us, nor were they interested in hanging out with the Russians who had just moved there after the wall came down- so, we hung out with the Russian girls across the street. They knew really basic German, which we learned from them- but it wasn't until years later tha I realized that I was speaking this wierd russo-germo-rudimentary slapped together language, so it was no surprise that no one understood me. Nevertheless i have a decent vocab, and absolutel no idea how grammar works technically... whatever. Egal. Comprehension is now so good that I sometimes donät even have to think about the mening of things anymore, like- rather than focusing extra hard on the dialogue in a film i can basically just watch it now, not bad.
Another issue however, is -when someone occasionally complains about how Americans never learn German here (which is somewhat true) the other side of that is the Germans tend towards automatic English responses - so if one attempts to speak German, and is only met with English in response, well- having that happen over and over and over again is somewhat iscouraging- still, no excuse really.
Readers of this blog know that I ocassionally touch upon immigration issues here in Germany, often pointing-out the LACK OF integration. So, I was happy t find this article in Der Spiegel today which gives validity to past rantings, evn if it is an op-ed:
When It Comes to Integration, Silence Is Golden
By Charles Hawley in Berlin
"Integration is back on the political agenda in Germany these days. The xenophobic rhetoric underscores decades of foreigner bashing by the country's politicians. And it may explain why immigrant youth here have fewer opportunities than in any other industrialized country." READ MORE
After a talk with Helen last night I was delighted a the possibility that I might actually be able to get financial compensation to take German courses, that would be excellent, and also that passing a language certification test might be easier that I had assumed at my skill level. That is hopeful- especially in a country where certificats, diplomas, and documents might as well be gold.
Anyone who knows me in real-life is bored by the story of why I think my German is so effed-up, which is: I moved to a small German village in the summer between 7th and 8th grade, none of the German kids were interested in hanging out with us, nor were they interested in hanging out with the Russians who had just moved there after the wall came down- so, we hung out with the Russian girls across the street. They knew really basic German, which we learned from them- but it wasn't until years later tha I realized that I was speaking this wierd russo-germo-rudimentary slapped together language, so it was no surprise that no one understood me. Nevertheless i have a decent vocab, and absolutel no idea how grammar works technically... whatever. Egal. Comprehension is now so good that I sometimes donät even have to think about the mening of things anymore, like- rather than focusing extra hard on the dialogue in a film i can basically just watch it now, not bad.
Another issue however, is -when someone occasionally complains about how Americans never learn German here (which is somewhat true) the other side of that is the Germans tend towards automatic English responses - so if one attempts to speak German, and is only met with English in response, well- having that happen over and over and over again is somewhat iscouraging- still, no excuse really.
Labels: german imigration german integration deutsche immigration einwanderer ausländer
posted by "Post-Google" by TAR ART RAT at 11:40 am
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