Counting till 10 is a real challenge for them. Some of them never went to school. The Polish teacher tell the story of immigrants learning German.
“Today, we will learn how to read and write 2- digit numbers”- Lucyna Krux , German language teacher at Volkshochschule in Berdisch Gladbach, greets her students. She’s been teaching the immigrants German language since few years. The so-called Alpha courses are often the beginning of the road for those with a refugee status. But only few students respond to Lucyna’s greetings. The majority of them can’t say a word in German.
“I teach them from scratch. It is a long and complicated process. Some of the immigrants have been living in Germany for few years now, but cannot count till 10. Luckily enough, there are few who start speaking, already after few months”, she tells me and points at at Zeyneb.
Zeyneb is her best student. She is Iraqi but she was born in Iran. Her immigrant status there, did not allow her to go to school in Iran. After she got married, together with her Afghani husband, she moved to Germany. “I really want to start my life all over again”, she explains in her broken German.
“Before, I have never went to school. This is like a paradise”
Zeyneb is her best student. She is Iraqi but she was born in Iran. Her immigrant status there, did not allow her to go to school in Iran. After she got married, together with her Afghani husband, she moved to Germany. “I really want to start my life all over again”, she explains in her broken German. “Before, I have never went to school. This is like a paradise”. She wants to become a senior care assistant or a saleswoman.
Hobby: watching TV
They come from Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Muslims and christians. Old and young. All together, There are 9 students in Lucyna’s group, with different life experiences and personal stories. “Their language abilities depend on the place of origin, education and knowledge of other languages”, tells Dietmar Paas, language section manager.
He is convinced that illiterate students have it the most difficult. In their case, it is important to learn the basics of communication in German. It is nearly one third of Lucyna’s students. Housewives Aise and Ramziyah have never read any book in their lives. Watching tv is their favorite form of entertainment. “It is a different culture”, Lucyna explains. “In Islam, women are responsible for household and children. Career is not meant for them”, she adds. Having children determines their community status. Knowledge of foreign languages is not that important.
The majority of immigrants has problems with language acquisition because they are not used to learning. Unconventional teaching techniques are not of any help. When Lucyna tried to initiate a game, she realized that many of her students do not understand even the simplest rules, and get stressed easily. But when she marks students’ work with red pen, it goes well. “Red color works as a simple symbol of something that is correct or incorrect”, Lucyna tells me.
Job market
Lucynaestimates that nearly half of her students will manage to learn German and find a job. Some of them work already, for example they do the dishes or work in a warehouse. “Every immigrant hopes to have a better life in Germany. Whether the integration is successful, we will know only in few years. It all depends on their willingness to learn and opportunities provided by the state. On our side, we try our best”, Lucyna sums up while looking at her watch. The break ends. The time for another German class has come.