Job Discussion Forums

[Hod]

It�s true, jobs advertised rarely ask for German knowledge. As already said, it�s a good idea to learn. Apart from the obvious reasons mentioned (and I�ll add Auslanderbehorde - Foreign Nationals Authority - staff speak almost no English), let�s have one or two more:

Last week, I heard a teacher explaining the �p.s.� at the end of letters/faxes/e-mails. After five minutes of English and Latin, one of the more vocal students pointed out that they too use �p.s.�. It�s exactly the same in German, as are many words. If you�re explaining vocabulary which is identical in German, your smiling and nodding students will soon wonder why they bothered turning up.

If I sound like a know-it-all, here�s a story: Earlier this week, a company contacted me. After bad experiences with schools, one franchise in particular, they wanted a genuine freelance teacher, i.e. no school or middle men. As companies normally pay 35-40 Euro per 45 minutes, I was only too keen to pop along for a chat. They conducted our meeting entirely in German, not even a �Sprechen Sie Deutsch?�, to begin. I�m reasonably fluent, i.e. I understand 95% and can have any conversation but I know I make mistakes and struggle for some words. Anyway, I didn�t get that contract, and I�d spent a lot of time preparing. Maybe another teacher was cheaper, better, more handsome, I don�t know. I really believe, however, that my German was a factor.

If you want to work at a franchise getting 13 Euro an hour, zero German is OK. The better jobs expect some German knowledge. Finally, if you�d like to live well and save a bit through finding your own work, make a big effort to learn the language. Human Resources, whom you�d be dealing with, just won�t take you seriously if you can�t string a German sentence together. In any case, such staff rarely speak to non-Germans and may have almost non-existent English.

Enough negativity. Let�s get POSITIVE. It won�t take that long to get �fluent�. Pointless comment but - it�s a good idea to learn German before coming. Saying that, unless you have German-speaking friends, you won�t get much practice. You�ll learn more efficiently when here surrounded by Germans. So, learn the very basics at home then come here and continue. But where?

Inlingua, Berlitz, etc, will give you a nice book, a German teacher and a bill for several hundred Euro, nein danke. The Goethe Institut is considered to be the best place. Unfortunately, it�s pricey and in many cities, they only offer full-time courses during working hours.

So, a cheap alternative: Do an evening class at your local VHS (Volkshochschule � an adult�s school). A 60-hour course should cost around 70 Euro. The quality of VHS teachers varies, but in any case, it�s a great way to meet new people.

As well as the VHS, my local Goethe Institut arranges a TANDEM scheme. They find you a German who wants to practice English, in turn you get to speak lots of German to him/her. It�s free.

Don�t be like me � learn good German and get those contracts.

[Mariana]

If you're in or near a university town, it might also be worthwhile dropping into the local Auslaenderamt and asking about enrolling onto a DaF course at the uni as a Gaststudierender. I've done that both in Passau and in Erlangen, and the teachers have been great both times. Plus, German universities are good places to advertise for language exchange partners. In Passau, I didn't even need to advertise - plenty of German students had already got there before me. All I had to do was respond to their ads.

[dannypoet]

Hod, I know this post is from ages ago )and you probably dont even post here anymore) but just wanted to say thanks. Some really good advice here.

[JZer]

[Deicide]

Ich weiss nicht, wie wichtig es ist, Deutsch fliessend zu koennen, wenn es sich um einen Posten als freiberuflichen Englischlehrer handelt. Sicher koennte Fluessigkeit in der Sprache behilflich sein, aber ich bin zweisprachig und diese Tatsache hat mir nie grossartig beim Arbeitsuchen geholfen. Kommunikationsschwierigkeiten werden um einiges vermindert, aber das ist ja klar. Schliesslich musste ich DL verlassen, weil ich im falschen Land geboren bin, und das, Freunde, ist wahrlich Scheisse. Meine Empfehlungen fuers Deutschlernen sind einfacher und pragmatischer Natur und zwar musst Du folgendes machen: hole Dir eine deutsche Frau bzw. einen deutschen Mann, denn es gibt wirklich keinen Ersatz fuer das Deutsch, das man inmitten eines Beziehungsstreites lernt und das ist kein Witz. Sprachkurse sind viel zu teuer und meiner Ansicht nach auch eine voellige Zeitverschwendung. Kaufe Dir lieber ein Grammatikbuch und Woerterbuch und dann REDEN, REDEN, REDEN...und stelle sicher, dass Du den richtigen Reisepass hast, d.h. EUland...

[SaraLF]

Is it possible to get a job making less while you are learning German? This is really good advice, thank you

[Hod]