Special schools and inclusion for kids with speech delay in Germany

In Germany, there are different forms of education for kids with speech delay and speech development problems. These can be pure special schools for children with speech problems, general special schools for children with special needs, and inclusion (education in regular classes). In each specific federal state, this can be only one of the options or a combination of them.

In this post I will explain why these special schools for kids with speech delay are nothing to be afraid of, what is good about them, how they differ from regular schools and inclusion and where to find them in different federal states in Germany.

Read more

What is PISA shock and why is it the norm and not the exception

For a long time, Germany drove its education model of the Weimar Republic, like an excellent Benz car. And in 2001, it suddenly turned out that the car was slightly outdated. The surprise was called a PISA shock. Then the educational machine was given a kick, without changing anything in the construction. The kick didn’t have an effect long.

Read more

Description of a person’s appearance in German. 3. How to avoid repetition in essay

German language, with its very fixed order, requires special attention to repeating of the beginning of a sentence. Here we will look, how to avoid repetition in essay in German. Also, in any essay in any language, it is very important not to repeat verbs. In describing appearance, the verb “to have” is too active. Therefore, let’s explore alternative verbs and constructions.

Read more

Books for 3-4 grade (in German library)

What to take your child to the library (in German in our case) is a hot topic for parents. It is good if the child reads actively, but if you have a boy or, as in my case, a boy, a boy and one more boy, then the task of not only teaching reading, but getting reading has a new level.

Read more

Describe appearance of a person in German. Body and clothing

We continue to describe appearance of a person in German. In the first part, it was about the head, but the appearance is most often not exhausted by it. We turn to the length and width and other characteristics of the body and clothing.

Read more

Describing people’s appearance in German (Personenbeschreibung)

Describing people’s appearance in German is difficult types of essay. You should, firstly, know the appropriate words, and secondly, correlate these words with the appearance of a person. At best, people are able to name eye color, hair color, hair length, and eye/mouth size. It is no less difficult in this type of essay to preserve a variety of sentence structures. It is clear that without training it will be a continuous “he has …”

The first part is about the basic principles of describing people’s appearance in German. An example of possible assessment by the teacher and adjectives for different parts of the head are given.

Read more

Library in Germany. How to use

When I tell those who have not yet had time to learn the language that the library in Germany is already waiting for them and will be very useful, they usually answer me with round eyes: “I can not find things in the supermarkt, but you are talking about the library.” However, later, when 5-6 years pass, the reaction after the first visit is usually different: “Why didn’t we go earlier?”

Read more

Education system in Baden-Württemberg

Now there are many options for accessing higher education, and it’s good to know about them in advance, especially when you have to choose a school after primary school. Let’s see education system in Baden-Württemberg.

In Germany, each federal state itself determines how its children should study. At first I wanted to make a general overview, but it very quickly turned into a huge lump with sticking out legs of numerous features of this or that land, in which one could get lost already in the first two paragraphs. So let’s go by each federal state separately.

Read more

Giving direction essay in German. Wegbeschreibung

Giving direction essay in German (Wegbeschreibung) pops up in the school several times in different grades and at different levels. Not all teachers decide to write this essay, some take it verbally. And in VERA in grade 3, too, there was a similar task.

The training method is very simple: we open a map of the area, a city plan (for example tourist plan from tourist office) and ask to give direction from and to.

Read more