I am an American living in Germany. My daughter has been going to school in Berlin since 2nd Grade (she‘s in 10th now). One HUGE difference that I‘ve noticed is that German schools do not have sport teams. Anybody who wants to play competitive or recreational sports has to join a sport Verein, which is a private club that is completely independent of the schools. There are still physical education classes in school. Just no teams that compete against other schools.
This is the same in Norway too. Though the sport organizations often use the school area it is an after school acitivity not organized by the school and you don’t need to attend the school to go there. Most people at my old school played football or handball at the neighbor school’s area at the organization that had the teams there, because that was the closest organization.
Yes that is quite a downfall for German schools, I've also spend a year in an American high school and I really loved the sports culture. Would be nice if that were practiced more in Germany, I guess the facilities are just not build up for that here.
@@Preisiiiful Very true. Honestly, having lived and raised a child in both systems, I see advantages and disadvantages to both systems. I like the community aspect and the strict seasonality of sports in American schools. But at the same time, they can be a huge distraction from the fundamental educational mission of the school. I like the focus and lack of distractions in German Sportvereine. But they tend to channel young athletes into single sports with year-round training at a very young age, which makes it harder for kids to try multiple sports. But cost is a HUGE issue. German Sportvereine are tax exempt and are generally heavily publicly subsidized, so they cost a fraction of private sports clubs in the US. Sadly, American school sports are also moving toward that "pay to play" model.
yeah i'd like to have that here in Germany it kinda supports the "Team Geist" of the school (idk how to say this in English) and in Germany we maybe have one or two occassions where we can compete against other schools in particular sports, but that's it
Oh yeah, Gymnasium is much harder than school in US. Students who visited US for 1 year came back and said "woah it was so easy. What are they learning??" :) Finishing Gymnasium is a lot to work for.
a binder 30 euro? may i ask where you buy your binders, gucci? depending on which kind of binder we are talking about you can get something cheap like "Schnellhefter" (loose-leaf binder?) starting at 50 cent other binders are anywhere from 2,5, 10 or even 20 euro, but a binder for 30 euro has to be among the most expensive binders you can find and should be made out of some fine leather at least... ;)
@@jaquitavulpix3418 really??? Leitz binders are like 5 to 8€ or so, at least at Müller. 15€ is absolutely crazy. I wouldn't even buy that in a dream. I still use cheap herlitz cardboard binders for 2 or 3€.
I only ever had one multiple choice test (Grundschule - Gymnasium). When we saw it, we almost fell off our chairs laughing. Wir haben uns echt weggeschmissen🤣
my physics teacher once had a test, in which one question had no correct answer, but it was also false if you didnt check any box at all, so you needed to write down that there is no answer that was pure evil
Another thing about tests: I'm in tenth grade now, so I'll choose the subjects for my Abitur soon, meaning the test will get even harder. My physics teacher explained it well, he said we're at the Gymnasium because we want to get our Abitur and go to University and that includes being able to transfer the things you learned onto new queations and problems to solve them. That's probably why exange students struggle, they're just not used to it
they struggle because american 10th grade math is like 7th grade in Germany... My exchange kids(10th Bavarian) go to 11th grade in Kanada... they would have to go to University in the USA to get the same math level.
We've also heard that, but if you want to know a secret: Tests at university are way easier than tests in high school 🤫 At least in non science courses.
Interesting to see you comments about German schools from an American perspective. I have had the same experience the other way around, coming from a German Gymnasium and visiting an American high school in the US for 10 months. That was back in 1993 (yes I'm somewhat older) at the same age you are now. Even after all these years, I can really relate to the differences you mention, just in my case from a reversed perspective. Not much has changed since back then :) I also remember a few differences: my US school had a no kissing policy, which I found odd. The school bus system was confusing for me at the beginning, so I walked on streets without sidewalks, I must have drawn some attention to myself by walking. I was an average student in Germany, in the US i was among the 5% of the best students of my state (New York), and I studied way less than in Germany. I was playing basketball in Germany, but going to a tryout at my schools basketball team i didn't stand a chance, sport is played on a way higher level in US schools. The size of the school in terms of buildings and number of students was so impressive to me, being used to my German school. And I was a bit lost about the culture in school with school dances, fund raisers and yearbooks. You have to consider in 1993 it was difficult to prepare for this. There was no internet (well, it just started but most ppl didn't have access), no mobile phones, even calling across the Atlantic was a very expensive thing (I called my parents like once a month for 10 minutes). Anyway I hope you enjoy this experience. It is a unique opportunity and you should cherish every moment.
High-school is a lot easier for a German, since the level in education is lower, than attending Gymnasium for an American. Besides... a German student already knows the language well enough at this age. Someone with no German skills, or at least very little German, should first pass a language test, before going to Germany. - It must be extremely frustrating to attend school without being able to understand what it's about. - I'm really sorry for you, and I hope you will see progress soon. Hang in there!! 🤗 You seem to already have built some friendships over here. ❤️ I would ask your teacher after each lesson, what paragraphs in your textbooks you should work on to be prepared for class. - They really should be more helpful. GOOD LUCK!. ❤️
@@magnuspersson1433 Yeah, it is. I attended 2-year college in the US a few years after getting my Abitur, and classes were extremely easy. I had to try hard to get a good GPA at Gymnasium, but getting a perfect GPA at the US college was a breeze.
@@fantasietraume yeah its weird probably only like 10 people in our school of 1500 use a locker. But also my school first got the laptops like 7 yes ago so now all the battery’s are totally dead lmao
I am from Germany and right now I am on the US, in Missouri with CBYX like you :) and it is also very weird for me that every homework gets graded here. In Germany the teacher goes around and looks if your homework is done in younger classes but they normally stop when you get older because they say that it is now your own responsibility.
Make sure to research which programs you study with. I have heard of some programs have relocated kids and put many Asian students in areas that had high hate crime rates. We shouldn’t support a program that supports anti-Asian hate. Please stop Asian hate! So please make sure to research before you go”
I graduated from American high school in 1993, and most of my homework was not graded. A few classes checked off that you completed the homework, but I don't recall getting any grades for homework.
Hey Caroline, I recently posted a Short about how Germans learn differently. As you said in your video, in America, we regurgitate what we learned in class. In Germany, they are expected to fundamentally understand the concepts behind it, in order to apply said concepts to new problems. This makes solving problems much more difficult than what we are used to in the USA. Cool video, and thanks for sharing!
And that applies for vocational training either. German vocational education in many professions have an academic level better than academic degrees in other countries.
Schools in Germany can be so different, even among the same federal state! I went to school in Hessen and my senior high school (Oberstufengymasium) offered lockers for rent (you got the money back when you stopped renting if the locker wasn't damaged). We were even allowed to design our lockers' doors as we liked it. Facility management would remove the door of the locker so students could take it home to paint it as they liked. The hallway was like a locker gallery.
I spent a year abroad in Switzerland between my junior and senior year in high school. Of course this was a very long time ago, like pre youtube days. In fact my host family did not have a computer, let alone internet, there were no cell phones, and my camera had film in it. It took me until Christmas before I could really read and write German well enough to take a test with anything close to a passing grade. In my case, my American school told me up front that any grades I got on exchange would not count towards graduation. So, I just immersed myself in the language and culture and did not give one care about my grades. Don't get me wrong the study is good for your language skills but try not to over do it. Focus on creating relationships and learning the language. Never turn down an opportunity to go to a cultural event or safely travel. People will try to practice their English with you, which is fine, but always answer back in German. Have fun because the next few months will dramatically change the way you see the world.
That must have been hard! Learning to understand the Swiss people took me some time (as a German!) when I moved there. My daughters still ask me to "translate" whenever we are in Switzerland. But it certainly is a beautiful country to be.
@@wora1111 since I came into the country with only about 200 words in vocabulary, I actually learned Swiss German first. Today when I speak German I have a decidedly Swiss accent and I default to the dialect. My host father was also a news paper editor so he was always helping with my grammer.
@@tawneycarter4149 I worked for the NZZ for some time. Was fun. But I did their software, not the content. And the content guys are perfect with Schriftdeutsch.
I'm from Germany (Saxony) and our Gymnasium had a bit of a different way to deal with exchange students. We had several students who went to the USA for a year. As you said the american grades did not count towards graduation. All they had to do in the USA was to get a passing grade (and that was never a problem). When the students got back they had to choose one possible solution for their education: either they repeated the whole year or they got tested in the major subjects to ensure they knew their stuff.
Love how you put the differences into context (pro and cons), Once you have settled in some more, could you maybe talk about the differences in social aspects of highschool, like 0-tolerance-issues, peer group formation and peer pressure, and bullying? Enjoy your stay in Germany, all the best
Hi Miss Caroline I grew up in America, I am working class - no money no chance for collage, and when high school is finished then the working class had zero talents for the work place. Here in Germany , there is"trade school" the training is given by master tradesmen. it is usually 3 years, and it is EVERYTHING, car mechanics,, baker, electrician, dental assistent, cooks, police, EVERYTHING, but for a academics, when you as a working class person finished usually by 17 or 18 years of age , you have a certificate, stating what you have learned. These are not academics, the people that train you are master trandsmen. These people carry the country. To open a business you must be a master tradesman . You will be judges my master tradesmen to see that you have learned enough to become a master tradesman ( they have to be masters of their trade they must also learn bookkeeping and and and for a business) I America they majority of the people try to find a job , and they have no training... The acadenics also learn to type... uff uff. Some academics are very important , Doctors, engineers, mathematicians, etc , in the 1920s , 1930s , 1940s. 1950s etc the number of academics was very small, yet Germany was a leading country in science etc May all living creatures be happy and free from suffering regards Mr Michael Carmichael PS sorry, I am an old man, 76 , wife 84 . good luck to you
Caroline, I am from Brazil and I was an exchange student in the US. Gonna give you a tip: you have to study in German, give up the translating back and forth. That will hinder your learning of the language and your assimilation of the culture. Study in German, learn the stuff they teach in class in German, don't keep going back to English. That is how I did it and, to this day, I think in English, which is a sign you really learned the language.
My friend says he once laughed at a french meme he found. I have also made spanish speakers laugh with some things I've said in spanish. I'm from the UK and people say our language teaching isnt that great but I disagree
My daughter is in 10th Grade in Berlin, and she has the option to rent a locker. In the US, everybody gets a locker for free. It becomes their „home base“ for the year.
decades ago in berlin, we had no lockers, but besides some subjects that required special rooms/equipment (Physik, Chemie, etc) we always stayed in the same room and thus didn't have to carry around too much.
Same we have lockers too but we must pay for it and not everyone has one I think its pretty cool when all students get a locker for free like in the US
Hi Caroline, prepare for a real cultural shock. My daughter went to New Zealand when she was your age. One day she was expelled from school because she was caught drinking some beer wit other European exchange students during a camping trip. And I got an e-mail as her father. I was bursting by laugthing and really had to restrict myself not answering the e-mail, that this is traditional German culture and the legal drinking age in Germany is 16. So, be aware when you attend the first real German party. And in case you did drink beer in the US before, I have to remind you, that German beer is much stronger than US-beer (US tourists regularly get totally drunk, as they drink the same quantity as back in the US, but by alcohol content it's nearly double.) My advise: Do inform yourself about German drinking habits before attending the first party...
We used to call them multiple guess because even if you you have no clue about what the answer to a question is you still have a chance at getting the right answer, which hardly seems fair to those students that actually work hard and learn the subject matter. It made me laugh that you call them American questions (I'm not American btw). I tend to think years are only done this way to save money marking them. Most multiple choice/guess exams can be fed into a computer and the results given out as opposed to a teacher or examiner having to take time analysing what the answer given was. If you can't invest in your children's future what kind of a country are you in?!!!
How can that be? That really makes me smile when I think of the fact how much discussions and controversies are liked in your community (positive prejudice).
I once took an American University entrance exam as part of a job application process. Even those questions were multiple choice and really easy. I think a 14 year old European student could pass without a problem.
That was a big difference for me when I was in the USA, in the big supermarket chains you get EVERYTHING. This is a little different here. Some shops also sell school supplies here, but they are usually a bit more expensive. Then there are "Schreibwarengeschäfte" that have everything you need in school, but mostly not super cheap either. Paper, exercise books and staplers are particularly easy to find in Tedi or Woolworth. If you can't find the stores yourself, ask your classmates where they got their school supplies.
Multichoice tests are also called monkey puzzle because they are so easy due to the correct answer being supplied and all you have to do is recognize it like a monkey recognizes a banana. And even if you don't recognize the correct answer, you just choose one and with luck you selected the correct answer. If you have to answer the questions then you have to know the answer to be able to get marks for it. Multi choice tests do not reflect the knowledge nor the understanding of the student.
Take this. In the upper grades (11/12) the questions in the tests have three different fields. 1. You just tell what you have learned. It's the easiest to prepare to. 2. You need to explain why it is like it is. 3. You get something completely unrelated and need to figure out how to apply your knowledge. Every test has all three. Apart from that the questions are really weirdly formulated. We have to learn 3 pages of words that can stand in them and what they would mean.
You can change tracks of course. It depends on your grades and your improvement in willingness to learn. You have to pass a test to see, if you are qualified. - Whether there always is a test in each State, or whether a recommendation by the teacher is sufficient, this I don't know. But you for sure can make that change. :) Homework can be collected and does once a while. It is randomly done and if you have not made your homework you get a 6.😁 You can improve your grade, when kind of in between that way, or when you aren't doing it always, it brings your grade down.
I am a German who sometines visits China. High speed trains in Germany? If you like high speed, visit China or of course the motherland of high speed trains Japan. China and Japan are competing who will first have the 500 km/h train! But yeah, the ICE is still pretty nice, allthough it is not really high speed.
@@martinguandjienchan7525 don’t you know the chinese bought their high speed train from germany, I believe it was Siemens? The german government just decided it’s too expensive to build the needed tracks and in the end Siemens decided to sell because it was not rentable…
@@Moni-lz4vp That was the magnetic elevated monorail in Shanghai.They wanted to build a line from Shanghai to (I don't remember exactely) Hangzhou, but due to massive public protests dropped the project. Later on they bought patents from Germany and France on which basis they developed their first generation normal gauge high speed. By now the newest generations are mainly further own developments. Some months ago another maglev monorail with a speed of more than 600 km/h. This proect, I think, will fail terribly for 2 reasons: 1) Elevated monorail tracks for such a speed are extremely expensive to build. 2) Allready in the 400 km/h monorail in Shanghai the train vibrates all the time, as there is no frictional resistance with wheels/rails. For the 20 min ride in Shanghai this is OK, but a long ride vor several hours... it would be hardly bearable. Maglev at such a speed would require a vacuum tube, which again would be extremely expensive to build, if possible anyway (for this reason Elon Musks Hyperloop is also stupid). Another Chinese company said, they want to develop a low speed maglev running 250 km/h as a high speed urban MTR system for huge metropolitan areas. They first made a market research and are convinced, that this will sell in metropolitan areas with more than 10 mio people. This might indeed work out, allthough I am not so convinced.
You should buy school supplies at Action, very popular in the Netherlands but you also have them in Germany. Very cheap supplies, binders will be like 2 Euro max
School was like this (when i was in school): Grundschule - Grade 1-4 - Everyone Hauptschule - Grade 5-9 - Geared to a handy trade training + Berufsschule (Trade school) Realschule - Grade 7-10 - Geared to higher trades like banker or IT or sth. You can go to Fachoberschule (FOS) after this Gymnasium - Grade 5-13 - after this you can go strait to University Fachoberschule (FOS) - Grade 11-12 - after this you can go to Fachhochschule (FH) - its geared to ppl from Realschule who want to study. Berufsoberschule (BOS) - Grade 12 - after finishing a trade you can go here and you get also the Fachhochschulreife and can go to FH. This is really hard, because you have a lot of catch up to do. Usually ppl do one more year for catching up for this. Meisterschule - After finishing a trade you can go there to get a Master in that trade (needed to open a company in some trades). Liker Master Plumer or Master Carpenter or sth. Not sure but i think Master in a trade also enables you to go to FH. Fachhochschule (FH) - Diploma (FH) - its more practically focused but almost same level as University / after 2 semesters you can go to University if you want and start over. If you get a diploma here you have to add (FH) to your name. Like "Engineer (FH)" or sth University - Diploma There is also some special Academias but they cost money.
2:30 about the lockers: that is because you mostly stay I one room and barely change so it's not that necessary. In my school we have small lockers you have yo pay for.
Im from Germany and just wanted to say that we watch your videos in class and we need to take notes about the things that are diffrent between the schools.
It should be mentioned that our school system does not lock you out of anything. One example: Let's say you went to a Realschule and got really good grades there. You decide that you want to study at a university, but your Realschulabschluss doesn't allow that. After finishing Realschule, you can enlist at a Gymnasium, do three additional years of school and end up with Abitur. However it should be mentioned that it is pretty hard to do that - Realschule is a bit less demanding, so the student usually has some catch-up to do and has to work hard, but it can be done. In theory even someone who went to Hauptschule originally can then decide to go for Realschubabschluss and then Abitur, even though that is rare. It is also possible for adults to retroactively get their Abitur even if they are already working: They can get additional degrees, including Abitur or Fachabitur, at the Abendgymnasium - also a lot of work, but it can be done. PS: School uniforms (not a dress code, actual school uniforms) do exist at a few private schools in Germany, but there's only a handfull of those in Germany (and not all private schools have a uniform). PPS: Multiple choice tests are also not common at German universities (US highschools and colleges are known for their easy multiple choice tests). At university in Germany there might be a small part of a test that is multiple choice, but that's uncommon. Regarding your grades in tests - you'll improve once the language barrier is not so much of an issue anymore. Many exchange students struggle with the tests at first, but once they are fluent in German its no longer an issue.
Just to add a few things. You don't have to graduate to change from Hauptschule to Realschule or from Realschule to Gymnasium. If your grades are good enough (I think it was an average grade of 2,5), you can change after every term. In addition finishing a three year apprenticeship also enables you to go to university in the same field of work.
@@Caeilia nope you need an additional amount of time spent in that profession and are more likely to get techniker or meister degree. You can also only enroll in fachhochschulen and not universities.
When I went to the gymnasium here in germany, I had a really strict and demanding german teacher (by far the strictest and most demanding of the entire gymnasium), with other german teachers I had before with studying I could most of the time get the grade 2, but with this one people where happy if they got a 3 and I got a 5. Similar thing with english tests where the best grade I was getting in the tests was a -3. So changing strategies and I stopped learning and just started memorising "Textanalysen" about these topics and from the best students like the day or two before I memorised about 20 analysen. And it worked: I had no clue what I was doing but in my mind I was just clumping together all the memorised stuff and filling in with information of the text. In german I managed to get a 3 and in english a 2 but I feel like I learned way less than before.
It is unusual to have lockers in most German schools because you don't change the room. In the morning you walk into the classroom take your seat and put you backpack (or whatever you choose as schoolbag) under the table and just grab it to go home. As the classrooms are normaly loked during breaks that's no big deal to leave your things there. If changing to special rooms for exaple for music or chemisty lessons you just take your pencil and the books for that subject.
About German school system: the sorting of students into our 3 school types is based on their grades only, it does not matter if someone with bad grades (recommended for Hauptschule) is any good with handy work! Basically and historically, it is a sorting of people into a hierarchical society, and the family background (money and social status) matters as kids often 'inherit' the school type their parents went to (even though academic talent can overwrite the background nowadays). When you look at past times, when the 3 types came into being, we had manual workers and craftsmen (educated in Hauptschule, but this was the type of school most of the population went to and wasn't given the bad image it has today, especially because academical education wasn't considered that important by most people yet. Especially craftsmen who got their education (basic education) in Hauptschule would often be very respected later), in Gymnasium there would be the children of business owners, academics and politicians (who would expect their kids to be in Gymnasium) and in Realschule (in between the 2 types mentioned) there would be a higher education given than in Hauptschule because some people would be needed for office work jobs. Think of a company that produces goods. You have the workers (Hauptschule), the office workers (Realschule) and the owners and top tier (Gymnasium). So it really doesn't matter what you are good at as a student outside school (only the subjects schools give grades for matter) as you are sorted by the academic success you can achieve before a certain time mark (end of 4th grade or 6th grade) and then you need to keep your grades up so you won't be downgraded to either Realschule or Hauptschule. Certain apprenticeships nowadays are only available for people who have graduated Realschule or Gymnasium/Fachoberstufe. On the other hand, it is actually possible to be good enough in Hauptschule or Realschule to be allowed to start attending Realschule or Gymnasium by the next school term. Or after graduating Haupt-/Realschule with grades good enough, one can continue school for 1 or 3 more years to get to the next higher graduation level.
As a foreign student at school in Germany I have been using a dictionary a lot. Teachers were perfectly fine with it. And it helped me expand my vocabulary even faster.
@@kadija4400 I don’t know for sure, but probably there are English schools here. I myself went to a german international school in Indonesia when we lived abroad and I know we have a Japanese school in Düsseldorf who took in Japanese students from Fukushima after the tsunami so they could write their exams and graduate. Such schools are all over the world so the possibility for English schools here are high. Maybe ask your embassy in germany for help?
Because there are no lockers at German schools I eventually got a doctor's certificate that I had back problems. So at the beginning of each year I would get all the books twice and I kept a set of them at home and one set at school. As mentioned in the first video there are designated classrooms for every class here so I would just leave my books at a cupboard at school. That made life a lot easier.
we also have lockers in most schools, but those are mostly not big enough to fit our bags in so we are still carrying them around and after 4 years of doing it without a locker you just get used to carrying it around
Thanks, very informative. My daughter is going on an exchange to Germany soon, and even though as a South African I have to triangulate what you are contrasting with the US to figure out what the contrast in German schools with South Africa would be, it is still really helpful. (At least we've learned a thing or two from movies). Thank you and I will have her watch it as well.
Good for you! That's such a challenge to take on the German education system. I'm from the deep south of the US myself and have lived and worked in Germany over the past 15 years. I hope you enjoy discovering what the country has to offer.
Don’t feel bad about the 6 - I mean how are u supposed to get good grades in a test that talks about a country you have never lived in before in a language you don’t really speak 🙈 don’t worry it’ll get better and learning German can be cruel from what I’ve heard. It’s my native tongue and I don’t even understand it. I only speak etc. it because I grew up in Germany speaking the language ☺️
German is not harder than any other language. It has grammatical features that other languages might not have or have got rid of, and since most people learn English as a second language, they automatically think other languages like German are more difficult to learn, which is, in fact, absolutely wrong. For example, English tenses are ridiculous. There are 12 tenses compared to 6 tenses in German. Even native English speakers don't know all tenses of their mother tongue.
@@justaname1837 I think German is an incredibly difficult language to learn. The pronunciation with Umlaute and the grammar rules are much more tricky compared to languages like Spanish and English. There are also the nuances with "Du" and "Sie" that many languages don't have. It's certainly not a language I would have wanted to learn from scratch.
@@salmason4022, it depends on your native language. If you are more used to a Romance language, then it'll be more challenging to learn a Germanic language like German. English is a mixture in-between, I would say. English is also, as far as I know, the only Germanic language that doesn't have the "Verb-second word order" anymore.
Coming from the USA Sozialkunde is probably one of the hardest subjects for you because a multitude of things are different. If you look again at that test shortly before you return to the USA you will be surprised about how many differences there were and you learned about.
My experiences from my school: On my school you have lockers. But in the 5-7 class we have open lockers. From the 8-13 class you have lockers which you can close. But the lockers at my school are much tinier than American lockers. In the 8-10 they stand in the classroom of your class (because every class has their own classroom) and from the 11-13 (in the Oberstufe) they stand in the hallway. In Germany we also have the Gesamtschule where basically everyone can go to. There you will find people who could go to the Hauptschule, Realschule and the Gymnasium. So it's a mixed school. In these schools you have the opportunity to do your Hauptschulabschluss after your 9th or 10th grade,your Realschulabschluss after the 10th grade, your Fachabitur after the 12th class and your Abitur after the 13th class. Gesamtschulen have also a year longer than the Gymnasiums so that the students don't have so much of stress. In some parts of Germany the Gesamtschule does not exist because some parliaments regional parliaments didn't want these type of schools. (I only wanted to add to what you said).
i read it in the comments, it would be nice if you compared the lifestyle of the teenagers in both countries, f.e.what do you do on your freetime, on weekends, how the parties are, are the groups mixed girls and boys etc.!! Nice videos comparing the cultures, i really enjoy them!
I lived in germany my hole life and im going to germany school since 10 years, and Im also lerning for 3 hours and still getting a 6. Our tests are just vay more difficult. 🤝🏻
IMO the different school types (Hauptschule, Realschule, Gymnasium) are a very obvious representation of a class system with Gesamtschule and other initiatives and reform schools being the exception of the rule. That being said I understand that working as a teacher and differentiating within in a class quite demanding...but then again my idea of a better school system doesn't involve the concept of one teacher with/vs. 25 students :)
I was on a KGS (Kooperative Gesamtschule) where the 5th and 6th class was called Orientierungsstufe, and after that it was decided if you go to Hauptschule, Realschule or Gymnasium and all the different schools were in the same building. That was really great since i was on Gymn, my brother on Real and i also had quite some friends on Hauptschule. Also we had lockers, but nearly nobody ever use them. You had to throw in a coin (1 Deutsch Mark at that time) to get the key.
Hi Ruby - I just stumbled across your channel. You are very brave in what you are doing. but I can guarantee you that you will remember this experience for the rest of your life. I can so relate what you are going through. I moved from Canada (Toronto - think a large cosmopolitan city like Chicago - without the crime😀) to Germany when I was 13 and lived there until I was 16 (your age I believe) it was culture shock as well. i went to the Realschule - entered Grade 7, but by Christmas was moved back to Grade 6. In the end I finished Grade 8 and climbed my way to the to the upper end of the class. It was intense. Even though this was a couple of decades ago, it seems little has changed. No clubs, no high school sports etc. Hope you have a great time and get to appreciate the different life in Germany - not always caught up making money and mass consumerism. And yes I also go 6's initially. It will get better. Good luck and have fun
At my Gymnasium our homework gets checked just in a few subjects and thats not smth you should def do as a teacher, they just check if we did it or not but we're not getting rated for our homework. My school for example has lockers, and I reckon the other school in my neighbourhood has lockers as well,. At our school we need to pay for our lockers but you're not forced to buy one. If you want to buy a locker, you're just able to buy one in fifth grade, but therefore we have a place in our class where we can keep our books. Also I am sry for commenting such a lot 😅
Hi Caroline, please don't be too disappointed with the test result, as you understand your language it will get better and better, but it will take a while. German is not the easiest language.
There are no lockers, but as you stay in the same classroom for the most part of xyour school day you don't have to carry your stuff around a lot, it stays in the classroom.
Here it's all about comprehension... whether you comprehended all, that has been taught to you, is proved by your ability to actually go into details, and explain in your own words, what was asked. 🙂 Not the diligence you put in to study a topic, gets graded, but whether it's correct or not correct. - I got the feeling that in America grades also have to do with how hard you try, not necessarily with whether it is correct what you answer. You need to be precise in your answers and to give explanations to a statement you make is required here in test. When I was a nanny in the USA, I was totally shocked that one of the girls got an A in her geography test, where there were several big mistakes. For this test she had gotten a 3 over here, not even a B. That's why getting an A in Germany is a lot more difficult. I suggest to talk to your teacher, and ask for help, how you could improve in his subject. ❤️... Maybe he can go through your test with you after class, and point out what was required how to answer each question. For example writing a simple short statement is not enough, because they want you to give an elaborated answer. 😅 Normally they already consider language difficulties, when grading you. - Ask a friend, who got a good grade, to see what is expected over here. 🙂 As you pointed out already, there is a lot more required over here. We aren't superficial, but stress depth and precise answers. 😅 Don't get discouraged... Just try your best. ❤️
Different states in America have other high school options. Example, Massachusetts had a lot of technical high schools where you split your time between academics and job training (some every other week and some by term - this could be trades, cosmetology, drafting, etc), and even had an agricultural high school that included options in horticulture, animal science, etc.
Buy your school supplies during the last week of summer break, you will see, the whole country pretty much goes into a sales frenzy for these things, because it's right before kids start school, or a new school year
Thanks a lot for the comparison. :) Wow! Multiple choice tests. That sounds very crazy for me. The only time I had a multiple choice test was in University for my media law class, but the pool of questions contained about 1,000. I didn't really understand so much, but I survived with 50%. Oh, and I had a multiple choice test for my theoretical exam of my driving license but for that I have learned everything that was available in about 2 or 3 months, because I'm very bad in learning by heart.
I also think German Gymnasiums are a lot more difficult than High-School. I have never been in High-School, but a lot of my German classmates have been. All of them were the top students in their class when they spent their exchange year there. Even in English class they have been on the top.
I went to a Gesamtschule, wich is a school,where all three different highschools are combined. We had different skilled classes for the main subjects: German, Maths, English, and Physiks. We also had one were we could choose between three. Most students would attend until the 10th grade, to start an aprenticeship. The rest would go on until the 13th grade to attend University. We had lockers for our books and stuff in our classrooms. Later from 11th grade onwards theese were in the hallway, but not as large, you could oonly fitt your books in there and maybe your sportsgear. We even had a caffeteria were you could get lunch at lunchbreack. Wich lastet an hour. If you need cheap school gear just by some folders these are much cheaper they cost 1€ or 2€ a piece and you can have one for each class in a different collour. Most students in Germany use theese.
At my school (I`m in 10th grade aswell) we have a online plattform to send every Homework to the teachers. And we have to change our classroom for every lesson. And yes we don`t have a dresscode either at my school. Very nice video - keep going - greetings from Hamburg :-)
You can get cheap school supplies during sales in normal supermarkets, or like others said rossmann or tedi. But its true, that some stuff can be realy expensive. Homework is a mixed bag here in Germany. Some teachers are realy adamant about homework (like my Spanish teacher who would grade you depending on your homework, but less so by participation. But she was also the worst teacher I ever had in my entire school life. Or my Philosophy teacher who would give an essay assignment once per Semester, which was realy cool because you could boost your grades that way.) But there is a discussion about homework in politics. Studies have shown that homework doesnt improve students grades and take away the few free hours they still have in the day. I sometimes had to sit in school from 8:30 to 17:45 and still got homework due for the next day. I was basically working all day just for school without any free time and then go to sleep to go to school the next day. We had lockers, but you have to rent them for the duration you need them. The interesting part about our education system and the different school types is, that studies have shown, that when we get assigned to which school type we should go, this happenes at a far to young age. Many elementary school teachers try to get no one to "Hauptschule", only if a serious learning dissability is found. My little brother has ADHD and got assigned to go to a Hauptschule, he finished school with Abitur with a 1.7 on the same school as me who got assigned to Gymnasium. The System and the assignment early on doesnt work. I went to a "Gesamtschule" combining all school types and at the end of my Abitur, they talked about the statistics and that 70% of people who got the Abitur didnt get an Assignment for "Gymnasium" even though its meant students that are geared towards Abitur. Also there are some more specialised schools, like economics Gymnasium with a heavy focus on economics (who would have guessed), or even Technical Gymnasiums which give courses in Mechanical Engineering. But usualy you have to live close to one, so its more of a luck factor to get into one of those. I never got any multiple choice tests in my school life. Sometimes one or two questions are multiple choice, but otherwise you have to write alot during tests. Also there is a difference between tests and exams. We write about 4 exams per year, which are usualy "long tests" between 45min - 2.5h . Sometimes in smaller or less important classes tests are written, so that the teacher has a better basis for grading. These are only 10-20min tests. But exams especialy during Abitur need alot of aprehension and knowledge about the topic. Some exams in my Sociology class made me write about 8-12 papers of A4 (about letter size in the US) full of text in 2.5h.
The only multiple choice test I remember was for my German driver's license, and I found that difficult, because I wasn't used to multiple choice. I thought that one answer must be correct, which is true, but sometimes two or even all three answers are correct, and you have to check them all. So I failed at first try.
I have seen several comments regarding the price of the binder. While I agree that shopping around might help you find something at a lower price point, the US does have size/population going for it when purchasing goods. I have lived in multiple overseas locations, and I notice that the cost of shipping gets funneled down into the goods. Think about the import costs for a country of 80 millions versus 330 million. They are able to get a better price on imports when buying a greater volume and the cost of shipping gets affected as well. This was really noticable when I lived in a country of 2 million, which caused me to be very interested in the "why."
In my gymnasium there are lockers in every hallway but it seems to be different from school to school ;) sometimes you are supposed to have a locker but in my school everyone can decide on their own🤷🏻♀️😌
I live in Germany so I have to say that the thing with lockers depends on how the school handles it. In my Gymnasium when you are in the "Mittelstufe" (10/12-16 years) you have your own classroom with lockers in it. And when you are in the "Oberstufe" (16-18 years) every student can have a locker in the middle of the school. But I know that in other schools it is like you described it, especially in schools where you have "Blockunterricht" (two hours of every subject).
It's quite funny how huge the differences actually are... as a Czech, when I was a few years studying in a gymnasium in the Czech Republic, we had many events with our parallel class from our "twin town" in Germany (greetings to Bad Kötzting) thruout those 8 years, and even it was very similar, we still thought back then that the differences were quite significant. But in fact, they were laughable. We just were more laid back when comes to some rules like phones etc. It's always interesting to see a perspective from someone from a country with a truly different system. Czech Republic is just not interesting enough so I'm lurking in German territory xD
Just a note on the locker point. I don't know if that's only an Austrian thing (I'm from Austria, I'm not sure if German schools don't have that) but we have something called a Bankfach that is basically like a small open drawer under your desk (above your knees) where you can put your books and papers. Could people take your things from there when you're not around? Yes, but that's just not a thing that happens usually because...people aren't thieves (also we write our name in our books with pen). Just thought I'd add that.
What a wonderful experience for you, Caroline. Thank you for the explanation of the difference between American and German schools. Small point but you left me wondering where you put your coat, boots etc..if there are no lockers. I'd be interested to learn of your experience over the year. I look forward to another few videos that I see are in the line up. I hope you will share how you are getting along socially. And also the motivational and maturity levels of American and German kids.
The prizes are mostly a time period - usually first grade kids (6yrs old average / school enrollment) is each year - in august or early september for elementary school. So alot of stuff is seen in that time in stores all over the place. So buy them outside of the time period.
the thing about multiple answers choice test is that its workse for learning since kids only memorize things to pass the test but not actully learn anything xD some do but lots of them dont. thats why mixed tests especilly for topics like geography and history, social studies and etc is way better. for math\chem is writing all the way and if theres choices than u also need to explain your answers XD (thats how it is for my country)
In the US the term "straight A student" gets thrown around so much that You wonder if they are lying, because clearly there can't be that many geniuses in every school. But then you learn that they don't even have calculus or stochastic in high school and have multiple choice tests even in MATH!!
Straight A does not equal genius, nor those the best grade of any school system. I always had maximal or near maximal grades in my entire academical career. Faaaar from genius
@@nagyzoli In my experience straight A students were just really rare. In my Abitur class in Germany, which already contains the smartest students (top 33%) we had 2 straight A students out of about 100, and that was special. The class before had only one. I knew all 3 personally and their brains were clearly on another level. My experience is 3 in 200 which are in the top 33%, so assuming there are none in the lower 67%, then for me straight-A students made up 0.5% of all students. Maybe US parents are lying, but if you believe them it seems straight-A isn't all that special in America.
@@XX-bn9sf I went to school in Romania, and was always either maximal or near maximal (9.5 - 10) student. Both school and university. Trust me, it is not that special or unheard of. I had perfect 10 multiple years (rarely consecutive though). My IQ is between 92 and 110 depending on the test. So SLIGHTLY above average. Very far from genius level that start from 120-160
It is relatively easier to get all As in the us. we do have calculus and math isn’t multiple choice for actual classes, just standardized tests (at least at my school?)
I'm a German guy and went to school near Berlin(Gesamtschule). And I can tell you the point of learning is not that easy as you say. Of course the more you focus on one theme the more you know about it afterwards isn't really a lie. But if you have to learn so hard for every test you really forget more after this test because you have to have space for the next theme to understand. So long story short you only learn for that one test and then forget all about it. If you have some questions about how things go on other schools just ask :)
It is always wonderful to see different perspectives of our school system, especially from someone on the outside! This is a great Video, keep it up :) Two things: The sort of "aptitute test" after the elementary scgool isn't as specific as you make it sound. It doesn't really matter if you have an aptitute for math, or languages or anything that specific. It is your over all grades that count - this is at least wht it was like when i went to school (granted, it's been 20 Years since I started, but from what I hear from parents, the system sadly still stands) Whe I was in school it was pretty much: Good Grades? Gymnasium. Mediocre Grades? Realschule. Bad Grades/Inatentive? Hauptschule. And I am going to be honest, _this system is bull_ . I am a perfect example: My reccomendation at the end of the 4th grade was Hauptschule, maybe Realschule if I worked really hard. I wasn't a bad student per se, but I was easily distracted and in a classroom with 25 Kids, the ones in the frontrow being troubllemakers, shy me in the corner staring out the window really didn't get any attention. I finished my Gymnasium because my Parents didn't listen to the Teacher and sent me to a Gesamtschule, which is in my opinion the best System anyway. But this brings me to my second point: There is no more Hauptschule. When I was young, it was pretty much understood that "Hauptschule" was synonymous with "you are too szupid to contribute in any meaningful way to society". It was absolutely terrible and as you can imagine often filled with kids from lower income households, immigrant familys or similar circumstances. Instead of fixing the over all system that made kids compete from the age of 12, they just decided to erase Hauptschule and just start with Realschule. They still phased out the Hauptschulkids in grade 9, when it would have been over, instead of at least getting them to grade 10 and giving them a Realschuldiploma which can help you a lot in getting an Apprenticeship somewhere, but its all right, it wasn't _called_ Hauptschule anymore, and that was clearly the biggest issue. Sorry for rambling, as someone who is planning to have kids of my own soon and who lived through a rather dower school experience myself, I cannot help but see the cracks in our System. They may not be as bad as in some others (at least we get regulated SexEd) But that doesn't mean the things that are subpar shouldn't be adressed
We actually talk about dresscodes this year in english lass. And i was shocked you do't really get to express yourselves through your clothes? We had an example of a dresscode and especially girls have so many restrictions?! Idk it's just so strange to me because I'm not used to people telling me what to wear anymore. Granted our book is like five or six years old by now it might be outdated
I love how you explained the german school system. I think most of the german students would explain it like in the „Hauptschule“ there are only the most „stupid“ ones or those who are socially not that included yk😂 but you explained it really well and respectfully🥰
Wenn hier wieder ein ordentlicher Sozialismus einkehrt, werden die arroganten Schlaumeier in ihre Schranken gewiesen! Was soll dieser Kommentar? Seit wann bestimmt irgendein komisches Schulsystem ob du dumm oder schlau bist?
Hey Ruby, I can’t tell why school supplies here are that more expensive than in the US, but you’re right, they should be cheaper. And Sozialkunde, don‘t worry, the best mark I ever had was a C- and that has nothing to do with my language skills. Looking forward to see a new video! But before, ENJOY the countryside! Currently there’s supposed to be Weinlese and Weinfest around with new wine and Flammkuchen which is originally from France but typical for that region and season. Take care!
Maybe also of note is that the highest level high schools in Europe’s usually prepare students to go straight to university instead of going to college before university. If you are able to perform at the highest level in every grade you can finish your masters degree at 21/22. Most Americans that I’ve know to go to Europe for a year of high school had a hard time getting straight a’a. So bottom line don’t worry about your grades just learn and enjoy your stay.
For the test-section: Of course this is primarily when you're not an exchange student, but: When you have those multiple choice tests you can just make a right or wrong answer. With the german, mostly text-based-ones: You can mostly at least get some points out of them, if you discribe the answer kind of right. So you maybe don't get the, let's say 8 points, for your answer, but maybe at least 5 of them.
4:11 we also have sekundarschule it's similar to gesamtschule, just that people with funding needs also are there. (Even if it's not a lot of students) and Waldorfschule who is a coplete different system without Grades, till i guess 8th class.
Our daughter just started Gymnasium, she has lockers. However they hardly use them, as they need the books at home also. Homework is getting checked depending on teacher, class etc.- some notebooks will get grades after several months. School supplies- this really depends on where you buy them. There are also different qualities. Binders- like people before me I wonder what you're refering to; a folde-like binder? or the piece of cloth? I presume the first? You can get those at the supermarket for 1:59€ or such- actually our gymnasium offered at rhew beginning of the year a package that we could order including all material, and everything combined was less then 30€...
In military school we also had multiple choice tests. But they could be quite difficult - imagine a math equation and all the answers are given quite near the correct result.
I am an American living in Germany. My daughter has been going to school in Berlin since 2nd Grade (she‘s in 10th now). One HUGE difference that I‘ve noticed is that German schools do not have sport teams. Anybody who wants to play competitive or recreational sports has to join a sport Verein, which is a private club that is completely independent of the schools. There are still physical education classes in school. Just no teams that compete against other schools.
This is the same in Norway too. Though the sport organizations often use the school area it is an after school acitivity not organized by the school and you don’t need to attend the school to go there. Most people at my old school played football or handball at the neighbor school’s area at the organization that had the teams there, because that was the closest organization.
Yes that is quite a downfall for German schools, I've also spend a year in an American high school and I really loved the sports culture. Would be nice if that were practiced more in Germany, I guess the facilities are just not build up for that here.
On the other hand, club sports are much cheaper than in the USA.
@@Preisiiiful Very true. Honestly, having lived and raised a child in both systems, I see advantages and disadvantages to both systems. I like the community aspect and the strict seasonality of sports in American schools. But at the same time, they can be a huge distraction from the fundamental educational mission of the school. I like the focus and lack of distractions in German Sportvereine. But they tend to channel young athletes into single sports with year-round training at a very young age, which makes it harder for kids to try multiple sports.
But cost is a HUGE issue. German Sportvereine are tax exempt and are generally heavily publicly subsidized, so they cost a fraction of private sports clubs in the US. Sadly, American school sports are also moving toward that "pay to play" model.
yeah i'd like to have that here in Germany
it kinda supports the "Team Geist" of the school (idk how to say this in English)
and in Germany we maybe have one or two occassions where we can compete against other schools in particular sports, but that's it
Oh yeah, Gymnasium is much harder than school in US. Students who visited US for 1 year came back and said "woah it was so easy. What are they learning??" :) Finishing Gymnasium is a lot to work for.
a binder 30 euro? may i ask where you buy your binders, gucci?
depending on which kind of binder we are talking about you can get something cheap like "Schnellhefter" (loose-leaf binder?) starting at 50 cent
other binders are anywhere from 2,5, 10 or even 20 euro, but a binder for 30 euro has to be among the most expensive binders you can find and should be made out of some fine leather at least... ;)
Was it in the wrong shop? Because that stuff is also available at ALDI!
@@nordwestbeiwest1899 At ALDI the most expensive binder was like 5 euro
I was stumped too, a cardboard binder shouldn't be 30€ lol
Yeah, but some thick brand binder like a Leitz-Ordner or something can get up to like 15€ nowadays, which is insanely expensive, too.^^
@@jaquitavulpix3418 really??? Leitz binders are like 5 to 8€ or so, at least at Müller. 15€ is absolutely crazy. I wouldn't even buy that in a dream. I still use cheap herlitz cardboard binders for 2 or 3€.
30€ for a binder?!??!??! Gurllll nourrrr. They cost max 10€! Never saw a 30€ binder.
Multiple choice test in germany are rare and if you get one it's usually really really difficult and there will probably be trick questions
I only ever had one multiple choice test (Grundschule - Gymnasium). When we saw it, we almost fell off our chairs laughing. Wir haben uns echt weggeschmissen🤣
my physics teacher once had a test, in which one question had no correct answer, but it was also false if you didnt check any box at all, so you needed to write down that there is no answer
that was pure evil
till you get to the fahrschule ;))
Another thing about tests: I'm in tenth grade now, so I'll choose the subjects for my Abitur soon, meaning the test will get even harder. My physics teacher explained it well, he said we're at the Gymnasium because we want to get our Abitur and go to University and that includes being able to transfer the things you learned onto new queations and problems to solve them. That's probably why exange students struggle, they're just not used to it
they struggle because american 10th grade math is like 7th grade in Germany... My exchange kids(10th Bavarian) go to 11th grade in Kanada... they would have to go to University in the USA to get the same math level.
We've also heard that, but if you want to know a secret: Tests at university are way easier than tests in high school 🤫
At least in non science courses.
Interesting to see you comments about German schools from an American perspective. I have had the same experience the other way around, coming from a German Gymnasium and visiting an American high school in the US for 10 months. That was back in 1993 (yes I'm somewhat older) at the same age you are now. Even after all these years, I can really relate to the differences you mention, just in my case from a reversed perspective. Not much has changed since back then :)
I also remember a few differences: my US school had a no kissing policy, which I found odd. The school bus system was confusing for me at the beginning, so I walked on streets without sidewalks, I must have drawn some attention to myself by walking. I was an average student in Germany, in the US i was among the 5% of the best students of my state (New York), and I studied way less than in Germany. I was playing basketball in Germany, but going to a tryout at my schools basketball team i didn't stand a chance, sport is played on a way higher level in US schools. The size of the school in terms of buildings and number of students was so impressive to me, being used to my German school. And I was a bit lost about the culture in school with school dances, fund raisers and yearbooks. You have to consider in 1993 it was difficult to prepare for this. There was no internet (well, it just started but most ppl didn't have access), no mobile phones, even calling across the Atlantic was a very expensive thing (I called my parents like once a month for 10 minutes).
Anyway I hope you enjoy this experience. It is a unique opportunity and you should cherish every moment.
High-school is a lot easier for a German, since the level in education is lower, than attending Gymnasium for an American. Besides... a German student already knows the language well enough at this age.
Someone with no German skills, or at least very little German, should first pass a language test, before going to Germany. - It must be extremely frustrating to attend school without being able to understand what it's about. - I'm really sorry for you, and I hope you will see progress soon. Hang in there!! 🤗 You seem to already have built some friendships over here. ❤️
I would ask your teacher after each lesson, what paragraphs in your textbooks you should work on to be prepared for class. - They really should be more helpful.
GOOD LUCK!. ❤️
@@witty2u Gymnasium is more like college in us?
@@magnuspersson1433 Yeah, it is. I attended 2-year college in the US a few years after getting my Abitur, and classes were extremely easy. I had to try hard to get a good GPA at Gymnasium, but getting a perfect GPA at the US college was a breeze.
I always wanted to know how Americans are able to learn at home when they have their books at the locker.
American students bring home the books they need for homework that night. They don't just leave them in the locker forever. :)
In the 3 years I’ve been in highschool I’ve only had one textbook to bring home. My school has laptops
same
like, we get homework in every class and need to carry all our books home again, so yeah
@@caroline-gx5cs as if
you are lucky
@@fantasietraume yeah its weird probably only like 10 people in our school of 1500 use a locker. But also my school first got the laptops like 7 yes ago so now all the battery’s are totally dead lmao
I am from Germany and right now I am on the US, in Missouri with CBYX like you :) and it is also very weird for me that every homework gets graded here. In Germany the teacher goes around and looks if your homework is done in younger classes but they normally stop when you get older because they say that it is now your own responsibility.
Make sure to research which programs you study with. I have heard of some programs have relocated kids and put many Asian students in areas that had high hate crime rates. We shouldn’t support a program that supports anti-Asian hate. Please stop Asian hate! So please make sure to research before you go”
I graduated from American high school in 1993, and most of my homework was not graded. A few classes checked off that you completed the homework, but I don't recall getting any grades for homework.
@@Nicole-fp6gh wow that’s amazing. I graduated in 2008 in the US and it was militantly graded as they make it a percentage of your overall grade now.
Normally I thought people scammed foreigners through high taxi prices for example, but binders for 30€ must be a new trick in the book 😂
Hey Caroline, I recently posted a Short about how Germans learn differently. As you said in your video, in America, we regurgitate what we learned in class. In Germany, they are expected to fundamentally understand the concepts behind it, in order to apply said concepts to new problems. This makes solving problems much more difficult than what we are used to in the USA. Cool video, and thanks for sharing!
And that applies for vocational training either. German vocational education in many professions have an academic level better than academic degrees in other countries.
Sounds bit funny to me... How will you solve a new problem if you don't understand the concept behind?
Schools in Germany can be so different, even among the same federal state! I went to school in Hessen and my senior high school (Oberstufengymasium) offered lockers for rent (you got the money back when you stopped renting if the locker wasn't damaged). We were even allowed to design our lockers' doors as we liked it. Facility management would remove the door of the locker so students could take it home to paint it as they liked. The hallway was like a locker gallery.
I spent a year abroad in Switzerland between my junior and senior year in high school. Of course this was a very long time ago, like pre youtube days. In fact my host family did not have a computer, let alone internet, there were no cell phones, and my camera had film in it. It took me until Christmas before I could really read and write German well enough to take a test with anything close to a passing grade. In my case, my American school told me up front that any grades I got on exchange would not count towards graduation. So, I just immersed myself in the language and culture and did not give one care about my grades. Don't get me wrong the study is good for your language skills but try not to over do it. Focus on creating relationships and learning the language. Never turn down an opportunity to go to a cultural event or safely travel. People will try to practice their English with you, which is fine, but always answer back in German. Have fun because the next few months will dramatically change the way you see the world.
That must have been hard! Learning to understand the Swiss people took me some time (as a German!) when I moved there. My daughters still ask me to "translate" whenever we are in Switzerland. But it certainly is a beautiful country to be.
@@wora1111 since I came into the country with only about 200 words in vocabulary, I actually learned Swiss German first. Today when I speak German I have a decidedly Swiss accent and I default to the dialect. My host father was also a news paper editor so he was always helping with my grammer.
@@tawneycarter4149 I worked for the NZZ for some time. Was fun. But I did their software, not the content. And the content guys are perfect with Schriftdeutsch.
I'm from Germany (Saxony) and our Gymnasium had a bit of a different way to deal with exchange students. We had several students who went to the USA for a year. As you said the american grades did not count towards graduation. All they had to do in the USA was to get a passing grade (and that was never a problem). When the students got back they had to choose one possible solution for their education: either they repeated the whole year or they got tested in the major subjects to ensure they knew their stuff.
Love how you put the differences into context (pro and cons), Once you have settled in some more, could you maybe talk about the differences in social aspects of highschool, like 0-tolerance-issues, peer group formation and peer pressure, and bullying?
Enjoy your stay in Germany, all the best
Hi Miss Caroline
I grew up in America, I am working class - no money no chance for collage, and when high school is finished then the working class had zero talents for the work place.
Here in Germany , there is"trade school" the training is given by master tradesmen. it is usually 3 years, and it is EVERYTHING, car mechanics,, baker, electrician, dental assistent, cooks, police, EVERYTHING, but for a academics, when you as a working class person finished usually by 17 or 18 years of age , you have a certificate, stating what you have learned. These are not
academics, the people that train you are master trandsmen. These people carry the country. To open a business you must be a master tradesman . You will be judges my master tradesmen
to see that you have learned enough to become a master tradesman ( they have to be masters of their trade they must also learn bookkeeping and and and for a business)
I America they majority of the people try to find a job , and they have no training...
The acadenics also learn to type... uff uff.
Some academics are very important , Doctors, engineers, mathematicians, etc , in the 1920s , 1930s , 1940s. 1950s etc the number of academics was very small, yet Germany was a leading country in science etc
May all living creatures be happy and free from suffering
regards
Mr Michael Carmichael
PS sorry, I am an old man, 76 , wife 84 . good luck to you
I'm living in Rheinland-Pfalz and we have lockers at our school (but you have to rent them if you want to use them)
Caroline, I am from Brazil and I was an exchange student in the US. Gonna give you a tip: you have to study in German, give up the translating back and forth. That will hinder your learning of the language and your assimilation of the culture. Study in German, learn the stuff they teach in class in German, don't keep going back to English. That is how I did it and, to this day, I think in English, which is a sign you really learned the language.
My friend says he once laughed at a french meme he found. I have also made spanish speakers laugh with some things I've said in spanish. I'm from the UK and people say our language teaching isnt that great but I disagree
I live in Berlin and we have locker’s at my gymnasium
Same but my mom literally WON'T GET ME ONE 😭
Same in Munich
My daughter is in 10th Grade in Berlin, and she has the option to rent a locker. In the US, everybody gets a locker for free. It becomes their „home base“ for the year.
decades ago in berlin, we had no lockers, but besides some subjects that required special rooms/equipment (Physik, Chemie, etc) we always stayed in the same room and thus didn't have to carry around too much.
Same we have lockers too but we must pay for it and not everyone has one
I think its pretty cool when all students get a locker for free like in the US
Hi Caroline, prepare for a real cultural shock. My daughter went to New Zealand when she was your age. One day she was expelled from school because she was caught drinking some beer wit other European exchange students during a camping trip. And I got an e-mail as her father. I was bursting by laugthing and really had to restrict myself not answering the e-mail, that this is traditional German culture and the legal drinking age in Germany is 16.
So, be aware when you attend the first real German party. And in case you did drink beer in the US before, I have to remind you, that German beer is much stronger than US-beer (US tourists regularly get totally drunk, as they drink the same quantity as back in the US, but by alcohol content it's nearly double.)
My advise: Do inform yourself about German drinking habits before attending the first party...
It´s a myth that german beer is stronger beside Bockbier or Doppelbock.
@@blackboxtubes69You do know what Light Beer is, right?
In my country (Israel) we actually call multiple choice questions “American questions” and we have just a little section of them in our tests😅
That's funny.
We used to call them multiple guess because even if you you have no clue about what the answer to a question is you still have a chance at getting the right answer, which hardly seems fair to those students that actually work hard and learn the subject matter. It made me laugh that you call them American questions (I'm not American btw). I tend to think years are only done this way to save money marking them. Most multiple choice/guess exams can be fed into a computer and the results given out as opposed to a teacher or examiner having to take time analysing what the answer given was. If you can't invest in your children's future what kind of a country are you in?!!!
How can that be? That really makes me smile when I think of the fact how much discussions and controversies are liked in your community (positive prejudice).
I once took an American University entrance exam as part of a job application process. Even those questions were multiple choice and really easy. I think a 14 year old European student could pass without a problem.
@@yzmiine3910 Ireland
Most of the schools in Germany do have lockers. In my Gymnasium, every year, we get new lockers right next to our current classroom.
That was a big difference for me when I was in the USA, in the big supermarket chains you get EVERYTHING. This is a little different here. Some shops also sell school supplies here, but they are usually a bit more expensive. Then there are "Schreibwarengeschäfte" that have everything you need in school, but mostly not super cheap either. Paper, exercise books and staplers are particularly easy to find in Tedi or Woolworth. If you can't find the stores yourself, ask your classmates where they got their school supplies.
listening to you describe the American Dress Code at H.S., sounded like a description of a Religious Puritan School.. :D
yep! that’s pretty much what it is😬
Multichoice tests are also called monkey puzzle because they are so easy due to the correct answer being supplied and all you have to do is recognize it like a monkey recognizes a banana. And even if you don't recognize the correct answer, you just choose one and with luck you selected the correct answer. If you have to answer the questions then you have to know the answer to be able to get marks for it. Multi choice tests do not reflect the knowledge nor the understanding of the student.
Take this. In the upper grades (11/12) the questions in the tests have three different fields.
1. You just tell what you have learned. It's the easiest to prepare to.
2. You need to explain why it is like it is.
3. You get something completely unrelated and need to figure out how to apply your knowledge.
Every test has all three.
Apart from that the questions are really weirdly formulated.
We have to learn 3 pages of words that can stand in them and what they would mean.
You can change tracks of course. It depends on your grades and your improvement in willingness to learn.
You have to pass a test to see, if you are qualified. - Whether there always is a test in each State, or whether a recommendation by the teacher is sufficient, this I don't know. But you for sure can make that change. :)
Homework can be collected and does once a while. It is randomly done and if you have not made your homework you get a 6.😁 You can improve your grade, when kind of in between that way, or when you aren't doing it always, it brings your grade down.
Just got home from Germany today, I loved it! I really like their public transportation system. Especially the hight speed ICE train
I am a German who sometines visits China. High speed trains in Germany? If you like high speed, visit China or of course the motherland of high speed trains Japan. China and Japan are competing who will first have the 500 km/h train! But yeah, the ICE is still pretty nice, allthough it is not really high speed.
@@martinguandjienchan7525 don’t you know the chinese bought their high speed train from germany, I believe it was Siemens? The german government just decided it’s too expensive to build the needed tracks and in the end Siemens decided to sell because it was not rentable…
@@Moni-lz4vp That was the magnetic elevated monorail in Shanghai.They wanted to build a line from Shanghai to (I don't remember exactely) Hangzhou, but due to massive public protests dropped the project.
Later on they bought patents from Germany and France on which basis they developed their first generation normal gauge high speed. By now the newest generations are mainly further own developments.
Some months ago another maglev monorail with a speed of more than 600 km/h. This proect, I think, will fail terribly for 2 reasons:
1) Elevated monorail tracks for such a speed are extremely expensive to build.
2) Allready in the 400 km/h monorail in Shanghai the train vibrates all the time, as there is no frictional resistance with wheels/rails. For the 20 min ride in Shanghai this is OK, but a long ride vor several hours... it would be hardly bearable.
Maglev at such a speed would require a vacuum tube, which again would be extremely expensive to build, if possible anyway (for this reason Elon Musks Hyperloop is also stupid).
Another Chinese company said, they want to develop a low speed maglev running 250 km/h as a high speed urban MTR system for huge metropolitan areas. They first made a market research and are convinced, that this will sell in metropolitan areas with more than 10 mio people. This might indeed work out, allthough I am not so convinced.
@@Moni-lz4vp ik Siemens coz they used to sponsor some football team shirts
You should buy school supplies at Action, very popular in the Netherlands but you also have them in Germany. Very cheap supplies, binders will be like 2 Euro max
School was like this (when i was in school):
Grundschule - Grade 1-4 - Everyone
Hauptschule - Grade 5-9 - Geared to a handy trade training + Berufsschule (Trade school)
Realschule - Grade 7-10 - Geared to higher trades like banker or IT or sth. You can go to Fachoberschule (FOS) after this
Gymnasium - Grade 5-13 - after this you can go strait to University
Fachoberschule (FOS) - Grade 11-12 - after this you can go to Fachhochschule (FH) - its geared to ppl from Realschule who want to study.
Berufsoberschule (BOS) - Grade 12 - after finishing a trade you can go here and you get also the Fachhochschulreife and can go to FH. This is really hard, because you have a lot of catch up to do. Usually ppl do one more year for catching up for this.
Meisterschule - After finishing a trade you can go there to get a Master in that trade (needed to open a company in some trades). Liker Master Plumer or Master Carpenter or sth. Not sure but i think Master in a trade also enables you to go to FH.
Fachhochschule (FH) - Diploma (FH) - its more practically focused but almost same level as University / after 2 semesters you can go to University if you want and start over. If you get a diploma here you have to add (FH) to your name. Like "Engineer (FH)" or sth
University - Diploma
There is also some special Academias but they cost money.
Realschule starts at grade 5 and gymnasium can also be just 12 years
@@xliax4930 ok this was different 20 years ago
my grundschule was 1-6 years
2:30 about the lockers: that is because you mostly stay I one room and barely change so it's not that necessary. In my school we have small lockers you have yo pay for.
Im from Germany and just wanted to say that we watch your videos in class and we need to take notes about the things that are diffrent between the schools.
It should be mentioned that our school system does not lock you out of anything. One example: Let's say you went to a Realschule and got really good grades there. You decide that you want to study at a university, but your Realschulabschluss doesn't allow that. After finishing Realschule, you can enlist at a Gymnasium, do three additional years of school and end up with Abitur. However it should be mentioned that it is pretty hard to do that - Realschule is a bit less demanding, so the student usually has some catch-up to do and has to work hard, but it can be done. In theory even someone who went to Hauptschule originally can then decide to go for Realschubabschluss and then Abitur, even though that is rare.
It is also possible for adults to retroactively get their Abitur even if they are already working: They can get additional degrees, including Abitur or Fachabitur, at the Abendgymnasium - also a lot of work, but it can be done.
PS: School uniforms (not a dress code, actual school uniforms) do exist at a few private schools in Germany, but there's only a handfull of those in Germany (and not all private schools have a uniform).
PPS: Multiple choice tests are also not common at German universities (US highschools and colleges are known for their easy multiple choice tests). At university in Germany there might be a small part of a test that is multiple choice, but that's uncommon. Regarding your grades in tests - you'll improve once the language barrier is not so much of an issue anymore. Many exchange students struggle with the tests at first, but once they are fluent in German its no longer an issue.
Just to add a few things.
You don't have to graduate to change from Hauptschule to Realschule or from Realschule to Gymnasium. If your grades are good enough (I think it was an average grade of 2,5), you can change after every term.
In addition finishing a three year apprenticeship also enables you to go to university in the same field of work.
@@Caeilia nope you need an additional amount of time spent in that profession and are more likely to get techniker or meister degree. You can also only enroll in fachhochschulen and not universities.
1:30 okay your School definitely an exception. I‘m German and we always had to show our homework in school :D
When I went to the gymnasium here in germany, I had a really strict and demanding german teacher (by far the strictest and most demanding of the entire gymnasium), with other german teachers I had before with studying I could most of the time get the grade 2, but with this one people where happy if they got a 3 and I got a 5. Similar thing with english tests where the best grade I was getting in the tests was a -3. So changing strategies and I stopped learning and just started memorising "Textanalysen" about these topics and from the best students like the day or two before I memorised about 20 analysen. And it worked: I had no clue what I was doing but in my mind I was just clumping together all the memorised stuff and filling in with information of the text. In german I managed to get a 3 and in english a 2 but I feel like I learned way less than before.
What fancy binder were you looking at? I normally buy them for 1-2 Euros.. e.g. at Woolworth :-p
i was looking for that comment,.. 30euro binder... thats ridiculously expensive.. i am pretty sure even the nice looking ones arent that expensive
Yes or Action and Tedi
It is unusual to have lockers in most German schools because you don't change the room. In the morning you walk into the classroom take your seat and put you backpack (or whatever you choose as schoolbag) under the table and just grab it to go home. As the classrooms are normaly loked during breaks that's no big deal to leave your things there. If changing to special rooms for exaple for music or chemisty lessons you just take your pencil and the books for that subject.
About German school system: the sorting of students into our 3 school types is based on their grades only, it does not matter if someone with bad grades (recommended for Hauptschule) is any good with handy work! Basically and historically, it is a sorting of people into a hierarchical society, and the family background (money and social status) matters as kids often 'inherit' the school type their parents went to (even though academic talent can overwrite the background nowadays). When you look at past times, when the 3 types came into being, we had manual workers and craftsmen (educated in Hauptschule, but this was the type of school most of the population went to and wasn't given the bad image it has today, especially because academical education wasn't considered that important by most people yet. Especially craftsmen who got their education (basic education) in Hauptschule would often be very respected later), in Gymnasium there would be the children of business owners, academics and politicians (who would expect their kids to be in Gymnasium) and in Realschule (in between the 2 types mentioned) there would be a higher education given than in Hauptschule because some people would be needed for office work jobs. Think of a company that produces goods. You have the workers (Hauptschule), the office workers (Realschule) and the owners and top tier (Gymnasium). So it really doesn't matter what you are good at as a student outside school (only the subjects schools give grades for matter) as you are sorted by the academic success you can achieve before a certain time mark (end of 4th grade or 6th grade) and then you need to keep your grades up so you won't be downgraded to either Realschule or Hauptschule. Certain apprenticeships nowadays are only available for people who have graduated Realschule or Gymnasium/Fachoberstufe. On the other hand, it is actually possible to be good enough in Hauptschule or Realschule to be allowed to start attending Realschule or Gymnasium by the next school term. Or after graduating Haupt-/Realschule with grades good enough, one can continue school for 1 or 3 more years to get to the next higher graduation level.
As a foreign student at school in Germany I have been using a dictionary a lot. Teachers were perfectly fine with it. And it helped me expand my vocabulary even faster.
If I may ask
Are there any English schools in Germany
I want to transfer there next year
@@kadija4400 I don’t know for sure, but probably there are English schools here. I myself went to a german international school in Indonesia when we lived abroad and I know we have a Japanese school in Düsseldorf who took in Japanese students from Fukushima after the tsunami so they could write their exams and graduate. Such schools are all over the world so the possibility for English schools here are high. Maybe ask your embassy in germany for help?
Because there are no lockers at German schools I eventually got a doctor's certificate that I had back problems. So at the beginning of each year I would get all the books twice and I kept a set of them at home and one set at school. As mentioned in the first video there are designated classrooms for every class here so I would just leave my books at a cupboard at school. That made life a lot easier.
I was at 4 schools and they all had lockers. 😅 Although you could choose to not have one there was always an option.
we also have lockers in most schools, but those are mostly not big enough to fit our bags in so we are still carrying them around and after 4 years of doing it without a locker you just get used to carrying it around
Thanks, very informative. My daughter is going on an exchange to Germany soon, and even though as a South African I have to triangulate what you are contrasting with the US to figure out what the contrast in German schools with South Africa would be, it is still really helpful. (At least we've learned a thing or two from movies). Thank you and I will have her watch it as well.
Good for you! That's such a challenge to take on the German education system. I'm from the deep south of the US myself and have lived and worked in Germany over the past 15 years. I hope you enjoy discovering what the country has to offer.
Don’t feel bad about the 6 - I mean how are u supposed to get good grades in a test that talks about a country you have never lived in before in a language you don’t really speak 🙈 don’t worry it’ll get better and learning German can be cruel from what I’ve heard. It’s my native tongue and I don’t even understand it. I only speak etc. it because I grew up in Germany speaking the language ☺️
German is not harder than any other language. It has grammatical features that other languages might not have or have got rid of, and since most people learn English as a second language, they automatically think other languages like German are more difficult to learn, which is, in fact, absolutely wrong.
For example, English tenses are ridiculous. There are 12 tenses compared to 6 tenses in German. Even native English speakers don't know all tenses of their mother tongue.
@@justaname1837 I think German is an incredibly difficult language to learn. The pronunciation with Umlaute and the grammar rules are much more tricky compared to languages like Spanish and English. There are also the nuances with "Du" and "Sie" that many languages don't have. It's certainly not a language I would have wanted to learn from scratch.
@@salmason4022, it depends on your native language. If you are more used to a Romance language, then it'll be more challenging to learn a Germanic language like German. English is a mixture in-between, I would say. English is also, as far as I know, the only Germanic language that doesn't have the "Verb-second word order" anymore.
Coming from the USA Sozialkunde is probably one of the hardest subjects for you because a multitude of things are different. If you look again at that test shortly before you return to the USA you will be surprised about how many differences there were and you learned about.
@@justaname1837 english is a Germanic language but I find learning spanish easier then German. At least spanish doesnt make words pointlessly long
My experiences from my school:
On my school you have lockers. But in the 5-7 class we have open lockers. From the 8-13 class you have lockers which you can close. But the lockers at my school are much tinier than American lockers. In the 8-10 they stand in the classroom of your class (because every class has their own classroom) and from the 11-13 (in the Oberstufe) they stand in the hallway.
In Germany we also have the Gesamtschule where basically everyone can go to. There you will find people who could go to the Hauptschule, Realschule and the Gymnasium. So it's a mixed school. In these schools you have the opportunity to do your Hauptschulabschluss after your 9th or 10th grade,your Realschulabschluss after the 10th grade, your Fachabitur after the 12th class and your Abitur after the 13th class. Gesamtschulen have also a year longer than the Gymnasiums so that the students don't have so much of stress.
In some parts of Germany the Gesamtschule does not exist because some parliaments regional parliaments didn't want these type of schools. (I only wanted to add to what you said).
i read it in the comments, it would be nice if you compared the lifestyle of the teenagers in both countries, f.e.what do you do on your freetime, on weekends, how the parties are, are the groups mixed girls and boys etc.!! Nice videos comparing the cultures, i really enjoy them!
I answered the free time question and more about teenager lifestyle in my Q & A video!
@@carolineruby thanks for the answer! I have watched 3 of your videos in a row, now i will watch your q n a too!! :)
I lived in germany my hole life and im going to germany school since 10 years, and Im also lerning for 3 hours and still getting a 6. Our tests are just vay more difficult.
🤝🏻
Oha ok...also ich persönlich finde es liegt einfach auch an dem lehrer der die Arbeit erstellt aber mag sein das es in den USA leichter ist...
Ach und meintest du mit vay, way?
Oder bin ich dumm😂👀
IMO the different school types (Hauptschule, Realschule, Gymnasium) are a very obvious representation of a class system with Gesamtschule and other initiatives and reform schools being the exception of the rule. That being said I understand that working as a teacher and differentiating within in a class quite demanding...but then again my idea of a better school system doesn't involve the concept of one teacher with/vs. 25 students :)
I was on a KGS (Kooperative Gesamtschule) where the 5th and 6th class was called Orientierungsstufe, and after that it was decided if you go to Hauptschule, Realschule or Gymnasium and all the different schools were in the same building. That was really great since i was on Gymn, my brother on Real and i also had quite some friends on Hauptschule.
Also we had lockers, but nearly nobody ever use them. You had to throw in a coin (1 Deutsch Mark at that time) to get the key.
Hi Ruby - I just stumbled across your channel. You are very brave in what you are doing. but I can guarantee you that you will remember this experience for the rest of your life. I can so relate what you are going through. I moved from Canada (Toronto - think a large cosmopolitan city like Chicago - without the crime😀) to Germany when I was 13 and lived there until I was 16 (your age I believe) it was culture shock as well. i went to the Realschule - entered Grade 7, but by Christmas was moved back to Grade 6. In the end I finished Grade 8 and climbed my way to the to the upper end of the class. It was intense. Even though this was a couple of decades ago, it seems little has changed. No clubs, no high school sports etc. Hope you have a great time and get to appreciate the different life in Germany - not always caught up making money and mass consumerism. And yes I also go 6's initially. It will get better. Good luck and have fun
It's very dependent on the teacher if homework is checked or not! I remember to have multiple strict teachers who would always check the homework
At my Gymnasium our homework gets checked just in a few subjects and thats not smth you should def do as a teacher, they just check if we did it or not but we're not getting rated for our homework. My school for example has lockers, and I reckon the other school in my neighbourhood has lockers as well,. At our school we need to pay for our lockers but you're not forced to buy one. If you want to buy a locker, you're just able to buy one in fifth grade, but therefore we have a place in our class where we can keep our books. Also I am sry for commenting such a lot 😅
A binder is about 1-3€
5:30 "you truly have to understand the topic". What else do you attend school for?
Hi Caroline, please don't be too disappointed with the test result, as you understand your language it will get better and better, but it will take a while. German is not the easiest language.
There are no lockers, but as you stay in the same classroom for the most part of xyour school day you don't have to carry your stuff around a lot, it stays in the classroom.
Here it's all about comprehension... whether you comprehended all, that has been taught to you, is proved by your ability to actually go into details, and explain in your own words, what was asked. 🙂
Not the diligence you put in to study a topic, gets graded, but whether it's correct or not correct. - I got the feeling that in America grades also have to do with how hard you try, not necessarily with whether it is correct what you answer.
You need to be precise in your answers and to give explanations to a statement you make is required here in test.
When I was a nanny in the USA, I was totally shocked that one of the girls got an A in her geography test, where there were several big mistakes. For this test she had gotten a 3 over here, not even a B.
That's why getting an A in Germany is a lot more difficult.
I suggest to talk to your teacher, and ask for help, how you could improve in his subject. ❤️... Maybe he can go through your test with you after class, and point out what was required how to answer each question.
For example writing a simple short statement is not enough, because they want you to give an elaborated answer. 😅
Normally they already consider language difficulties, when grading you.
- Ask a friend, who got a good grade, to see what is expected over here. 🙂
As you pointed out already, there is a lot more required over here. We aren't superficial, but stress depth and precise answers. 😅
Don't get discouraged... Just try your best. ❤️
Learning instead of memorizing gives you a better understanding of the world
Different states in America have other high school options. Example, Massachusetts had a lot of technical high schools where you split your time between academics and job training (some every other week and some by term - this could be trades, cosmetology, drafting, etc), and even had an agricultural high school that included options in horticulture, animal science, etc.
Buy your school supplies during the last week of summer break, you will see, the whole country pretty much goes into a sales frenzy for these things, because it's right before kids start school, or a new school year
Thanks a lot for the comparison. :)
Wow! Multiple choice tests. That sounds very crazy for me. The only time I had a multiple choice test was in University for my media law class, but the pool of questions contained about 1,000. I didn't really understand so much, but I survived with 50%.
Oh, and I had a multiple choice test for my theoretical exam of my driving license but for that I have learned everything that was available in about 2 or 3 months, because I'm very bad in learning by heart.
I also think German Gymnasiums are a lot more difficult than High-School. I have never been in High-School, but a lot of my German classmates have been. All of them were the top students in their class when they spent their exchange year there. Even in English class they have been on the top.
I went to a Gesamtschule, wich is a school,where all three different highschools are combined. We had different skilled classes for the main subjects: German, Maths, English, and Physiks. We also had one were we could choose between three. Most students would attend until the 10th grade, to start an aprenticeship. The rest would go on until the 13th grade to attend University. We had lockers for our books and stuff in our classrooms. Later from 11th grade onwards theese were in the hallway, but not as large, you could oonly fitt your books in there and maybe your sportsgear. We even had a caffeteria were you could get lunch at lunchbreack. Wich lastet an hour. If you need cheap school gear just by some folders these are much cheaper they cost 1€ or 2€ a piece and you can have one for each class in a different collour. Most students in Germany use theese.
At my school (I`m in 10th grade aswell) we have a online plattform to send every Homework to the teachers. And we have to change our classroom for every lesson. And yes we don`t have a dresscode either at my school. Very nice video - keep going - greetings from Hamburg :-)
You can get cheap school supplies during sales in normal supermarkets, or like others said rossmann or tedi. But its true, that some stuff can be realy expensive.
Homework is a mixed bag here in Germany. Some teachers are realy adamant about homework (like my Spanish teacher who would grade you depending on your homework, but less so by participation. But she was also the worst teacher I ever had in my entire school life. Or my Philosophy teacher who would give an essay assignment once per Semester, which was realy cool because you could boost your grades that way.) But there is a discussion about homework in politics. Studies have shown that homework doesnt improve students grades and take away the few free hours they still have in the day. I sometimes had to sit in school from 8:30 to 17:45 and still got homework due for the next day. I was basically working all day just for school without any free time and then go to sleep to go to school the next day.
We had lockers, but you have to rent them for the duration you need them.
The interesting part about our education system and the different school types is, that studies have shown, that when we get assigned to which school type we should go, this happenes at a far to young age. Many elementary school teachers try to get no one to "Hauptschule", only if a serious learning dissability is found. My little brother has ADHD and got assigned to go to a Hauptschule, he finished school with Abitur with a 1.7 on the same school as me who got assigned to Gymnasium. The System and the assignment early on doesnt work. I went to a "Gesamtschule" combining all school types and at the end of my Abitur, they talked about the statistics and that 70% of people who got the Abitur didnt get an Assignment for "Gymnasium" even though its meant students that are geared towards Abitur.
Also there are some more specialised schools, like economics Gymnasium with a heavy focus on economics (who would have guessed), or even Technical Gymnasiums which give courses in Mechanical Engineering. But usualy you have to live close to one, so its more of a luck factor to get into one of those.
I never got any multiple choice tests in my school life. Sometimes one or two questions are multiple choice, but otherwise you have to write alot during tests. Also there is a difference between tests and exams. We write about 4 exams per year, which are usualy "long tests" between 45min - 2.5h . Sometimes in smaller or less important classes tests are written, so that the teacher has a better basis for grading. These are only 10-20min tests.
But exams especialy during Abitur need alot of aprehension and knowledge about the topic. Some exams in my Sociology class made me write about 8-12 papers of A4 (about letter size in the US) full of text in 2.5h.
Hello, what you forgot is the
'Berufsschule/Berufsausbildung'.
That is also part of the school system.
best regards
i'd love to learn more about extracurricular activities in germany! sports, music, arts, clubs, etc
The only multiple choice test I remember was for my German driver's license, and I found that difficult, because I wasn't used to multiple choice. I thought that one answer must be correct, which is true, but sometimes two or even all three answers are correct, and you have to check them all. So I failed at first try.
I’m so about that :( they should’ve mentioned that to you guys
I have seen several comments regarding the price of the binder. While I agree that shopping around might help you find something at a lower price point, the US does have size/population going for it when purchasing goods. I have lived in multiple overseas locations, and I notice that the cost of shipping gets funneled down into the goods. Think about the import costs for a country of 80 millions versus 330 million. They are able to get a better price on imports when buying a greater volume and the cost of shipping gets affected as well. This was really noticable when I lived in a country of 2 million, which caused me to be very interested in the "why."
In my gymnasium there are lockers in every hallway but it seems to be different from school to school ;) sometimes you are supposed to have a locker but in my school everyone can decide on their own🤷🏻♀️😌
I live in Germany so I have to say that the thing with lockers depends on how the school handles it. In my Gymnasium when you are in the "Mittelstufe" (10/12-16 years) you have your own classroom with lockers in it. And when you are in the "Oberstufe" (16-18 years) every student can have a locker in the middle of the school. But I know that in other schools it is like you described it, especially in schools where you have "Blockunterricht" (two hours of every subject).
I stumbled on this channel just when I started writing a paper on study abroad. + 1 subscriber for you. 😊😊😊
Great content!!
It's quite funny how huge the differences actually are... as a Czech, when I was a few years studying in a gymnasium in the Czech Republic, we had many events with our parallel class from our "twin town" in Germany (greetings to Bad Kötzting) thruout those 8 years, and even it was very similar, we still thought back then that the differences were quite significant. But in fact, they were laughable. We just were more laid back when comes to some rules like phones etc.
It's always interesting to see a perspective from someone from a country with a truly different system. Czech Republic is just not interesting enough so I'm lurking in German territory xD
I'm from the UK and still dont understand why we have school uniform. Seriously what is the point.
Just a note on the locker point. I don't know if that's only an Austrian thing (I'm from Austria, I'm not sure if German schools don't have that) but we have something called a Bankfach that is basically like a small open drawer under your desk (above your knees) where you can put your books and papers.
Could people take your things from there when you're not around? Yes, but that's just not a thing that happens usually because...people aren't thieves (also we write our name in our books with pen). Just thought I'd add that.
Obviously I cannot answer this for the whole of Germany, but I had this only in primary school and never heard of anyone having it later.
@@Never_again_against_anyone Ahh I see, interesting xO
Bankfächer gibt es nicht, aber in manchen Schulen gibt es in den Klassenräumen Regale, wo die Schüler ihre Sachen lassen können.
What a wonderful experience for you, Caroline. Thank you for the explanation of the difference between American and German schools. Small point but you left me wondering where you put your coat, boots etc..if there are no lockers. I'd be interested to learn of your experience over the year. I look forward to another few videos that I see are in the line up. I hope you will share how you are getting along socially. And also the motivational and maturity levels of American and German kids.
Coats go on the back of the chair in most parts of europe. Dont know what you mean by boots? Do you wear socks for lessons in america?
lockers is a school thing, at mine, there are lockers (Rheinland-Pflaz too)
The prizes are mostly a time period - usually first grade kids (6yrs old average / school enrollment) is each year - in august or early september for elementary school. So alot of stuff is seen in that time in stores all over the place. So buy them outside of the time period.
the thing about multiple answers choice test is that its workse for learning since kids only memorize things to pass the test but not actully learn anything xD some do but lots of them dont. thats why mixed tests especilly for topics like geography and history, social studies and etc is way better. for math\chem is writing all the way and if theres choices than u also need to explain your answers XD (thats how it is for my country)
At my high school in the us we don’t use lockers. We have them in the school but literally 5 people use them and we have like 2 thousand people haha
I go in a Austrian school an we have lockers and like "Boxes" in the class where we keep our books
In my school they installed some smaller lockers when I was in like 8th grade
learning for 3 hours and don´t Understand the question haha :D Great times back then when i did my Abitur !
In the US the term "straight A student" gets thrown around so much that You wonder if they are lying, because clearly there can't be that many geniuses in every school. But then you learn that they don't even have calculus or stochastic in high school and have multiple choice tests even in MATH!!
Straight A does not equal genius, nor those the best grade of any school system. I always had maximal or near maximal grades in my entire academical career. Faaaar from genius
@@nagyzoli In my experience straight A students were just really rare. In my Abitur class in Germany, which already contains the smartest students (top 33%) we had 2 straight A students out of about 100, and that was special. The class before had only one. I knew all 3 personally and their brains were clearly on another level. My experience is 3 in 200 which are in the top 33%, so assuming there are none in the lower 67%, then for me straight-A students made up 0.5% of all students. Maybe US parents are lying, but if you believe them it seems straight-A isn't all that special in America.
@@XX-bn9sf I went to school in Romania, and was always either maximal or near maximal (9.5 - 10) student. Both school and university. Trust me, it is not that special or unheard of. I had perfect 10 multiple years (rarely consecutive though). My IQ is between 92 and 110 depending on the test. So SLIGHTLY above average. Very far from genius level that start from 120-160
It is relatively easier to get all As in the us. we do have calculus and math isn’t multiple choice for actual classes, just standardized tests (at least at my school?)
I'm a German guy and went to school near Berlin(Gesamtschule). And I can tell you the point of learning is not that easy as you say. Of course the more you focus on one theme the more you know about it afterwards isn't really a lie. But if you have to learn so hard for every test you really forget more after this test because you have to have space for the next theme to understand. So long story short you only learn for that one test and then forget all about it.
If you have some questions about how things go on other schools just ask :)
It is always wonderful to see different perspectives of our school system, especially from someone on the outside! This is a great Video, keep it up :)
Two things: The sort of "aptitute test" after the elementary scgool isn't as specific as you make it sound. It doesn't really matter if you have an aptitute for math, or languages or anything that specific. It is your over all grades that count - this is at least wht it was like when i went to school (granted, it's been 20 Years since I started, but from what I hear from parents, the system sadly still stands) Whe I was in school it was pretty much: Good Grades? Gymnasium. Mediocre Grades? Realschule. Bad Grades/Inatentive? Hauptschule. And I am going to be honest, _this system is bull_ . I am a perfect example: My reccomendation at the end of the 4th grade was Hauptschule, maybe Realschule if I worked really hard. I wasn't a bad student per se, but I was easily distracted and in a classroom with 25 Kids, the ones in the frontrow being troubllemakers, shy me in the corner staring out the window really didn't get any attention.
I finished my Gymnasium because my Parents didn't listen to the Teacher and sent me to a Gesamtschule, which is in my opinion the best System anyway.
But this brings me to my second point: There is no more Hauptschule. When I was young, it was pretty much understood that "Hauptschule" was synonymous with "you are too szupid to contribute in any meaningful way to society". It was absolutely terrible and as you can imagine often filled with kids from lower income households, immigrant familys or similar circumstances. Instead of fixing the over all system that made kids compete from the age of 12, they just decided to erase Hauptschule and just start with Realschule. They still phased out the Hauptschulkids in grade 9, when it would have been over, instead of at least getting them to grade 10 and giving them a Realschuldiploma which can help you a lot in getting an Apprenticeship somewhere, but its all right, it wasn't _called_ Hauptschule anymore, and that was clearly the biggest issue.
Sorry for rambling, as someone who is planning to have kids of my own soon and who lived through a rather dower school experience myself, I cannot help but see the cracks in our System. They may not be as bad as in some others (at least we get regulated SexEd) But that doesn't mean the things that are subpar shouldn't be adressed
I'm german, our homework allways got checked by teacher the next day.
at least, when i was a kid
We actually talk about dresscodes this year in english lass. And i was shocked you do't really get to express yourselves through your clothes? We had an example of a dresscode and especially girls have so many restrictions?! Idk it's just so strange to me because I'm not used to people telling me what to wear anymore. Granted our book is like five or six years old by now it might be outdated
Yes it’s very restricted in the USA. Girls are still very sexualized sadly :(
I was at Ramstein AB in the Rh-Pfalz. Things are pricey due in part to a 14% sales tax.
5:37 In Germany everybody studys the night before for half an hour :D
Its then a more or less 50/50 chance if you made the test or not :p
I love how you explained the german school system. I think most of the german students would explain it like in the „Hauptschule“ there are only the most „stupid“ ones or those who are socially not that included yk😂 but you explained it really well and respectfully🥰
Wenn hier wieder ein ordentlicher Sozialismus einkehrt, werden die arroganten Schlaumeier in ihre Schranken gewiesen! Was soll dieser Kommentar? Seit wann bestimmt irgendein komisches Schulsystem ob du dumm oder schlau bist?
We have lockers in our school, but nobody wants to use them haha
Hey Ruby,
I can’t tell why school supplies here are that more expensive than in the US, but you’re right, they should be cheaper.
And Sozialkunde, don‘t worry, the best mark I ever had was a C- and that has nothing to do with my language skills.
Looking forward to see a new video!
But before, ENJOY the countryside! Currently there’s supposed to be Weinlese and Weinfest around with new wine and Flammkuchen which is originally from France but typical for that region and season.
Take care!
Rheinland palatine was once under french rule. (Perhaps even multiple times ... ?) So We have a lot of french and benelux influences.
Try Federweißer - new Wine.It’s only available now. New fermented grape must - but drink only one or two glasses of it. A little bit Alcöhol.😎
Maybe also of note is that the highest level high schools in Europe’s usually prepare students to go straight to university instead of going to college before university. If you are able to perform at the highest level in every grade you can finish your masters degree at 21/22.
Most Americans that I’ve know to go to Europe for a year of high school had a hard time getting straight a’a. So bottom line don’t worry about your grades just learn and enjoy your stay.
Have a nice time in good old Germany. Greetings from FFM
For the test-section: Of course this is primarily when you're not an exchange student, but: When you have those multiple choice tests you can just make a right or wrong answer. With the german, mostly text-based-ones: You can mostly at least get some points out of them, if you discribe the answer kind of right. So you maybe don't get the, let's say 8 points, for your answer, but maybe at least 5 of them.
4:11 we also have sekundarschule it's similar to gesamtschule, just that people with funding needs also are there. (Even if it's not a lot of students) and Waldorfschule who is a coplete different system without Grades, till i guess 8th class.
Some chools have lockers, my school got some after I am already there for 7 years xD
Our daughter just started Gymnasium, she has lockers. However they hardly use them, as they need the books at home also. Homework is getting checked depending on teacher, class etc.- some notebooks will get grades after several months. School supplies- this really depends on where you buy them. There are also different qualities. Binders- like people before me I wonder what you're refering to; a folde-like binder? or the piece of cloth? I presume the first? You can get those at the supermarket for 1:59€ or such- actually our gymnasium offered at rhew beginning of the year a package that we could order including all material, and everything combined was less then 30€...
In military school we also had multiple choice tests. But they could be quite difficult - imagine a math equation and all the answers are given quite near the correct result.
In my german school, there are Lockers but u have to buy them😅
I have a locker and when u can use a Locker please use it❤❤