I live in a small, quaint old town in north-west Germany, and every day I attend four hours of German and integration lessons. I attend because I am an immigrant: I am South African, and moved to Germany three months ago, along with my German husband and our children.
OK. And..?
I learn alongside refugees, mainly from Syria and Ukraine, as well as other “regular immigrants” like me, from non-EU countries (the federal government covers the course fees for jobseekers, asylum seekers, and refugees, (Ed: pretty sure it's the German taxpayer that cover it...) while immigrants from non-EU countries must pay). Failure to pass the language test or complete the integration course can result in difficulties in extending temporary residence permits, obtaining permanent residency or German citizenship, and in some cases, can have financial consequences, such as fines or a reduction in social benefits.
Are you worried you won't pass then?
Our headmistress recently told our class: “Racism is everywhere and Germans are racist, too. If someone hears you’ve been here for nine years and you still haven’t learned the language, you have no chance!”
Which is quite right, too. Why are you throwing a hissy fit about it?
Policing all land borders will come with racial profiling and potential human rights violations. How does this sit with German values and culture, which include a strong commitment to human rights, justice and solidarity? Can the German government truly not find more effective ways to harness the country’s collective knowledge and expertise to address the root causes of irregular immigration? To agree on a European solution rather than turning desperate people away?
'Irregular immigration' - is that a euphremism?
When I retired and moved to France I had studied the language for five or six years. Once here I found that I could make myself understood by [most of] the natives, but could not understand their responses. It was not until I had a French Lady-Friend that my understanding accelerated considerably. It was by listening and copying her intonation and [mostly] the conjugation of the verbs thst my ears were hearing the same string of words, but my brain interpreting them that made all the difference.
ReplyDeleteThis woman is married to a German. Surely if they had long conversations in the German language she would not need any extra lessions.
Her hubby obviously is the silent type or he married her for a different kind of intercourse ;) ;)
DeleteJon - "Irregular Immigation" was a term I first heard from Yvette Cooper a couple of months ago.
ReplyDeleteI blogged a number of years ago about multiculturalism and the lack of expectation by UK society for immigrants to speak the language. Back in the Eighties I had a Pakistani neighbour who had been in the UK for 20 years but had not learned the language. He was able to live, work and pray completely apart from British society. We wonder why children of immigrants turn to extremism: it's because they are apart from the rest of society and it's privileges and also apart from the connection to their original homeland. They become isolated and vulnerable. There needs to be an expectation that they will integrate once here to be able to become part of UK society so to be able to benefit from it. It's not racist to expect that. The intolerance on their part that prevents them from integrating should be stamped out.
ReplyDeleteJH: In one, Mark.
Delete