As part of a mini-project, six students from the BVJ-Sprache created short articles in which they report on hopes, surprises and challenges during their first time in Germany.
My name is Amjad and I’ve been in Germany for two years. I came here with my family. I am 18 years old and come from Syria.
Everything was new to me at the beginning. I didn’t speak the language well. Everything was difficult. But I learned a lot. Now I speak German better. I go to school. I want to do an apprenticeship later. I have made friends. We often speak German. That’s good for me.
I live in a small town called Rheinbrohl. I like that. I often see people in the supermarket or in the park. Many people are friendly. I missed my family and friends in Syria. But now I feel better. Germany has also become my home.
My name is Mohammad. I’ve been in Germany for a year and a half. My home country is Syria. I live in Neuwied in a shared flat. My flatmates are also from Syria and we communicate in Arabic. We often cook Syrian dishes, but I still can’t cook like my mother. I miss many dishes that I can’t cook myself. I am currently a language student and soon I will have a B1 exam. The German language is difficult, but you have to learn German to understand people and integrate into society.
My best experience was when I tried the train for the first time. I was surprised about the waste separation: in Germany you have to separate the waste, but in Syria nobody separates the waste. I also didn’t understand the weather. It feels like it rains all year round. I’m still new to Germany and I need a lot of time to learn everything.
My name is Satar, I’ve been in Germany for a year and I’m from Afghanistan. I live in Neuwied. I often go to the gym in my free time. I enjoy it and it helps me to stay healthy.
During my first year in Germany, I missed my family a lot and the food. Iranian food tastes very different here. My best experience was a trip to Munich with my language school. The language was very difficult at the beginning. I didn’t understand many words, especially when I went shopping or to the doctor. Forms and letters were also difficult. I was surprised that many things are different in Germany. For example, I am allowed to go to school and do an apprenticeship. The buses are also usually on time.
I learned a lot of new things during my first year in Germany. I not only learned German, but also how to live alone, and I found new joy.
My name is Muhannad. I come from Syria, from the city of Homs. I am 16 years old and will be 17 in two months. I have been in Germany for a year and a half. Germany is a beautiful country, but I miss my siblings who are in Turkey. I live in Neuwied. Neuwied is a small town, but it’s beautiful. I go to school in this town. I attend the BVJ-S class there and I really enjoy it. The hardest thing for me in Germany was the language, but now I can almost speak at B1 level.
I was surprised that everyone in Germany has the same rights. It was different in Turkey. I had the feeling that foreigners there didn’t have the same rights – especially at school. I learned a lot of new things during my first year in Germany. One of them was waste separation. I can speak Arabic and Turkish fluently and have a basic knowledge of English. I’m currently learning German.
My hobbies are playing soccer, reading manga and watching anime. I don’t want to do anything special this summer vacation – I want to stay at home and watch anime.
I would love to have a pet. Unfortunately, I don’t have one at the moment. If I had a pet, it would be a cat. Next school year I would like to go to the BVJ if I pass the B1 exam this year.
My name is Maksim and I am 17 years old. I came to Germany 3.5 years ago. I originally come from Mariupol in Ukraine.
I came to Germany because my country is going through difficult times.
During my first year in Germany, I missed my cat very much. I like the nature in Germany. However, I also have some bad memories: I got scared of snakes and spiders several times during my internship as a forester. I found it difficult to learn a new language at first, as I was doing distance learning in Ukraine at the same time.
What else was difficult for me? Once I wanted to buy crab chips and found out that it was difficult to get them. This fact made me very sad.
My name is Roman and I come from Ukraine, but now I live in Germany. I am almost eighteen years old. In 2022, the first year of my life in Germany, communication was difficult. I couldn’t talk to my classmates. I missed my city because I had a cat there.
I was surprised that many things are different in Germany, but here I learned to be more open-minded and here I learned discipline. My best experience was my first visit to the zoo. I saw a black bear there for the first time.