American Reacts to the GERMAN SCHOOL SYSTEM

Thank you for watching me, a humble American, react to the German School System! This was great fun! I want one of those cone things. Thanks for subscribing!

[MarkusFriedel]

"Cause they can drink beer at 18 or what?"
NO, that would be ridiculous! Of course they can drink beer when they are 16

[sirbaxelord]

As a German I can say that you definitely get homework on weekends 😄😅Schools that don't give you homework are special schools
It was soooo funny to watch this video and the reactions😂😂😂

[t.a.yeah.]

The "Schultüte" is a present from the family. I handcrafted (with help) my Schultüte at the kindergarden and my parents filled it with sweets, pencils and such things. I still have mine. :D

[milya]

the time span in which you are in school actually differs from the grade you are in. 1-4 or 6 grade usually is around 8am-1pm as mentioned in the video but the older you get the more lessons you will have and the longer your days will be. i was in a gymnasium where my longest day was in 11th and 12th grade which was from 7:20am-4pm (with one free period). so as i said, it varies depending on your grade.

[LeyCarnifex]

If you're wondering why in German a "Gymnasium" is a school that is meant to prepare you for university and in english it's a place where you work out:
"Gymnasium" comes from the Greek word γυμνάσιον (Gymnásion), which was a place where young men trained both their bodies _and_ minds. English and German ended up focussing on different aspects of that.

[veladarney]

Fun story about Latin: My cousin, who'd only ever learned Latin at school but not a single word of Italian, chose to go with the group that went to Italy for their graduation trip. He got on totally fine with Latin (cos Latin and Italian are so closely related). Also, you might have an easier time learning other Romanic languages (like French or Spanish) when you already know Latin because you can guess the meaning of a lot of words simply from knowing the Latin word.

[olivertripp]

Hey man!
Here is a short comparison of the grades you didn't get.
Basically the grades go from 1 to 6 (first place is always the best, so having 1 as the best isn't that awkward from this perspective...), all marks (except the 6) can have a + or a - for slight tendencies, making 1+ the best and 6 the worst mark.
Now you write down all marks from 1+ to 6 and count down from 15. Every mark gets a definitive number in the last 3 classes of school for the "Abitur" (some things can be said about this but it basically allows you to attend University), this makes it easier to calculate grades, averages, and points for your qualification and so on.
It's basically for making things more transparent but I get your confusion: the shift between two systems is irritating.

classes 1-10: classes 11-13:
1+ 15
1 14
1- 13
2+ 12
2 11
2- 10
3+ 9
3 8
3- 7
4+ 6
4 5
4- 4
5+ 3
5 2
5- 1
6 0

[glomman]

One point I'd like to add, you can always decide to get your Abitur, no matter which form of school you previosuly visited. I know plenty of people who came from Real- and even sometimes Hauptschule to attend the grades 10-12 and get their Abitur at my Gymnasium. It's just a little harder because in Gymnasium you're specifically educated to pass the Abitur, while other school forms don't have to fulfill that need

[modtec]

"Why would you want to learn Latin"
Thats a great question and the answer is pretty easy. Latin is, for the most part, exclusively offered in schools that are geared towards higher education. The thing is: biological and especially medical terminology contains a LOT of Latin. If you want to study medicine in Germany, apart from needing an exceptional GPA, you either have to have had Latin in school OR take a mandatory Latin course additionally to your already very demanding course schedule.
At least this was still true a decade ago.

[DSiato]

The 3 tier system made sense when it was introduced in the late 19th century because you needed workers and craftsmen (Hauptschule). You also needed clerks, administrative employees, secretetaries, etc (Realschule) and finally you need lawyers, doctors, scientists and other academics (Gymnasium).

[timefliesaway]

8:19 if they hated you, they’d rather send you to the Hauptschule, as it’s perceived as the “lowest” secondary school.
Or, well, they’d send you to Gymnasium because it’s the most difficult one

[andieappster]

When they say "toilet" they don't mean the actual bowl (although I'm sure they are old, too) but the "restroom" or "bathroom" in general.
Usually they are pretty run down with broken tiles, old stained faucet - and are being cleaned just once per day, so you can imagine how they look after a couple of hours. Gross.
Nothing the school janitor can fix. They are in desperate need of renovation!

[ide]

There are no restrictions for homework on the weekend. Probably in the „Grundschule“ thats like the first four years of school in Germany

[JohnDoe-xzmw]

the internet problem is not just schools its everywhere, germany has by quite a margin the worste internet infrastructure in europe

[Nadine-qpoh]

Also a very important thing she didn‘t mention is that EVERY teacher has to have a University degree. No matter what class or subject they are teaching (yes, even sports or music class in 1st grade, not even a professional soccer player like Ronaldo could come in and just become a sports teacher if he wanted to). This is mostly (but not only) because they have to learn the educational part aswell. German schools also always have a „trust teacher“ who often doesn‘t even give classes but is just there to support children when they argue with their friends, have issues at home or even with teachers or their mental health. Everyone can go to them at all times and ask for help and they will provide you with solutions or have a word with the teachers if they treat children badly (the child stays anonymous ofc!). Usually you are in a group of 15-30 people who will have all classes together (some schools are different, but most have these strict classes that don‘t usually mix with others). If you feel uncomfortable or just want to change class, you usually can without any issues. Oh and homework on weekends are still given to the children, but not on vacation!

[barbarabenoit]

"How you get those restricions in? Are the kids voting?" Kids in Germany are not voting, but they certainly have rights to get their opinion heard and to get involved in their schools affairs. In most schools there is a "Klassensprecher" elected in every class" - A child voted for by the majority of children, who can voice ideas and complaints of students to the teachers. There also is a "Schülervertretung - SV" elected by all students of the school, whom the headmaster and the teachers will invite to talks about things concerning the students and who will be listened to, if they propose change in school (like a Mensa/Cafeteria for the school). Sometimes this system works very well, sometimes not...
Germany signed something called the "UN Convention on the Rights of the Child" an international contract signed by almost every country in the world - except the USA... This contract has to be reflected in German law and government. That is why children in Germany have a right to playtime: Article 31 "All children have a right to relax and play, and to join in a wide range of activities." In order to achieve this: No homework on weekends. And yes, children are asked their opinions and are given opportunities to lobby for their interests: Article 12: "Children have the right to say what they think should happen, when adults are making decisions that affect them, and to have their opinions taken into account."

[rdhr_m]

I’m from bavaria and here (like in other states) the recommendation is kinda binding based on your performance in elementary school. So basically how you perform on exams from the ages of 6 to 9 will determine the school you go to and even if you are gonna be able to study at a university. The students with the worst grades will only be able to go to the Hauptschule. These students are usually not able to work in high paying jobs or in the academic field. If your grades are average you can go to the former or to the Realschule after wich you could go on and further you education at the gymnasium or fachoberschule and also achieve an abitur which allows you to go to university. If your grades in elementary school are above average or just very good, you are able to also go to gymnasium which goes by the normal grading system up to grade 10. In grades 11-12/13 you are rated in points rather then grades. At the end of your final year you take the big exams (Abitur Prüfungen) and if you pass those you get your Abitur. The grade you get in it will determine if you can go on and which courses you can study in university since some courses have high requirements. For example, if you want to study medicine in order to become a doctor you’ll need a score of a 1, 0 in the Abitur which is basically the best score you could achieve

[wora]

"How do the kids get all these rights?" We give the rights to them so they can develop into happy adults, used to and trained in thinking for themselves.

[silviaoster]

This school cone is also called sugar cone, is made by parents. Either in kindergarten or you buy them with the school bag. They are filled by parents, grandparents and godparents. With sweets and other small things for school

[ani]

3:20 Until 10th grade, the 1 - 6 grading system is in place, where 1 is the best grade and 6 is the worst. Sometimes, the teacher will add a + or - to indicate, if it was a close call for a better or worse grade and indicate tendency of your performance. These tendencies don't show up on your report card, though and are purely for your personal information on your performance, though. From 11th grade on to your graduation, the tendencies actually do count and the system therefore changes. You now get 0 to 15 points instead of grades with 15 being the best result, equivalent to a 1+:

15 = 1+
14 = 1
13 = 1-

12 = 2+
11 = 2
10 = 2-

9 = 3+
8 = 3
7 = 3-

6 = 4+
5 = 4
4 = 4-

3 = 5+
2 = 5
1 = 5-

0 = 6