Myths about Germany 🇩🇪 in the United States 🇺🇸 #livingingermany #germanyvsusa #mythbusters

[king_sheogorath]

Where did half of this shit come from, most people in United states barely know what's going on in our country let alone germany

[its_just_seb]

the last one makes me so mad. germany is probably THE country most conscious of their past evils, much more so than, for example, america, england, or japan

[anyone.really]

Germany, Bavaria.
We not only have to visit a concentration camp as part of our coriculum, my school specifically wants us to go there in winter. Because 1. Summer weather doesn't fit the mood of a concentration camp and 2. They wanted us to experience just how bad the living conditions there could become. So yeah, they are pretty serious about this stuff

[lauraakers]

I taught at a German university. My German students knew more about German history between 1935 and 1950 than they knew about everything else in German history combined.

[ellaphx]

The idea of *Americans* thinking that *Germany* fails to teach its own history. Ma'am...

[ada]

"World War Two isn't taught in Germany" Yeah. Like... I think we talked about it in every other grade. And not only in history, we're taught about it in German and in social studies and like everywhere. My finals in history were about it too.

[dag]

"Germany does not teach WW2 in school."

This one triggered me... About half of my history lessons were about that. It was so much, that I learned longer about that topic than the whole fucking war lasted itself...

[louisa]

As an American, it seems crazy to me for someone from America to claim Germany doesn't provide adequate healthcare or education.

[LittyWicky]

As someone who lives in the USA, I’ve never heard anyone say any of these things. Maybe some parts of the USA spread these misconceptions but I don’t really know much anything about it personally. Although I have always wanted to visit Germany, primary to try some of the food and go to the M’era Luna festival. And I am sorry to any Germans that had to bear any of these things, I promise they do not speak on behalf on the rest of us!

[kiwimiwi]

I was in the highest level of education in Germany, but had difficulty and dropped down one level. I absolutely love it here, it's perfect for me and I had no problems switching.
I can finish school and still get the highest level of graduation by either transferring schools again or going to schools specifically for that. no issues whatsoever.

also, none of my history teachers have ever held back on rambling about the World Wars, what kind of a*holes we were and how horrible it was. lots of encouraging to do better and never let this happen again.

[lea]

Intresring Fact: In Bavaria it is mandatory to visit a concentraiton camp in 9th grade. It helps us to understand the importance of our history and why we should do everything to prevent it from happining again. We even talk about German History in our Englisch Clases.

[m.]

Not learning about WWII? Seriously?... literally talking about it every other grade....crying alot (at least i and many in my class did), schools literally inviting contemporary witnesses telling us about how they survived the Holocaust? I got to meet sally perel in 2015 and had the honor to listen to his story because he got invited to my school! I cried and cried. And as she said. Some schools also visit concentration camps.

Do not say that we do not learn about WWII. It seriously gets my blood boiling.

[myrillya]

German teacher-to-be here (for primary schools):
I'd like to clear up a bit about the "4th grade"-stuff. It'll be a long one, so buckle up. :D
I'll be talking a bit deeper about the German school system and the problems scientists have found. I've learned it in university and I'd like to share some insights.

In Germany, school laws are made mostly on a state-level, not on the countries level. Children start their school life with primary school, which takes 4 years in almost every state. After that, the primary school teacher gives a recommendation for each child on which secondary school they should visit. There are multiple options: Hauptschule (lowest level), Realschule (mid level), Gymnasium (highest level, here you can get the Abitur to study at university), Sekundarschule (basically Hauptschule and Realschule put together) and finally Gesamtschule (all school forms mixed together, here you can also get the Abitur if you want). Depending on the state, this recommendation can only be a non-binding recommendation and parents can still choose freely to which school form they send their children to. But in some states, the teacher's decision is mandatory and the children have to do certain tests in order to be able to change to another school than the one recommended.
Keep in mind - children can always switch between schools if they show that their current school level is too easy or too hard for them - that's possible at any time - so this is only about the recommendation after the 4th grade.

They reason, why this rumors might have occurred, is that a lot of German educational scientists are criticizing this system. They have done some studies around these recommendations and found some interesting results:
Even in states where the teachers' recommendation is non-obligatory, parents usually listen to this recommendation. But, because primary school just takes 4 years and the recommendation is actually made at the end of the 3rd grade, teachers don't have a lot of time to evaluate whether it's the right choice to send a child to this specific school - and the children don't have a lot of time to actually show what they're capable of. Additionally, primary teachers never get a feedback whether decision was actually correct, because that takes a lot of time to show up. Furthermore, tests showed that a lot of teachers unfortunately don't make the recommendation based on the children's abilities, but more on the parents educational status. This causes some major social inequalities: Children from poor and more uneducated families need to be better in school to get a recommendation for the highest school level than children from richer and more educated families.
Lastly, it also showed that only a few students actually use the possibility to switch between school levels - most children stay in the school form they were sent to, the ones who change usually just go downwards, and the possibility to go upwards is just rarely used.

These results might've been the reason why Americans believe that after 4 years of school the children's job is determined - because it actually is to some extend.

Depending on which school form you finish, you'll get a certain high school certificate (with some exceptions I won't elaborate on): Hauptschulabschluss (lowest certificate), Realschulabschluss/mittlerer Schulabschluss (mid certificate) and Abitur (highest certificate and the one needed for university). Depending on your certificate, you'll be able to apply for certain jobs. Today, unfortunately, most higher-payed jobs require an Abitur. And here the problem unravels: When a primary school teacher decides on a recommendation for a kid after only 3 years of school, and the parents and other teachers don't question this decision, the child might not grow to their full potential or might be having a hard time in school and therefore get a certain certificate that leads to a certain job.
Yes. That can happen.
But that doesn't mean that it happens all the time.

The German school system does have other ways to get a higher school certificate: on many Berufsschulen (vocational schools) you can work towards an Abitur parallel to your job training. There are evening schools. With some job qualifications you earn a certificate called Fachabitur, which is not the "full" Abitur, but enough to study certain fields (the ones you do your job in) at university. There are so many possibilities.

The German school system needs an overhaul. Most scientists are speaking up against 4 years of primary school, recommending 6 years like most countries in Europe. A lot of them also aren't a fan of the many secondary schools either and just want ONE highschool for all.

So, as a conclusion: NO. German primary school teachers don't determine a job. But they often highly influence a child's future based on a decision made after 3 years in school.

Thanks for everyone who was actually interested in that topic and was reading my little essay here to the end. You're a champ! 💪🏼🥰

[redrhododendron]

I live in the US, and I have never heard of those stereotypes. Mostly, people think Germany is really cool, has bland food, sells beer that is cheaper than water, makes good cars, and some think Germans are really hard workers who have no sense of humor. Also, I think there is a stereotype about Germany and scientists.

I actually spoke to my German teacher about this, and he has confirmed many of these to be true to an extent (though he insisted that German food isn’t bland and that they have A LOT of different bread)

[Horticarter]

We lived in Germany for three years and it was absolutely lovely. We only came home because of the pandemic and since it killed my dad I can't leave my mom again. We lived in this tiny town between Oberhausen and Koblenz. Our village where our house was actually located had a hiking path that ran along the ridge of the ravine overlooking the Rhein. It was like hiking through a freakin' fairytale. Germany has some of the most beautiful countryside on Earth, it's truly breathtaking.

[joze]

A friend of mine went to a Hauptschule, the slowest level of learning without having special needs. He took a bit longer but now he has all basic school degrees and studies economics at a university. You can take the time to make the best out of your life without having to worry about money.

[natsumeyuna]

I barely remember learning anything ELSE but world war II history in my later years of school😅

[Allie]

The thing is Americans think they know so much of the other countries but than they can’t even locate the other continents on a map 😆

[Vesperitis]

I live in Malaysia where our schools' history classes never talk about Germany's involvement in WW2 (heck, we barely talk about Japan, which invaded our country), and even I know that Germany teaches their kids really extensively about their involvement in WW2.

[kaboomsihal]

the school type thing isn't a strict separation either. It's like having your GED in the US and stuff, it's just the different levels of the educational system. And if you graduate from the lowest school type with anything better than abysmal grades you can immediately continue to the next one, no problem at all.