GERMAN HIGH SCHOOL CULTURE SHOCK PART 2

HEY! since y'all showed so much love on my last video I decided to make a part 2! I love making these comparison videos but I'm also thinking about doing some vlogs? let me know down below which you prefer :) thank you for watching!

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I hope you enjoyed and thanks again for watching!
- Caroline Ruby

[petergeyer]

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.

[crappiefisher]

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... ;)

[meikaneki]

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

[stefans]

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.

[radicalphil]

I always wanted to know how Americans are able to learn at home when they have their books at the locker.

[marie-antoinettevonseggern]

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.

[wildwaters]

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

[mari.libiii]

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.

[Junjiii]

In my country (Israel) we actually call multiple choice questions “American questions” and we have just a little section of them in our tests😅

[mikehawk]

Normally I thought people scammed foreigners through high taxi prices for example, but binders for 30€ must be a new trick in the book 😂

[tawneycarter]

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.

[martinguandjienchan]

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...

[TomsDoItYourself]

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!

[_melanie_]

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.

[lola.lola.]

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.

[Lina-qelc]

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)

[sd]

I live in Berlin and we have locker’s at my gymnasium

[noybdi]

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

[quwer]

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.

[mikecarmichael]

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