In the summer of 2015, thousands of refugees began arriving in German on a daily basis. In Germany, the existing conditions for receiving refugees are better than in many other countries. It has thus become an important destination for those seeking refuge – they hope to find work and peace in Europe’s leading economy.
Volunteers have become the largely responsible for supporting the refugees and helping them adjust to life in Germany. The German Department at NYU Berlin decided to offer assistance by focusing on how it can best contribute – in teaching German. NYU Berlin thus initiated the project “German as a Foreign Language – Coaching for Voluntary Helpers” which offers training seminars to coach voluntary language instructors in teaching German as a foreign language.
Gabriella Etmektsoglou, NYU Berlin Site Director, has this to say about the program:
In a span of just a year, Germany became the ‘safe heaven’ of roughly 1 million refugees, mostly Syrians who escaped an apocalyptic civil conflict with complex international dimensions. Some 4,000 displaced persons (Geflüchtete, is the more neutral term in German) continue to arrive daily, and no end to the war is in sight. Germans and refugees struggle – mostly in solidarity – to come to terms with the immediate challenges of shelter services as well as the prospect of a shared future. Hundreds of thousands of mostly traumatized people are in a county whose language and culture is unfamiliar. Finding words to narrate stories of agony, death, and fear in a foreign language, is an added stress. In the early summer of 2015, the NYU Berlin community reached out to refugee welcome centers to offer assistance and has since established a close partnership with the Unionhilfswerk. Staff, instructors, and students have participated in a number of initiatives.One long term project focuses on training volunteers who teach German language in welcome centers. We believe that language acquisition will greatly facilitate communication and the co-creation of a more diverse society in Germany. Our community is committed to remaining actively involved in this process in the years to come.
One of the German volunteers who received training at NYU Berlin, Hans Komorowski, reflects on the experience. Hans is a volunteer with the organization UNIONHILFSWERK, currently working in the refugee camp on Konrad-Wolf- Straße, Berlin-Lichtenberg. [His article has been translated from the original German.]
Learning How to Teach
In New York University Berlin’s workshop “German as a Foreign Language”, volunteers learn that foreign language instruction is about far more than language acquisition alone.
At present, many individuals are arriving in Europe, particularly in Germany, in the hopes of refuge – refuge and shelter from war, terror or poverty in their native countries. In order to assist these individuals in successfully establishing their new lives in and integrating into our society, it is essential that they be offered the opportunity to learn the German language. Those seeking refuge know this just as well as the volunteers from UNIONHILFSWERK. And thus, voluntary initiatives are formed which offer German language courses and tutoring at UNIONHILFSWERK-run refugee shelters to supplement the educational services offered by the state.
After hearing about the Volunteer Management at UNIONHILFSWERK from a training mentor who also works at the university, New York University Berlin (NYU Berlin) made a donation of 100 dictionaries, as well as a special offer: a three-part workshop for volunteers with the motto “Teaching German – How does it Work?”. Before the language instructors at NYU Berlin began offering tips and demonstrating teaching methods, they incited a change of perspective on the part of the participants: they initiated the workshop with a dialogue in Korean. Suddenly, the participants found themselves in the shoes of those who cannot understand one word of the language on which they nevertheless must rely. This experiment was not only a good precursor to the many hands-on activities to follow, but also sensitized the participants to the situation faced by those who learn German and are trying to cope with everyday life in a new country without any previous knowledge of the language.
The participants quickly realized that teaching German as a foreign language is only possible with much patience and intercultural sensitivity, as well as through a playful approach and the active inclusion of the learners. Through their competence and delightful, lively engagement, the NYU Berlin instructors succeeded in easing the participants’ concerns in the face of this great task and in helping them to discover their own individual talents and resources. Moreover, the participants learned how to foster the flexibility in their lessons which is ultimately far more valuable to those seeking refuge as mere language acquisition alone. As German instructors, the volunteers at UNIONHILFSWERK are not seldom the first intensive social contact to the individuals who are just as characterized by their experiences of having fled as by their curiosity for their new start here in Germany, who have a lot to learn but, more than anything, have a lot to offer. NYU Berlin will continue to offer this coaching to engaged volunteers at UNIONHILFSWERK in 2016 and warmly welcomes all refugees with previous German skills (A2/B1) to join.
– Hans Komorowski, Berlin