35 hour/week (not 70+): Minimum 24 paid vacation days (not 2-10); 14 Months Maternity leave (not 1- 8 weeks)

Danke, Jesse.  Ich lade gern diesen Artikel hier auf!  Perfekt! -rsb

Why Germans Work Fewer Hours But Produce More: A Study In Culture

437When many Americans think of Germany, images of WWII soldiers and Hitler often come to mind. But what many people don’t realize is that Germany is the industrial powerhouse of Europe, and is a leading manufacturer of goods for export to developing Asian nations. We don’t hear about the superiority of German engineering in Volkswagen commercials for nothing!

The economic engine of the EU, Germany single-handedly saved the Eurozone from collapse in 2012. At the same time, German workers enjoy unparalleled worker protections and shorter working hours than most of their global counterparts. How can a country that works an average of 35 hours per week (with an average 24 paid vacation days to boot) maintain such a high level of productivity?

Working Hours Mean Working Hours

In German business culture, when an employee is at work, they should not be doing anything other than their work. Facebook, office gossip with co-workers, trolling Reddit for hours, and pulling up a fake spreadsheet when your boss walks by are socially unacceptable behaviors. Obviously, in the United States these behaviors are frowned up on by management. But in Germany, there is zero tolerance among peers for such frivolous activities.

In the BBC documentary “Make Me A German“,  a young German woman explained her culture shock while on a working exchange to the UK.

“I was in England for an exchange… I was in the office and the people are talking all the time about their private things… ‘What’s the plan for tonight?’, and all the time drinking coffee…”

She was quite surprised by the casual nature of British workers. Upon further discussion, the Germans reveal that Facebook is not allowed in the office whatsoever, and no private email is permitted.

Goal-Oriented, Direct Communication Is Valued

German business culture is one of intense focus and direct communication. While Americans tend to value small talk and maintaining an upbeat atmosphere, Germans rarely beat around the bush. German workers will directly speak to a manager about performance reviews, launch into a business meeting without any ‘icebreakers’, and use commanding language without softening the directives with polite phrases.Whereas an American would say, “It would be great if you could get this to me by 3pm,” a German would say, “I need this by 3pm”.

When a German is at work, they are focused and diligent, which in turn leads to higher productivity in a shorter period of time.

Germans Have a Life Outside Work

Germans work hard and play hard. Since the working day is focused on delivering efficient
productivity, the off hours are truly off hours. Because of the focused atmosphere and formal environment of German businesses, employees don’t necessarily hang out together after work. Germans generally value a separation between private life and working life.

The German government is currently considering a ban on work-related emails after 6pm, to counter the accessibility that smartphones and constant connectivity give employers to their employees. Can you imagine President Obama enacting such a policy in the United States?

To occupy their plentiful Freizeit, most Germans are involved in Verein (clubs); regularly meeting others with shared interests in their community. Common interests in Germany include Sportvereine (sports clubs), Gesangvereine (choirs or singing clubs), Musikvereine (music clubs), Wandervereine (hiking clubs), Tierzuchtvereine (animal breeding clubs – generally rabbits/pigeons) and collectors’ clubs of all stripes. Even the smallest village in Germany will have several active Vereinen to accommodate residents’ interests. Rather than settling in for a night of TV after work, most Germans socialize with others in their community and cultivate themselves as people.

Germans also enjoy a high number of paid vacation days, with many salaried employees receiving 25-30 paid days (the law requires 20). Extended holidays mean families can enjoy up to a month together, renting an apartment by the seaside or taking a long trip to a new, exciting city.

Business Respects Parenthood

Germany’s system of Elternzeit (“parent time” or parental leave) is the stuff of fantasy for most working Americans. The United States does not currently have laws requiring maternity leave, while Germany has some of the most extensive parental protection policies in the developed world.

[The downside of these maternity leave benefits is that employers may avoid hiring women (with the fear that they will take advantage of the extensive benefits), and German boardrooms are consistently male-dominated at a higher rate than other developed nations, although the government is working to eradicate this trend. The financial benefits of staying home (from both Elternzeit and Elterngeld or parents’ money programs) are often too good to pass up for German mothers, and can lead to stagnant or non-existent careers.]

Since “at will” employment does not exist in Germany, all employees have contracts with their employer. Parents who have been gainfully employed for the previous 12 months are eligible for Elternzeit benefits, which include up to three years of unpaid leave with a “sleeping” contract. The employee is eligible to work part-time up to 30 hours while on leave, and must be offered full-time employment at the conclusion of the parental leave.

Parents may also choose to postpone up to one year of their leave until the child’s 8th birthday.  

Either parent is eligible for parental leave, and many couples make the choice based on financial considerations.

In addition to the preservation of the employee’s contract, the state will pay up 67% of the employee’s salary (with a cap of 1800 Euros per month) for 14 months. Parents may split the 14 months however they choose. These benefits apply equally to same-sex couples.

Have you picked your jaw up off the floor yet?

Comments:  Some of the formality of the work place is language-related.  People address their co-workers formally, which can be very direct.  

Furthermore, with considerably more free time, German citizens have time to plan extensive vacations and actively participate in their communities, such as organizing Karneval dance teams and parades.

URI's IEP ist SUPER!

My name is Katie Topp and I have been studying Anthropology and German at the University of Rhode Island. I have just got home from a year abroad in Germany as a guest student of the International Engineering Program (IEP). I would love to visit your junior level and possibly the senior level classes to speak briefly to your students about the great opportunities this program provides.

The following link is to the IEP website: http://www.uri.edu/iep/. In brief, the IEP is a 5 year, dual degree program during which the student studies a language of choice (Chinese, Spanish, French, German, Italian) in conjunction with an engineering discipline.

In the fourth year of study, the student spends the year abroad- the first six months are spent studying at a partner university, the following six months are spent doing an internship with a reputable company in your language of choice.

For the seniors, I would like to meet before December first, since that is the application due date for engineers at URI. For the juniors, Spring semester would be easier for everyone.

We would love to show the amazing students of North Kingstown the opportunities that the IEP program can give to them.

Please share this email with whom you believe may be interested in my visit, as I would like to tell as many students as possible about the IEP!

Thank you and best regards,

Katie Topp

North Kingstown Resident and Student of URI

October Deadline for FREE TRIP TO GERMANY! STEM-Interest? PLEASE APPLY!

Discover a new Path: Explore Germany

The Goethe-Institut invites high school students who are interested in science to discover Germany! Twelve talented young scientists will have the opportunity to travel to Germany from November 28 - December 7, 2014 and learn what it has to offer.

This trip is an all-expenses paid trip for the winning students.

You will experience Berlin, Braunschweig and Cologne. However, you will not only see interesting cities, but you will explore research institutions in the fields of Geoscience, Bionics, and Aerospace. A visit to a technical museum and a tour of the Volkswagen factory are also a part of the program. Furthermore, you will meet your German peers and experience life as a student in a German school.

Of course, there will still be time for sightseeing and a stroll through the Christmas market.

You will find details in the  preliminary program.

If you are interested in participating, please apply tokatja.fullard@chicago.goethe.org.

Your application must include

• a short biography – we want to know who you are
• a statement explaining why you would like to travel to Germany and what you expect from the trip
• a description of your research project
• a letter of recommendation from your teacher
• the permission of your parents

Requirements for Participation: You must be a high school student and be between the ages of 16 – 18. Also, you must have worked on a STEM project and/or have participated in a high school science fair. It is not necessary that you speak German, but if you do, please let us know!

The application deadline is October 15, 2014; all winners will be notified via email by October 24, 2014.

This project is made possible by the generous support of the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany. The students will be accompanied in Germany by Volker Langeheine, who organized this part of the trip.

German is 4-U

How many times have you seen this film?



I get a kick out of it each time I watch it!

Was hast du davon heute gelernt?

NOVA: Escape from Nazi Alcatraz : Burg Colditz

Select WGBH as your PBS channel, and tune into a memorable reenactment


HIER IST DER GANZ INTERESSANTER FILM  über Burg Colditz

http://video.pbs.org/video/2365245626/

At Colditz, there was one guard for every prisoner.
,,Für Sie, der Krieg ist vorbei."

-- The English boarding school situation will have prepared them all for escaping prison.


Somehow, I am especially enamored of the hand-built waddling ducks shown in the final frames.

Pres. Guy: MA Am. Assoc. of Teachers of German --

-- addresses URI's  Dual Degree German - Engineering (or German Int'l Business) Program! 

A Message from our President:

The last years haven’t been very easy, not for the U.S. economy or political progress, not for the European Union and its own immense economic challenges, not for the Middle East, and certainly not for educators.  Language educators can’t claim to be working on problems of the same magnitude, but they face a bewildering range of challenges on many fronts: blame for the underachievement of students, pressing calls from all sides for reform, open hostility to teacher unions, university administrations bent on curriculum redesign that may or may not include our discipline, a deluge of ever-changing technology that offers both pleasure and pain, the constant struggle to attract and retain students, and the strange administrative mindset that learning a foreign language somehow isn’t that important.  That message was underscored by the Massachusetts Board of Education in its refusal to update guidelines for foreign language study and set a deadline for MCAS exams in languages.

But we know better.  In a global community and a global economy, knowledge of other languages and cultures becomes an essential strategic skill.  Many high schools now offer an international concentration that substantiates advanced work in foreign language, history and culture, along with foreign study or service work. 

Our students know better, and often they seek out colleges that meet their interest in doing advanced work in their language of choice.  Others with specific professional goals can look for and find degree programs that combine language study with training in engineering, international business, diplomacy, and know their skill sets will far exceed those of other graduates. 

As German teachers, we know the Cold War may be long gone, but the importance of German in the international economic context has never been greater.  Germany has become the unquestioned epicenter of the European Union power structure, and its leadership exercises immense influence.  Germany remains the leading economy in the EU and maintains one of the lowest unemployment rates anywhere.  Germany continues to welcome immigrants, many of whom now arrive with advanced degrees and training from other European nations, eager to learn the language and find the work their native countries cannot provide.  We know that Germany remains one of America’s most important trade partners. German companies in the U.S. employ over half a million workers, and they love it when their employees can also speak German.

 

Last spring I met two students about to graduate from the University of Rhode Island’s international engineering program.  These two young men were in love with automotive engineering and in love with German.  As part of their regular program of study they spent a fall semester at the Technische Universität Braunschweig, deepening and extending their professional automotive knowledge in their second language.  Then they spent the spring semester in internships.  One of them ended up road testing new model automobiles on the Autobahn, driving night and day and under various weather conditions.  The other ended up at the BMW testing facility outside München, testing next year’s models on the BMW track and giving performance reports to the engineering team.  Both of them ended up with full-time job offers in Germany, as did about 99%+ of the graduates of this program.  These two represent the coming multinational workforce, prepared and ready to work in their field in more than one language and more than one culture.

We as teachers are learning to adjust our teaching to the changing needs of our clientele.  The revised AP German Language and Culture exam has been reconfigured to focus on topic-driven authentic materials and the demonstration of more real world active skills.  Universities recognize that cultural studies may be just as important to students as the traditional strands in literature and linguistics, and that professional applications of language skills, internships and foreign study programs appeal to a growing segment of the student population.  Change keeps coming, and that change challenges us to innovate and grow.

 

Teachers of German in Massachusetts keep finding ways to switch up their approach to language teaching, to make their discipline more relevant to learners, to find ways to collaborate with colleagues in their own and other disciplines. The presentations of German teachers, both secondary and post-secondary, at conferences like MaFLA, ACTFL, MLA and elsewhere give ample evidence of that work.  We enjoy the active support of the Goethe-Institut Boston, its active cultural program, its language courses, and its DVD lending library. We get assistance from the consulates of the Federal Republic of Germany, Switzerland and Austria and their culture centers, and appreciate their active support of our mission to keep German alive and well in our schools.  To our dismay, we still get reports of Massachusetts schools and colleges deciding to shut down their German programs, but that only makes AATG redouble its efforts to strengthen German studies in the state.  If you sense danger for your program, don’t wait---let MA-AATG know early so we can help you respond effectively.  Renew your AATG membership, attend AATG events and see how you can get more connected and involved with your partners-in-arms. 

J. Douglas Guy

President, Massachusetts Chapter, AATG