With a lively mix of personal stories, podcasts, learning material, entertaining games and useful information, this web portal provides helpful information about living and working in Germany, including important information about how to contact administrative offices and counselling services. It also features plenty of German-learning exercises for levels A1 through B2.
By Regina Grasberger
The portal now provides information in 30 different languages on a wide range of questions regarding immigrant life in Germany. It is mainly for people from non-EU countries who’ve come to Germany for professional or personal reasons. But it also helps prepare people who are planning to immigrate to Germany. Since 2013, the portal has been an essential component of various pre-integration and inital integration projects co-funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF).
First-hand accounts of working life in Germany
On the podcast “Ankommen in der Berufswelt” (“Welcome to the Working World”), immigrants talk about working in Germany. Over the course of five episodes, they share their stories of working as a car mechanic, doctor, entrepreneur, language teacher or carpenter in Germany. They recount how they got where they are, what it took to make it, and what their everyday working lives are like.
On the vlog “Einen Schritt voraus” (“One Step Ahead”, for levels B1 and up), immigrants from various countries share their stories of getting started in Germany over the course of 30 episodes. Their first-hand accounts of the ups and downs of making it to – and in – Germany, from obtaining a visa to entering working life, as well as some very personal experiences.
In addition to information about various aspects of work, the web portal includes infographics about obtaining official recognition of educational qualifications and about professional training in Germany. They provide an overview of the processes involved and useful contacts in 15 different languages.
Serious games about working life
“Der Superhelden-Campus – Eine Ausbildung. Ein Auftrag. Ein Superheld” (“The Superhero Campus: A Traineeship, A Mission, A Superhero”) (level A2) is a game about training in understaffed professions in Germany, including mechatronics, woodworking and metalworking. In the game “Undercover-Mission im Krankenhaus” (“Undercover Mission in a Hospital”) (level B2), a nurse’s workaday life is embedded in a detective story.
Both games use a playful approach to introduce gamers to what’s it like to work in various professions, along with some of the corresponding German technical vocabulary.
The portal also features a series of “Training für den Beruf” (“German for Professional Purposes”) exercises. The module “Arbeitssuche in Deutschland” (“Job-hunting in Germany”) (level B1) explains how to reply to a job ad, how to put together an application that clearly and convincingly represents one’s skills and experience, and how to prepare for and succeed at a job interview. The module “Kommunikation im Unternehmen” (“Communication in the Workplace”) (B1) is about professional oral and written communication in everyday working life, including e-mails, reports and presentations. In addition “Zufriedenheit am Arbeitsplatz” (“Job Satisfaction”) (B2) focuses on work-life balance, continuing education, and dealing with on-the-job conflicts.
Navigating the wide array of integration services available in Germany can be a daunting and confusing ordeal for newcomers, so the web portal provides a number of helpful tools. For starters, there’s an interactive map that newcomers can use to find out about integration courses, counselling centres, registration offices and Welcome Centers located nearby. The portal also presents Migrant Organizations and online counselling services, as well as services to help foreigners cope with any discrimination they’ve experienced here. If you can’t find an answer to your question on the portal, use the online form to submit an enquiry and you’ll receive an answer from a professional counsellor. Over a thousand seven hundred enquiries were answered this way in 2022.
“For Teachers”
This section of the portal provides plentiful material for use in the classroom: transcripts of all the videos, teaching aids, outlines of lessons with worksheets, scavenger hunts to acquaint learners with the Mein Weg nach Deutschland portal and a great deal more.
With 800,000 visits a year, Mein Weg nach Deutschland is one of the Goethe-Institut’s most popular websites. And its abundance of helpful material is continually expanding.
