About kkrahmer

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Some Forum Posts:

Germany: Bayreuth-Schloss Thiergarten International School:

I wanted to give a review for this international school in the Bayreuth area. (Wolfsbach) This school in our opinion is not really an international school. This school is mostly a school where German natives send their kids to school because it offers an English class. The school was advertised to us as German and English being spoken simultaneously in each class. This is not true at all. 95% of the language spoken is German. Our daughter is the only student in the entire school not fluent in German. She gets a quick 5 sentence summary of what is going on. Also our daughter takes 4 hours of an English class per week. Yes, English! The German language support at this school is horrible. Our daughter will maybe if she is lucky get one hour per week of a private German lesson. The lessons are not very effective either because she is learning a bunch of nouns, but not any sort of sentence structure etc.. Because of the school being mostly German natives, our daughter feels lonely at this school. Many of the German kids will not speak English. It is entirely up to our daughter to learn German and learn it fast in order to communicate at this school and make friends. I am in a language course with people from all over the world and all who have children. I have found through talking with these parents that there is actually a better support system at the local public schools for non German speaking people then there is at this school that we are paying for. In my opinion, save your money and don't consider this school.

Germany: English speaking children in German public School:

Hi, we just moved to the Bayreuth area in August. We have a 9 year old who is in the 3rd grade. She is attending an international school. But, sadly what was promised at this school is not what is actually happening. We were told both English and German were spoken during each class to ensure a good transition and also that there is a great system in place for German learning support. 90% of my child's classes are spoken in German. She maybe gets a two sentence summary of what is going on in English. There has been little private German lessons in order for her to catch up. Despite this hard transition she is doing ok. She can read and hear German quite well and has a great understanding. Speaking and writing, not so much. She is shy and with out a decent knowledge right now she can't form sentences very well and communicate with her peers. Also, these German kids she goes to school with know English. They are learning English at the school, but outside of class...they don't speak it. :) Our daughter feels a little bit lonely at school with the language barrier and at times frustrated with teachers who insist she understands what is being spoken. Right now I am going to a language school with many parents from all over the world. Their kids range in ages. The young ones going to pre-schools and kindergartens are having no troubles. The older ones are also having a hard time adjusting and at times are lonely. But I was very surprised to learn the amount of private tutoring in the German language these kids are getting at the public schools. It is much better than this private school we are paying for out of our pockets. I don't have all the answers but I at least want to advise you that not all international schools are what they promise to be and that there may be better help at the local schools. Good luck to you and I would love to hear how your kids transition!!

Date Joined:

1/5/2015

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