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How to chose the school

Sílvia Martín Martí

Hello, we are a family with 2 childrens (7 and 5 years old) who are planning to in Germany, near to Dusseldorf (we didn’t know yet where we will life exactly) during 2 years for work; so, do you recomend a public school in germany or for 2 years may be will be better to go in a international school or for example in the liceo? We are from Spain, near to Barcelona but living in a town.

Thank you!

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Student life in GermanyStudy in GermanyUniversities in BerlinStudy in MunichRequirements to study in Germany
TominStuttgart

I see no reason not to send the kids to a public school. They are good and free. But they will have to learn German; so best to teach them as much as possible beforehand.  Most private international schools cost around 10 to 15 thousand euros a year for one child. They are not academically better and some instruct primarily in English but none in Spanish that I know of. If they offer Spanish it is as a foreign language, not as the language of instruction. Unless they already speak fluent English then I don’t see the sense in making them learn English instead of German while in Germany.
This is how it works at the International School of Düsseldorf or ISD which I found in the internet. They do have special after school courses for s to maintain their mother tongue including Spanish and Catalan. This school sounds interesting but I didn’t find any mention of cost – although they claim to be a non-profit. But even such a non-profit has to fund itself through tuition rather than public money.

Here is a link to their site:

The only other International school I find in Düsseldorf is the International School on the Rhine or IRS. They have English and German instruction but also courses in Spanish. They also show no prices but are also a non-profit. One is supposed to fill out a questionnaire and then they say the price, so I assume they make it conditional on one’s income. I am including a link to their site and an overview about them on another site, which also reviews the ISD school.

tobiasjones86

I agree with Tom :) if they can speak a little bit german, a public school is perfect. And children in such a young age will get better in the german language easily.

Sílvia Martín Martí

Thank you for your messages. In my case my childrens didn’t know the german, and the english level now is too low, so I could imagine that it will cause the “same” efect to start the school in german than in english; and taking in to account your suggestions the public school is a good choice. The main problem for us is to understand the whole things in germany from the school 😅. Did you arrive in Germany with a goog level of german?

FromMow

Hi! I'm exploring this topic myself as I have 5 yo who had language delay so we decided not to introduce him
to foreign languages from the young age. Now it's about time and I can't choose between English and German.

I read that if child doesn't speak german, most likely they will have to repeat a year in german public school. And schools - 1st grade - there start from 6 yo, so your older one can be impacted.
If you are not planning to stay in germany after 2 years and can afford this, maybe international school will be a better and more relaxed option for older one, and public german kindergarden and school for 5 yo as he will have time to pick up German.

jackttn

ur welcome,
firstly,i'm thank u for ur topic,and i'm glad to know about  study system in germany for kids to have good chance to learn langage.