I have been in the United States since the 5th of August and have been attending Berrien Springs High School located in Michigan. During the year I noticed many differences between the American and the German schools and also that a lot of people don't really know about these. That gave me the incentive to write about it.
German students have 12 or 13 years of school depending on the state. After primary school there are three "kinds of high school" you can attend. When you seek college or university degrees and don't need a lot of help with school work you will attend the gymnasium, while the realschule is for average students entering white-collar jobs, and the hauptschule has vocational training for those who need more support during learning. Only the Gesamtschule can be visited from everybody but even there will be seperations for some classes. Every state has his own school system. But in generally you have only required classes and get only a few choices. You start learning a second language, English, in first or third grade. When you visit the Gymnasium you are required to learn a third language for 5 years, starting in 6th grade. You usually have the choice between Latin, French and Spanish. Your schedule is different everyday but the same every week. So you would have the same schedule each Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. How many hours you have each day is also depending on the weekday. Generally you have 6 hours of school , which 20 minutes breaks after 2nd and 4th hour. Even when you have 8th hours most students would eat lunch at home or get something from a near cafe or restaurant, because not every school has a cafeteria with lunch.
Main rules in German schools are no weapons, no drugs and no alcohol. Nearly every school does not have a dress code.
Only about 10 to 15 percent of the students join clubs from their school, when they even exist. A lot of kids start playing sports at a young age of 6 at a club and stay with this sport while they are attending school. Mainly because of that there is not really school spirit in German schools because there are also no teams you can be proud of or cheer for. Without the time you spend in the class room to learn there is only a small amount of time of other interaction with the school.
American students have 12 years of school, technically 13 years because of Kindergarden one year before 1st grade. School splits in 3 parts Elementary School , Kindergarden through 5th Grade, Middle School ,6th through 8th Grade,and High School ,9th through 12th Grade. Students in these grades are called freshmen (grade 9), sophomores (grade 10), juniors (grade 11) and seniors (grade 12). At the high school level students are required to take a certain mandatory subjects, but they can also choose additional subjects, electives, to fill out their required classes. Each state has different requirements for how many semester which mandatory subjects are required, but generally it is 2-4 years of Science, Mathematics, English, Social sciences, Physical Education ( Gym class), you must take two years of a foriegn langue, some form of art and health. You can also "test out" of classes. For example when your are able to speak fluent Spanish you can test out of the two required years of a second language and you don't have to take any foreign language. Your schedule is the same for every day. Depending on the high school you have for example 48 minutes classes, 5 minutes to pass and then you have lunch around your 4th and 5th hour for 30 minutes. For lunch , schools have cafeterias where everybody can get lunch or can bring their own lunch from home.
In many schools you will find strict rules with specific consequences. Teachers and administrators take care that you act like you are supposed to and when you don't the dean of the school will decide which consequences will follow. They also have a dress code, when you don't wear required cloth after these rules you have to change or you will get other cloth from the school to wear.
A lot of students join clubs and sports. I believe that high schools in the United States have a huge school spirit, because you always see students wear clothes with their school name or their team or their mascot on, support their pears at games and administrators and teachers support the spirit during the school day. Even after school there is a lot of interaction with the school, promoted by the school with a choice of activities. A lot of students use these opportunities to hang out with friends, get help for school work or just have fun.
During this year I see a lot of positive things in both of them. I like that you have more freedom, because of less rules in a german school. I also like that you have 20 minutes breaks between classes which doesn't make you feel like you learn 8 hours straight. I love the school spirit at american schools! I think it's great that you don't stay with the same group of people the whole day and you have a lot of electives you can choose from. I do not think one of them is better but a combination of both would be perfect.
German students have 12 or 13 years of school depending on the state. After primary school there are three "kinds of high school" you can attend. When you seek college or university degrees and don't need a lot of help with school work you will attend the gymnasium, while the realschule is for average students entering white-collar jobs, and the hauptschule has vocational training for those who need more support during learning. Only the Gesamtschule can be visited from everybody but even there will be seperations for some classes. Every state has his own school system. But in generally you have only required classes and get only a few choices. You start learning a second language, English, in first or third grade. When you visit the Gymnasium you are required to learn a third language for 5 years, starting in 6th grade. You usually have the choice between Latin, French and Spanish. Your schedule is different everyday but the same every week. So you would have the same schedule each Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. How many hours you have each day is also depending on the weekday. Generally you have 6 hours of school , which 20 minutes breaks after 2nd and 4th hour. Even when you have 8th hours most students would eat lunch at home or get something from a near cafe or restaurant, because not every school has a cafeteria with lunch.
Main rules in German schools are no weapons, no drugs and no alcohol. Nearly every school does not have a dress code.
Only about 10 to 15 percent of the students join clubs from their school, when they even exist. A lot of kids start playing sports at a young age of 6 at a club and stay with this sport while they are attending school. Mainly because of that there is not really school spirit in German schools because there are also no teams you can be proud of or cheer for. Without the time you spend in the class room to learn there is only a small amount of time of other interaction with the school.
American students have 12 years of school, technically 13 years because of Kindergarden one year before 1st grade. School splits in 3 parts Elementary School , Kindergarden through 5th Grade, Middle School ,6th through 8th Grade,and High School ,9th through 12th Grade. Students in these grades are called freshmen (grade 9), sophomores (grade 10), juniors (grade 11) and seniors (grade 12). At the high school level students are required to take a certain mandatory subjects, but they can also choose additional subjects, electives, to fill out their required classes. Each state has different requirements for how many semester which mandatory subjects are required, but generally it is 2-4 years of Science, Mathematics, English, Social sciences, Physical Education ( Gym class), you must take two years of a foriegn langue, some form of art and health. You can also "test out" of classes. For example when your are able to speak fluent Spanish you can test out of the two required years of a second language and you don't have to take any foreign language. Your schedule is the same for every day. Depending on the high school you have for example 48 minutes classes, 5 minutes to pass and then you have lunch around your 4th and 5th hour for 30 minutes. For lunch , schools have cafeterias where everybody can get lunch or can bring their own lunch from home.
In many schools you will find strict rules with specific consequences. Teachers and administrators take care that you act like you are supposed to and when you don't the dean of the school will decide which consequences will follow. They also have a dress code, when you don't wear required cloth after these rules you have to change or you will get other cloth from the school to wear.
A lot of students join clubs and sports. I believe that high schools in the United States have a huge school spirit, because you always see students wear clothes with their school name or their team or their mascot on, support their pears at games and administrators and teachers support the spirit during the school day. Even after school there is a lot of interaction with the school, promoted by the school with a choice of activities. A lot of students use these opportunities to hang out with friends, get help for school work or just have fun.
During this year I see a lot of positive things in both of them. I like that you have more freedom, because of less rules in a german school. I also like that you have 20 minutes breaks between classes which doesn't make you feel like you learn 8 hours straight. I love the school spirit at american schools! I think it's great that you don't stay with the same group of people the whole day and you have a lot of electives you can choose from. I do not think one of them is better but a combination of both would be perfect.
