15 years of Deutschsommer - municipal language promotion project makes an important contribution to integration

Since its launch in 2010, the German Summer has already helped hundreds of primary school children in Offenbach to improve their language skills during the vacations and, since 2016, to improve their chances of starting school. With the start of the summer vacations on July 15, the City of Offenbach's support project is entering its 15th round.

Around 30 girls and boys from ten Offenbach elementary school will spend three exciting vacation weeks at the Wegscheide school hostel in the middle of the beautiful Spessart landscape of Bad Orb. The nine and ten-year-old children from the third grade come from families from 15 countries of origin, including Ukraine. They are looked after by a qualified team from the fields of German as a second language, drama and experiential education.

During daily German and drama lessons, the children recommended by their class teachers for participation improve their language skills in small groups through play and gain many new experiences during a varied leisure program. They are at home at the weekends.

Head of Education Paul-Gerhard Weiß: "Shortly before moving on to fourth grade, where their future educational path is decided, the primary school children not only make up for grammatical deficits and improve their ability to express themselves. They also develop better language awareness and greater motivation to read." At the same time, the boys and girls receive impulses for their personal development and strengthen their social skills. Councillor Weiß: "Now in its 15th year, the German Summer is making an important contribution to integration."

"i like to draw after school, i like to read books with merchen, i also like to play hide and seek," wrote a nine-year-old in the children's questionnaire that the boys and girls fill out when they register so that the German teachers can get a first impression of the children's language skills. A boy of the same age writes: "I like to write shah and hokey. I like to play Ghostbusters and fusbalspilen."

"Spelling is often still very poor. And the vocabulary of many children is also poor," explains project manager Jörg Muthorst. "We determine the exact language level on the very first day at Wegscheide during a 'small language excursion'. The children then complete the same test tasks again at the end of the three project weeks. This allows us to document the children's progress in language development. The majority of the girls and boys manage to improve significantly."

The schools also appreciate this. One teacher writes: "The boy from my class who took part in the German summer has benefited greatly from the program. He has become more self-confident and independent. Grammatically, he can keep up with the other children very well and his vocabulary has also improved. He has overtaken DaZ children (German as a second language) who did not take part in the German summer. The German summer has done him a lot of good."

A ten-year-old wrote in the children's questionnaire: "I like playing fersteken. I rarely read. I love to watch anime. I hope it's exciting with you." Project manager Muthorst: "It will definitely be exciting, without cell phones, tablets or computer games, but with a night hike and campfire, an overnight stay outdoors, footbathing in the stream and a big closing party with a theater performance for parents and siblings."

The registration process for the German Summer 2025 will start at Offenbach's elementary school in October this year, giving parents the opportunity to take their children's language vacations into account when planning their vacation.