Berlin moves to strengthen law against forced marriages
Deutsche Welle asks on Facebook: Will a stronger ban on forced marriage and a greater emphasis on integration course attendance help Germany's immigrant women?
And they provide a link to the article: here
And since integration course concerns me, even though I don't live in Germany and German laws do not apply to me, I still had something to say about it. And so I commented to their post, and decided to share it here as well.
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It's silly to think that people would go and report a forced marriage, because the 'bride' would be too scared to report it herself, and others would simply not know that it's forced, and would think of it as an arranged marriage, which is quite normal in most foreign countries (speaking of eastern countries here). But if women do report being under the threat of a forced marriage, then I'm happy for them that they are strong enough to take that step. Ironically, there's even a Turkish TV-series that deals with a forced marriage and the story even starts with the family being in Germany.
As for integration courses (this is gonna be a long one lol), I'm currently going to one in the Netherlands, and I must say I find it the most ridiculous and pointless course ever. Why? Because they don't take into consideration that some people who are forced to take the course (like myself) have already done the things they teach, and already know how the law works, and how or where to apply for certain things, and they make us do it again. Now, it's good to repeat things so you wouldn't end up breaking the law or something, but when you force someone into taking the integration course after them being in the country for a whole year is quite stupid. Especially if that person is educated and wouldn't wait on a special course to tell them how things work in the country, and would actually find out about things themselves by asking around and doing researches online or offline about the matters they need to know about. Get them into integration course immediately after they register at the municipality/city hall, and there you'd actually get to have a reason for going to school, instead of doing just because "you HAVE to".
When I did the initial evaluation test, I admit that I didn't know much. Which is why I was qualified for the integration course starting at level A2. But it took them almost seven months to send me the school letter, so I used the time in between to learn the language and learn more about the law and traditions. I even accepted to have a volunteering person as a language coach (which most people reject because they aren't very eager to learn, because the sooner you learn the sooner you start working, and some people are lazy bums who would do anything to stay at home and not work). So by the time school started, I knew much more than I had 7 months ago, and I'm now even able to communicate in Dutch. At school, the first subject that we're learning is supposed to take eight weeks to finish (this is the fast course, the slow/regular one takes longer). I finished it within less than two weeks and I'm ready to move on to the next group, but the teachers won't transfer me because "there's no place in the next group". If a person is done with all the assignments that the course requires and is ready to move on, why keep them in the same place and level as the people who take six months to do the same assignments and not even get them completed by the time they need to go to the next level?
I think they should do the evaluation tests right before starting school, and not several months before. You never know what kind of a person would be attending. And I know that laws and regulations are different in Germany, but I believe an integration course holds the same goal in each country. But for God's sake, try not to put people of different IQ levels in the same groups. A housewife who didn't finish secondary school doesn't care whether she knows the rules or not, because her main concern is her family, and she has her kids and husband to help her with anything she needs. But for women who prefer career over household chores, women who have a university degree, they're more eager to learn and explore the new possibilities in life a new country has to offer.
Sorry that my thoughts are a bit scattered (and long), but talking about integration course does that to me. It's quite annoying and aggravating that I can't move forward as fast as I want, because I want to work and rely on myself and not be dependent on the state or a "husband", which I thankfully do not have.
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And I will be back with an update on school, and also to comment on messages and posts. Right now I'm enjoying vacation which started out with my hunny being here (and she left two days ago :( ) , and this evening I have a lesson with Sylvia and I've got no special plans for the rest of the week(end) :D I'm being extremely lazy these days, and I think I prefer being busy. Busy gets me to do more work, even if I don't have time to do it. But by having a lot of time at hand, I do absolutely nothing xD
And they provide a link to the article: here
And since integration course concerns me, even though I don't live in Germany and German laws do not apply to me, I still had something to say about it. And so I commented to their post, and decided to share it here as well.
----
It's silly to think that people would go and report a forced marriage, because the 'bride' would be too scared to report it herself, and others would simply not know that it's forced, and would think of it as an arranged marriage, which is quite normal in most foreign countries (speaking of eastern countries here). But if women do report being under the threat of a forced marriage, then I'm happy for them that they are strong enough to take that step. Ironically, there's even a Turkish TV-series that deals with a forced marriage and the story even starts with the family being in Germany.
As for integration courses (this is gonna be a long one lol), I'm currently going to one in the Netherlands, and I must say I find it the most ridiculous and pointless course ever. Why? Because they don't take into consideration that some people who are forced to take the course (like myself) have already done the things they teach, and already know how the law works, and how or where to apply for certain things, and they make us do it again. Now, it's good to repeat things so you wouldn't end up breaking the law or something, but when you force someone into taking the integration course after them being in the country for a whole year is quite stupid. Especially if that person is educated and wouldn't wait on a special course to tell them how things work in the country, and would actually find out about things themselves by asking around and doing researches online or offline about the matters they need to know about. Get them into integration course immediately after they register at the municipality/city hall, and there you'd actually get to have a reason for going to school, instead of doing just because "you HAVE to".
When I did the initial evaluation test, I admit that I didn't know much. Which is why I was qualified for the integration course starting at level A2. But it took them almost seven months to send me the school letter, so I used the time in between to learn the language and learn more about the law and traditions. I even accepted to have a volunteering person as a language coach (which most people reject because they aren't very eager to learn, because the sooner you learn the sooner you start working, and some people are lazy bums who would do anything to stay at home and not work). So by the time school started, I knew much more than I had 7 months ago, and I'm now even able to communicate in Dutch. At school, the first subject that we're learning is supposed to take eight weeks to finish (this is the fast course, the slow/regular one takes longer). I finished it within less than two weeks and I'm ready to move on to the next group, but the teachers won't transfer me because "there's no place in the next group". If a person is done with all the assignments that the course requires and is ready to move on, why keep them in the same place and level as the people who take six months to do the same assignments and not even get them completed by the time they need to go to the next level?
I think they should do the evaluation tests right before starting school, and not several months before. You never know what kind of a person would be attending. And I know that laws and regulations are different in Germany, but I believe an integration course holds the same goal in each country. But for God's sake, try not to put people of different IQ levels in the same groups. A housewife who didn't finish secondary school doesn't care whether she knows the rules or not, because her main concern is her family, and she has her kids and husband to help her with anything she needs. But for women who prefer career over household chores, women who have a university degree, they're more eager to learn and explore the new possibilities in life a new country has to offer.
Sorry that my thoughts are a bit scattered (and long), but talking about integration course does that to me. It's quite annoying and aggravating that I can't move forward as fast as I want, because I want to work and rely on myself and not be dependent on the state or a "husband", which I thankfully do not have.
---
And I will be back with an update on school, and also to comment on messages and posts. Right now I'm enjoying vacation which started out with my hunny being here (and she left two days ago :( ) , and this evening I have a lesson with Sylvia and I've got no special plans for the rest of the week(end) :D I'm being extremely lazy these days, and I think I prefer being busy. Busy gets me to do more work, even if I don't have time to do it. But by having a lot of time at hand, I do absolutely nothing xD