survival strategies for newcomers

Friday

General Info

 [PDF] Employment of foreign workers in Germany - Q and A

https://www.arbeitsagentur.de/datei/dok_ba014306.pdf 



Senat's help for migrants "Beauftragte für Integration und Migration"

https://www.berlin.de/willkommenszentrum/ 



Information about legal work

*https://www.berlin.de/willkommenszentrum/arbeit-und-bildung/arbeit/ 

*https://www.berlin.de/einwanderung/aufenthalt/erwerbstaetigkeit/artikel.874035.php 



Arbeitsagentur - Official orientation - obtain a work permit

https://www.arbeitsagentur.de/fuer-menschen-aus-dem-ausland/migration-check-english 


Wednesday

Where to book free consultation

AWO - Zentrum für Migration und Integration

https://www.awoberlin.de/service/zentrum-fuer-migration-und-integration/ 



Support for Africans

http://www.afrika-center-berlin.com/ 



Jobpoint

https://www.jobpoint-berlin.de/kontakt#mitte 



KUB - contact point and advice centre für refugees and migrants

https://www.kub-berlin.org/en/ 



Senat's help for migrants "Beauftragte für Integration und Migration"

https://www.berlin.de/willkommenszentrum/ 



[PDF] Catalog (163 pages) with locations of official organizations

page 82 consulting centers, page 134 African support

https://www.berlin.de/lb/intmig/_assets/service/adressen/wegweiser-2018.pdf 


Tuesday

Where to find a room or WG

 WG (short for Wohngemeinschaften) is a shared room. 

Before you start: https://allaboutberlin.com/guides/find-a-flat-in-berlin 


You might want to learn what are the abbreviations about here:

https://blog.mygermanexpert.com/2013/02/Apartment-listing-for-Germany.html 


More keywords: https://allaboutberlin.com/glossary 


There are few legit platforms with offers, but still you need to verify if it's not a scam. Don't use ebay, craiglist or anything promising a cheap room with luxury furniture and no formalities. Those are fake.

https://allaboutberlin.com/guides/find-a-flat-in-berlin#common-apartment-scams 



SEARCH PLATFORMS WITH WG FILTERS

Save the links to your bookmarks and open daily to respond to new offers. Unfortunately, you need to translate from German. 


Some of them have the option to create an account to set up a profile, which helps to communicate with landlords, exchange messages and keep track of replies. Still, because the offers disappear quickly, it is good to take notes.


The best one

https://www.immobilienscout24.de/Suche/de/berlin/berlin/wg-zimmer?price=-300.0&enteredFrom=one_step_search 


The 2nd best

https://www.immowelt.de/liste/berlin/wg/mieten?prima=300&sort=relevanz 


Shared-room focused

https://www.wg-gesucht.de/wg-zimmer-in-Berlin.8.0.0.0.html?offer_filter=1&city_id=8&noDeact=1&categories%5B%5D=0&rent_types%5B%5D=0&rMax=300 


One more https://www.wohnungsboerse.net/Berlin/mieten/wohnungen 


and one more

https://www.immobilo.de/suchergebnisse?l=Berlin&r=0km&_multiselect_r=0km&t=flat_share%3Arental%3Aliving&a=de.berlin&pf=&pt=300&rf=0&rt=0&sf=&st=&yf=&yt=&ff=&ft=&s=relevance&pa=&o=&ad=&u= 


Additionally there is a company helping students with a campus, some non-studying workers found their first home here

https://www.campusviva.de/en/renting/berlin-ii/ 

https://www.campusviva.de/en/renting/berlin/ 


More info about searching for a place to live

https://marlonbernardes.github.io/awesome-berlin/en/pages/renting-an-apartment.html#renting-an-apartment

Thursday

Learning German on-line

LANGUAGE
Schubert
On-line exercises, all levels

BBC
Archived site for learning German

DW: Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten
News in slow-pace, level B2/C1

DW: Deutsche im Alltag – Alltagsdeutsch
Audio News in German C1/C2

Easy Languages
YouTube channel - videos with subtitles

Tuesday

How to prepare for TELC B2 Deutsch Prüfung

The good idea is to know what you’re expected to deliver. Then you will be more focused on the execution of the content rather than understanding how you should do it. The whole concept of TELC exams lies in the communication abilities. You don’t need to know all the grammar issues like Partizip II, Konjunktiv I or Plusquamperfekt. It can help you however to tell the differences lying in Konnektoren to find out the meaning of the sentence. Since the exam will test your skills in logical thinking, you should know how to distinguish a negation from confirmation.

FROM READING TO HEARING
The first step should be to visit the TELC Websitewhere you can check the Modeltests, Tipps and even listen the oral exam recording. The website offers as well the YouTube clips with examples of oral exams. The purpose is to be familiar with the whole process. Since you know what to expect you will know what you should practice.

The secret lies in keywords and sentence openers. It’s essential to proof that you’re familiar with extended vocabulary, even if you’re not using them on daily basis. You will get the idea of what will add you points with the following examples: “Meine Meinung nach…”, “In diesem Text geht es…”, “Ich sehe das ganz anders…” or “Auf diesem Grund möchte ich mich beschweren”. Those are the magic keys that will unlock examiners pens to add you extra points. You can find more sentences like these in the Letter examples attached to the website, in some course books like “Em neu” and at the end of this text.