What do you guys think of my PowerPoint presentation on Germany?

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t_maia2000

Main obstacle to having children: Lack of childcare compared to France. There are very few Kindergartens in Western Germany, making it difficult for parents to have children and work full-time at the same time.

Bonn is not a major city, it is a very small town. Major cities are Berlin, Hamburg, Munich. Important to mention is the megalopolis conglomerate of several cities in the Ruhr area (Cologne, Bonn, DÃ¼sseldorf, Essen, Dortmund among them), then then Stuttgart conglomerate and the Frankfurt-Wiesbaden-Mainz conglomerate.

Portugese is very rarely taught at schools. French, Latin, Russian and Spanish (in this order) are the most common other languages taught at school.

Among those who are "without religion" officially is a significant number of Christians who don't pay church tax and thus are not counted, a number of muslims who are of German or European origin (30 000) and Buddhists (200 000). About 1 Mio people are Orthodox Christians and about 200 000 people are Jewish. Number of muslims total is 5 %, 4 million.

http://www.remid.de/remid_info_zahlen.htm

Gymnasium is grades 5-12. There is no longer a 13th grade.

I don't understand "technical school" for Realschule. Could you explain? Plus you need to mention that the Realschule-degree is the most common degree for students.

You should also add more info on apprenticeships, the so-called "Duales System". This is what is most interesting to investors, since it is the reason why Germans are so highly qualified.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_education_system

"When the business day ends, you are expected to leave the office. If you must remain after closing, it indicates that you did not plan your day properly." Incorrect - I never experienced this. Working overtime can be just a sign of having a lot to do or being dedicated - not a bad thing. However, if you really did not plan properly ... uh uh.

Typical meal: Potatoes go first. Italians call Germans "potato heads" with good reason. Schnitzel is more common than Bratwurst, Bratwurst is served more often as a streetfood like HotDogs. Sauerkraut is cabbage btw. And most common vegetable is peas and carrots or cauliflower, not sauerkraut. So a typical meal is potatoes, peas and carrots and Schnitzel.

Epiphany is not a national holiday, it is a regional holiday in some Laender only. You also missed Easter Monday, Pentecoast Monday and Ascension Day and the Oct 31st/Nov 1st combo of All Hallows and Reformation Day (=Martin Luther Day). A Land celebrates either All Hallows or Reformation Day, depending whether the majority is Lutheran or Catholic.

I think your presentation has a lot of clichees that could be done away with (bratwurst and sauerkraut and the picture of the guy in Lederhosen). OTOH you missed German "Gruendlichkeit" (it is proverbial - with Teutonic thoroughness) and frankness. Germans don't like to mince words, so no means no and yes means yes. We don't do things by halves - either do it very good or don't do it at all. Reliability is key. Deadlines must be kept and contracts must be fullfilled, no matter what.

Investors who come to Germany and wanting to open a business would not open a cafe. Opening a cafe or restaurant is way for untrained immigrants (Turkish, Pakistani) to stay in Germany and secure an income without a work permit. Germany is known for engineering and high-technology industry, investors would seek university graduates and give them the capital similar to the Silicon Valley dynamics.

You also had some spelling/grammar mistakes in your presentation, you might want to have somebody else go over it.

Thomas t

I would mention, that the unemployment rate decreases from 12 to 8 percent (november 2007) over the last years. But there is still a big difference between West (6,7%) and East (13,4%).
And the unemployment prospects are growing.

Bonn is not a major city. It has just 315.000 inhabitants. It was an important city (Capital City) before the berlin wall fell.

Major Cities (my opinion):
Berlin
Hamburg
Munich
Ruhrgebiet as a conglomerate of many mid-size cities (Dortmund, Essen, Bochum, Gelsenkirchen, Duisburg, Oberhausen,... with nearly 5,5 Million People living there) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruhr_Area
Cologne
DÃ¼sseldorf (Cologne and DÃ¼sseldorf together with the Ruhrgebiet build one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, with 12 Million People) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhine-Ruhr
Dortmund
Essen
Bremen
Frankfurt
Stuttgart
Hannover
Dresden
Leipzig

Its not exactly true that germany is the only official language. Its the only statewide national language. But there are some minority languages with an official status in some states

I dont think that portuguese is taught often. Never heard of that. I swear dutch is taught as often as portuguese. But I am not sure.

The culture part is complete rubbish (sorry, but it is)
1. Even if planning is a big point, its not the whole culture
2. Adressing by first name is common between childs, students, university students. Adressing by last name is common between strangers and mostly between bosses and employes.
3. Adressing by last name between co-workers who work together for several years would be the case in less then 1%
4. No other Ideas than "planning" and "adressing by last name"
5. Bavaria is NOT whole Germany, just a small part. So please, put away the "traditional bavarian".
Everyone who does not live in bavaria gets upset when you say that whole germany is like bavaria.
When presenting traditions such as "Lederhosen", "Oktoberfest" pleeeaaase define it to Bavaria, or at least to southern germany
Please do not generalize everything.
Its like claiming, that every US-American weares a Cowboy-Hat, is fat, drives a huge truck and got a gun.
Even if Germany, compared to the US, is a small country, it has many local Traditions and behaviours. From the Sea in the North to the Mountains in the South, there is a big difference in culture

Alwin E

If it was accessible, I'd think even more of it. But currently, it isn't.

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