The future prospects of many children and young people in urban areas with particular development needs are often limited – when starting school many children have an insufficient level of German, youth unemployment is high. 

The aims of this project are: 

• To improve the lack of spoken German ability amongst preschool children from a non German background, in order to give them the best possible start to their schooling. 
• Support young people in career orientation and personal development. 
• Advise parents through project coordination with the aim of introducing the parents to the German education system.

It is essential for Sprachstube Deutsch® that young people with an immigration background have the possibility to be voluntarily and civically involved and that they can experience a meaningful and personal further development. 

Sprachstube Deutsch® works on a local level – the families live in the immediate area, the young people are usually from Oberschulen or grammar schools from a slightly larger area.

Per location around 25 young people are involved each year, each one helps 1 to 2 children with their German language.

• Preschool children from a non German background who are lacking in German language proficiency. 
• Bilingual young people (aged between 15 and 20 years old) who can use their linguistic competence 
• Parents who due to their insufficient knowledge of German find it difficult to access the regulatory system of the German education system

Sprachstube Deutsch® is a full time project organised by a project coordinator which looks after the circulation of information about the project and networking on a local scale.

Preschool children and their families are informed about nurseries in the region. The recruitment of language assistants takes place in cooperation with Oberschulen, as a rule grammer schools and secondary schools.

A visit to the families takes place and a parental agreement form is signed before the language assistant – child situation is set up.

An agreement with the young people is signed which makes it compulsory for them to take part in the project. They meet weekly as a group for training sessions and to share experiences. 

The implementation of the project is accompanied by visits to the home and nurseries/primary schools.

The project has been running since 2004 – around 25-60 young people have been able to be integrated into the project and approximately 30-100 children were supported, this number being dependent on the amount of support received at the time. The majority of language assistants are active for more than 6 months, many young people dedicate themselves for up to two years or more. The concept was implemented in Berlin in 3 different regions – all of which were urban areas with a high proportion of the population with a non German background. 

• Parents appreciate the project as it provides an accessible portal to support for their children
• Young people find an active area in which to be socially
• Sprachstube Deutsch® has been awarded regional and national prizes on several occasions

On going internal evaluation takes place by questioning a target group of young people and parents. An external evaluation was undertaken in 2010. 

What was assessed:

• The development of the language competence of the pre school children (as far as possible) 
• How content the parents were
• The personal and social development of the young 
• Content and practice of the weekly training sessions

The length of the commitment of the young people to the project was deemed to be an essential indicator of the success of the project and its efficacy. 

The surveys were done via questionnaires or in the course of the external evaluation also via interviews. 

Since coming into being the project has used various different possibilities to support itself – both via applications to foundations and via the support programmes Social City and the European Social Fund. Currently (2013) Sprachstube Deutsch® is working with a financial sum of in total €100,000 a year. With this the costs of two offices, public relations, materials for language support, three project coordinators and expense allowances for approximately 50 young language assistants a year can be financed.

The project coordinators have in part themselves an immigration background and have a university degree and a qualification in teaching German as a second mother tongue.