Saxony

Sykk

Hey all,

Am starting my basic German course in September then hopefully I'll do 1 or 2 more before I move over there. Apparently I'll learn more there than I will in any classroom.

That's not to say it's great getting a good base before I go.

Could anyone provide me with a decent website to jobsearch? I work in IT if that's any help. I'd be looking to move to Saxony, not too sure on the specifics yet but it will be in the next 18 months.. Would like to keep my eye on the ball!

Also, does anyone live here or know much about the area? Is it nice there?

Thanks!

Cosmo K

I really hope, you are not moving to Saxony to actually learn german?! Definitely the most ammoying german accent.

peasant

Cosmo K wrote: »

I really hope, you are not moving to Saxony to actually learn german?! Definitely the most ammoying german accent.

Hoarschema!
Geene Disgrimminierung hier, nu!

:D:D

Sykk

Cosmo K wrote: »

I really hope, you are not moving to Saxony to actually learn german?! Definitely the most ammoying german accent.

Well I'm learning it here first.. The basics anyway! I'll pick the rest up when I get there.. The girlfriend is from Baden-Württemberg so I doubt she'll let me up a twang if it's that bad.. Can't be as bad as Cork!

Carry

Baden-Württemberg is even worse, accent wise!
(Comparable to deep South Kerry accent

I actually quite like the Saxonian accent, that is, the one in Dresden which is softer than the one in Leipzig.
Reminds me a bit of the Cork accent with the cheeky intonation and soft consonants.
But then I absolutely love the Cork accent...

No consolation for you, I assume.;)

Sykk

So anyone got any links for me?

Lawrence1895

Just on the German version of Google and type in 'Stellenmarkt'

There is for example one called 'meinestadt.de', there you can see all jobs in Dresden and Leipzig if you scroll down the page

Amtmann

According to this excellent biography by Ian Kershaw, one of Hitler's post-war aims was to eliminate the Saxon accent.

Carry

As Austrians do...:rolleyes:
(the Austrian accent is the worst ever, btw.)

But then Hitler hated Berlin as well, because the Berliners were, as the Saxons, traditionally fiercely independent. And as we all know Hitler wanted to eliminate a lot of things - and did.

For jobs have a look here: http://jobs.meinestadt.de/sachsen
and here: http://www.jobscout24.de/jobs/sachsen/sachsen-stellenangebote.html
Best is to look locally for jobs.

Apanachi

Good luck with the job search, Saxony has a very high unemployment rate, granted the situation is better now than in recent years, but still very high.

Saxony is a very beautiful state and if you're going to be living around the Dresden area, the accents are actually quite nice.

Keep us posted how you get on

munchkin_utd

would the official job centre website with nationwide 850,000 (yes, thats eight hundred and fifty thousand) job offers be of any use to you?

heres the english website:
http://jobboerse.arbeitsagentur.de/vamJB/startseite.html?m=1&aa=1

Sykk

Went to meet the girlfriends parents over the weekend in Friedrichshafen.

The whole drive from Memmingen airport was just forest upon forest.. I never realized it was such a beautiful country.

Was speaking to her Aunt who told me I'd really need advanced German before getting a job there. Guess I'd better get some grinds along with the course in September..!

Apanachi

Sykk wrote: »

I never realized it was such a beautiful country.

And that is only one aspect of Germany, there are so much more wonderful sights to be seen here.

Sykk

Just home from Friedricshafen in the south.. Got some decent pics of the Alps, might post them up when less tired!

Just a quick question for those of you living there while this thread was in the discussion of work.

Do you all have degrees or masters? It seems like it's very tough to get a job without one. Slightly worrying for me.. I've never done a degree as I found 2 years worth of useless modules in computer science and I self studied and gained certs for what I work at (MCSA, CCNA, Network engineer)...

Would these be as relevant as a degree? Perhaps this would be directed at anyone living there working in IT but any advice or opinions are welcome.

In Ireland, any IT managers I've spoken to said they'd take someone with relevant experience, certified in the relevant field rather than someone with a degree.. That's just here though.

Thanks
Nigel

Fuinseog

Cosmo K wrote: »

I really hope, you are not moving to Saxony to actually learn german?! Definitely the most ammoying german accent.

very narrow minded attitude which sadly I encounter on a daily basis when dealing with Germans. You should really travel outside the village when in Germany and broaden the mind.

Fuinseog

Carry wrote: »

As Austrians do...:rolleyes:
(the Austrian accent is the worst ever, btw.)

But then Hitler hated Berlin as well, because the Berliners were, as the Saxons, traditionally fiercely independent. And as we all know Hitler wanted to eliminate a lot of things - and did.

For jobs have a look here: http://jobs.meinestadt.de/sachsen
and here: http://www.jobscout24.de/jobs/sachsen/sachsen-stellenangebote.html
Best is to look locally for jobs.

just like the Irish accent there is more than one accent in Austria. apparently Viennese was voted the favourite accent in the German speaking world.

Apanachi

Fuinseog wrote: »

very narrow minded attitude which sadly I encounter on a daily basis when dealing with Germans.

to add to that, the Saxon accent varies depending on where you live in Saxony in some areas of Saxony, it can sound very pleasant. I find it a shame that people of Saxony are almost always portrayed as being stupid, dumb eejits who talk funny.

Fuinseog wrote: »

apparently Viennese was voted the favourite accent in the German speaking world.

Really?

That doesn't surprise me though, I for one, love that accent (I think my favourite has to be the Northern German accent - Viennese comes a close second.)

DeleveleD

Okay, as a German who was born and grew up in Saxony I say:

Yes, the saxon accent is horrible. It has been voted the most disliked accent of all.
However, it is sometimes also considered very sexy and way back in the past was considered to become the official beaurocratic language of Germany.

On the original questions:

The saxon countryside is a lot like Ireland, minus the milder climate. The summers get hotter, the winters get colder.

There's lots of hills, but most of them are far higher than what you get in Ireland.

Sadly Saxony is home to several strong neo nazi movements. Read up which areas are considered dangerous and avoid them.

As far as cities go there are the 3 biggest ones: Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz.

While all 3 have a university, Chemnitz (my hometown) is not a place for young people. It's statistically the City with the highest age average.
Go to either Leipzig or Dresden. The dialects are a bit softer there and you will get further with English, should you run out of German.

Lawrence1895

DeleveleD wrote: »

Sadly Saxony is home to several strong neo nazi movements. Read up which areas are considered dangerous and avoid them.

Can you recommend any website which says, where those black spots are?

Fuinseog

DeleveleD wrote: »

Okay, as a German who was born and grew up in Saxony I say:

Yes, the saxon accent is horrible. It has been voted the most disliked accent of all.
However, it is sometimes also considered very sexy and way back in the past was considered to become the official beaurocratic language of Germany.

On the original questions:

The saxon countryside is a lot like Ireland, minus the milder climate. The summers get hotter, the winters get colder.

There's lots of hills, but most of them are far higher than what you get in Ireland.

Sadly Saxony is home to several strong neo nazi movements. Read up which areas are considered dangerous and avoid them.

As far as cities go there are the 3 biggest ones: Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz.

While all 3 have a university, Chemnitz (my hometown) is not a place for young people. It's statistically the City with the highest age average.
Go to either Leipzig or Dresden. The dialects are a bit softer there and you will get further with English, should you run out of German.

not sure if I agree with you on the neo nazi thing. its like saying avoid Dublin, because it contains many scumbags.
I saw skinheads when in Germany and generally if you leave them alone they will leave you alone. unless you are political yourself i.e anarchist or communist or are black you should not have problems with them.

Lawrence1895

Fuinseog wrote: »

not sure if I agree with you on the neo nazi thing. its like saying avoid Dublin, because it contains many scumbags.
I saw skinheads when in Germany and generally if you leave them alone they will leave you alone. unless you are political yourself i.e anarchist or communist or are black you should not have problems with them.

Sometimes it's not easy to ignore them Skinheads though, as they sometimes try to recruit new 'members'.

For example the Ruhrgebiet (Ruhr Valley), where the so called 'Freie Kameradschaften' are trying once and so often to blend in with football hooligans...unsuccessful until now, as far as I know.

But you're right there, ignoring them takes something important away from them: Attention, and some of them are looking for it.

Little Alex

peasant wrote: »

Hoarschema!
Geene Disgrimminierung hier, nu!

:D:D

Nu, wo kommsdnn du her?

Wenn ihr moh wissn wolld, wie das Säggsch sisch so anhiert, passdemoh off, wie dieser Kerle hier redet. Där kommd nämlisch aus Chemnids-Sieschmor und sprischd so risch Säggsch mit sei "füffsch" un so:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwZx7IrySg0

Apanachi wrote: »

Good luck with the job search, Saxony has a very high unemployment rate, granted the situation is better now than in recent years, but still very high.

I guess Ireland's isn't far off now. In around 20%.

Hope you have a good time, Sykk! I used to live there and that's where I learned to speak German. Sachsen is my "USA" or "Australia".

simplybam

Ok I haven't been there in a good few years, but Saxony is definitely a beautiful state and Chemnitz University might be worth checking out.

There are a couple of things for you to keep in mind. Firstly, you definitely learn a language best in the country it's spoken (once you have some basics in that language). There will always be regional differences (sometime they're huge) in a language - just take Cork and Dublin or even Belfast - hardly seems to be the same language. Since Germany is considerably bigger than Ireland, the differences in local accents will be bigger too. That's also down to historic reasons, considering that Germany as a country only exists since 1871 - before that there were only a variety of separate kingdoms, dukedoms, etc (Saxony, Prussia, Bavaria, etc).

For the best place to learn German, I'd have to recommend the Goethe Institute. They're not cheap, but very good.

Sykk

simplybam wrote: »

Ok I haven't been there in a good few years, but Saxony is definitely a beautiful state and Chemnitz University might be worth checking out.

For the best place to learn German, I'd have to recommend the Goethe Institute. They're not cheap, but very good.

Probably a silly question, but are degrees in that university in German or English?

I started in the Goethe Institut about 5 weeks ago. Love it, the teacher is extremely helpful and the method of learning is working. My German has come on noticeably since I joined.. Long way to go yet

simplybam

Sykk wrote: »

Probably a silly question, but are degrees in that university in German or English?

I started in the Goethe Institut about 5 weeks ago. Love it, the teacher is extremely helpful and the method of learning is working. My German has come on noticeably since I joined.. Long way to go yet

Degrees would be in German, though I meant for you to check it out re IT work, rather than a degree (though that probably wouldn't hurt either, since the Uni is very well regarded). Even once you're there, they'll have notice boards etc. offering jobs (at least they did when I was there last, which seems to be a lifetime ago, lol)

Sykk

Well I've pretty much based the next two years of my life on moving to Germany. My degree will be finished and I'll have done 4 terms in the Goethe Institut and then I'll be looking to head over.

Think I'd be more comfortable with an English speaking job for the first year until I get used to the accents etc.

Those job websites look decent but I'd be looking more towards actual English speaking companies if anyone knows any.

I know a few guys who got internships all over Germany without a word of Deutsch. They done it through their university and it all seemed to be through Engineering degrees/masters.

Anyone know of the best place to look? Internships would be great. I'm not too concerned about wages.. Somewhere I could work away with enough to keep me ticking over while getting used to the culture and language further would be perfect!

PS: Was back in Friedrichshafen over the weekend visiting the GF's parents.. Such an amazing place...

Misty Moon

As mentioned in a sticky-thread up above, check out the toytowngermany forums too for lots of information. Lots of people have asked similar questions to you and there are plenty of threads on IT qualifications etc. Hint: use the search function and after getting results (or not) click on the google-powered search button. You'll get far more results.

Sykk

Misty Moon wrote: »

As mentioned in a sticky-thread up above, check out the toytowngermany forums too for lots of information. Lots of people have asked similar questions to you and there are plenty of threads on IT qualifications etc. Hint: use the search function and after getting results (or not) click on the google-powered search button. You'll get far more results.

Thank you VERY much. This is exactly what I was looking for... (Too silly to perhaps notice it in the sticky!)

hatful

I asked my German friend where to go for the German equivalent of a clipped news reader British accent and they said Hanover.

CamperMan

Cosmo K wrote: »

I really hope, you are not moving to Saxony to actually learn german?! Definitely the most ammoying german accent.

have you been to Saxony?

CamperMan

DeleveleD wrote: »

Okay, as a German who was born and grew up in Saxony I say:

Yes, the saxon accent is horrible. It has been voted the most disliked accent of all.
However, it is sometimes also considered very sexy and way back in the past was considered to become the official beaurocratic language of Germany.

On the original questions:

The saxon countryside is a lot like Ireland, minus the milder climate. The summers get hotter, the winters get colder.

There's lots of hills, but most of them are far higher than what you get in Ireland.

Sadly Saxony is home to several strong neo nazi movements. Read up which areas are considered dangerous and avoid them.

As far as cities go there are the 3 biggest ones: Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz.

While all 3 have a university, Chemnitz (my hometown) is not a place for young people. It's statistically the City with the highest age average.
Go to either Leipzig or Dresden. The dialects are a bit softer there and you will get further with English, should you run out of German.

Both nice places, and we live between the two places, Saxony is a beautiful place, the people are great.. no problems living here

Spongeworthy

I recommend The German Culture & Communication Center in Cork City. http://www.gccc-cork.com/ The Lads in there are sound and had me speaking at a decent standard in a short space of time. The price wasnt too bad either. I was skyping lessons at one stage I love the internet

If you are looking for somewhere to go in Germany, I would check out Bremen. Its a great place to spend a few months & is only 1 hour from Hamburg. You can always get work in the Irish Bar 'Hegartys' in the Viertel if needed– always looking for people. Heres the city website with apartments/jobs etc http://schwarzesbrett.bremen.de/sixcms/detail.php?template=00_start_hb_d