Playdates in Charlottenburg and Wilmersdorf - Berlin

Hi- I have a 5 year old who is losing English as a mother tongue although we have only been here as a year- her German is surpassing mine, of course, but I am greatly concerned at her loss of English, although we speak only English at home. Anyone interested in getting together in afternoons and doing only English-based things, games, playing, watching PBS, talking? I have particular concern as she needs to take the English test for both Nelson Mandela and for JFK and I fear that she will go in as German mother tongue rather than English.

I also have a 2.5 year old who understands English but is speaking only German and we are attempting to combat that with active use of English.

Contact me here if interested.

Hi there - understand your problem!!! at this point i'm quite new to Berlin and only speak english. I have a 5 month old daughter and we live in Windsheiderstr in Charlottenberg. We move there this weekend so in a couple of weeks we will be ready to welcoem visitors

would you like to come around for coffee and chat, bring some toys as i only have soft toys for a small baby, and maybe we could go for a walk in the lovely park nearby afterwards?

Vanessa

Hello!

I am also interested in maintaining the English language in my family! My daughter is 4.5 and my son will be 3 soon. My daughter has a dominate personality and when she plays, she decides the language - and since she learns more 'play' words in kindergarten, she plays at home speaking (most of the time) the German language. I have no problem with that, except I wish their father would reinforce the parents speaking only English at home! (But I realize it is a bit simpler to answer questions in the language the children ask them in, or is it?!)

Send me a message and maybe we can get together within the next couple of weeks!

Hi all, I live in Charlottenburg and would love to meet mums, in particular those who live in this end of Berlin. I have a baby boy who is 8 months who loves seeing other babies/toddlers. It would be great to meet for a coffee and chat, and if the distance allows it I'd be happy to have a coffee morning/afternoon over at my apartment.

Please let me know if interested and we can arrange something soon!

Hello Mini,

there is a mums and bumps group here that meet on fridays. I have just suggested A la Baby in Charlottenburg for tomorrow at 1pm if you are interested in coming along.

CM

Hi all- This was a topic for playgroups/meet ups for children/toddlers- not mums and bumps. There are several great groups out there for those and I know they are great.

But my children speak and go to kita- the goal is to find others whose children are also losing their English, who we can direct in English speaking play, watch English DVDs with...etc. Thanks for other offers, always interested in meeting new folks- but can this topic stay on topic?

yep, agree gail. I have a nearly 4 yo who is going well with German but is speaking English only when cajoled. I am in Wilmersdorf (dad) and would be interested in play dates etc.

Tim

Yes, indeed. For my part I posted a while ago to ask whether anyone was interested in a playgroup in the general area of eastern Kreuzberg, Treptow, Friedrichshain, Neukölln etc., so far with no response... Could it perchance be that native-speaker families are all clustered in the more salubrious western districts (and possibly in Prenzlauer Berg...?), while Kreuzberg, Neukölln and most of the eastern districts are populated by the childless (or child-free ) hip cats? Would be a pity, but maybe that's how it is...

Apart from that, maybe someone might be willing to post a list of current playgroups for the c. 3 to 6 agegroup, wherever in Berlin these may be. Once a week we would certainly be prepared to trek a bit further afield if there's a welcoming, fun group somewhere.

Cheers,

Giles

charlottenburg playgroup:
http://www.berlin-playgroup.org/

northeast playgroup:
http://freenet-homepage.de/playgroup/

the center in pberg (more like classes but a good resource nonetheless)
www.thecenter-berlin.de/english/01/01start.html

tobamo - a networking site/club for parents & families
http://www.tobamo.de/?id=9

English storytime & singing in Friedenau - lots of other English speaking parents & kids
http://www.storytime-books.com/

I do holiday parties for toddlers & school kids in English. Not exactly a play date, but there is a lot playing and you can connect with other parents & perhaps set up your own play dates:
berlinexpatmoms.blogspot.com

Thanks for the info! Weißensee and Charlottenburg are both practicable from where we live, even if not exactly round the corner. We'll contact the groups and check them out once we're settled in (around February).

Cheers,

Giles

Hello!
We live in Wilmersdorf and have a 4,5 year old boy. In kindergarten (German/English) he seems to be picking up more German than English. At home we speak only English; or rather the two of us among ourselves do since his mother is French. Anyway, his ´play´ language is predominantly German. Would be great to spend some time with English speaking children. However, job-related we could only make it in the late afternoons or on the weekends.
Henrik

Hello,

Very short term suggestion, I know, but I'm a mother with a 7 year old English speaking daughter planning to visit Berlin probably from 19-23 December. Is there any chance of anyone wanting to meet up to for some child friendly, English speaking play dates (indoors/swimming/zoo/museums/anything!). It would be great if anyone did want to meet up! We come to Berlin regularly and are always a bit lonely without other kids.

Camden

PS We live in London and would be happy to welcome anyone with kids over here.

Hi all,

We have 4.5 year old boy who is pining for English speaking friends, the kita is cool and he has a great time with the local kids (he's the only non-German). However he needs the English language dimension, all he's got right now is his parents and Skype for his mates in Blighty !

Anyone looking for or can offer playdates on the left hand side of Berlin ?

Cheers - Andy

Hi all,
Good to hear that I'm not the only one with kids refusing to speak English! I'd be delighted to meet up with anyone nearby, either late afternoons or on weekends. My kids are 4.5 (boy) and 2.5 (girl).
Cheers!

There is an English playgroup for kids 2-6 Tuesdays from 16:00-17:30 at the Haus der Familie, Schillerstrasse 26 in Charlottenburg.