Doing a "Lehre" without perfect German skills

I put it in this category cuz my bf lives in Germany with me

Ok, with all this NVQ's and GVC's or however you call this again in IT and research and loads of other things he did in England, he could not get any decent job in Germany yet. He has a job as a labourer but hates it and does it mostly "for me", though he says he does it for himself aswell to be able to live here with me. I told him so many time if he really hates it so much he should quit but thats not what he wants neither
Now he has the chance to start a "Lehre" to be an electrician at a local firm. The owner says he wouldnt mind that hes already 28 cuz the youngsters often dont know what they want and are not much reliable. The guy who started in September, quit it again. So my bf could start in January, all he had to do is to get learn the stuff which the ones who started in September, learned in the "Berufsschule" yet.
Tonight he has a final meeting with that guy now and has to decide. My bf's german is quite good by now, the talking is really good but the writing sux a bit still. He still could be able to pass this tests in school though I guess and the guy said he'll help him with the theory stuff aswell if it's needed, aside to the practical stuff.
He would earn a Lehrlingswage but we could live with this money aswell cuz I got a quite decent job and the risk that I loose mine isnt that big
The guy can't guarantee yet, that he can keep him after the Lehre. So my bf still wants to do it but only if I was ok with this aswell. I guess I am actually.

Is there any Brits who did a Lehre in Gemany aswell without your german was perfect at that time and did you pass it?

Man...stop babbling Hannah...I guess what I wanna hear is: YES he should do it?

well I've sat a few written exams here and like your bf my spoken German is reasonable but my written stuff is well ...crap :$ ...but I passed all of them,
some of my answers maybe not have been grammatically perfect but the content was correct and that is at the end of the day the most important thing.

so? You would do it? YES??

Definately ...why not, he hasn't got much to loose

nope, apart from his wage, which is higher now then it will be then. Guess "Lehrlinge" get about 400 euros in the first year or something but he'll find out tonight.

Ok then, I'll tell him that you said so and that he can do it

Shit, if i was 28 and had such a chance...i'd grab it and give it my best, like Neil said he's got nothing to lose and the expierience will stand him good for any future possibilities which may come along.
Good luck.

Tell your boyfriend to go for it, he is lucky to get a chance like this. He might earn not much while doing this. But think about it you always have to make some compromises at some point. He will earn better money when he's finished. Plus if it's something he want to do then go for it. Not many people get the chance to do what they really like. Good luck

:$ thanx (guess I was sure already actually but just wanted to hear it)

(silly me) :$

Do it, I took my Industriekaufmann at 36 and passed. My writen german is not that good. Still cant write a "Geschäftsbrief".

I got a 4 but that too is passed. Lots of the Germans who took the test with me failed!

At the same time i took my Programmererschein and passed with a 2.

Hannah

of course he should grab the chance and be thankful he`s being offered a high quality training course to become a skilled professional in a sector where there is demand. Not only here, but also in other places, including eg Australia.

Think himself lucky he doesnt have to pay massive course fees, and he gets a training salary on top of all that as well! No hesitations, take it, do it!

your german writing still sux Bully

yeah you are all right and actually my question was stupid :$
The only thing which annoys me and one of the things which I don't like in "my own" country is that its so bloody hard to find a job without this f****** (sorry) Gesellenbrief, if you haven't studied. I mean he even studied for a while but then had to stop cuz he couldnt afford to finish.
I am almost 40 now (yep i know i am much older than him, please dont comment this, only if it's nice comments ), I have a "Gesellenbrief" from when I was 19 after 3 years training for "Bauzeichner". I never worked in this job afterwards but everywhere they asked for this thing. Actually you could wipe your arse with it.

Anyway thanx already for all the replies

erm...still got a question though if you dont mind to answer...did you just get the Lehrlingsgehalt or could you claim any money from anybody while the training? Guess not huh? Not that it matters cuz we have no kids and dont pay to much rent and dont really need anything but just out of interest. Somebody with kids and only one income hardly could do it I guess if you cant claim anything?

I can't comment on the specifics of the qualifications but I know it is next to impossible to get a job here at the moment, even with the right qualifications... If I was him, I would grab the offer with both hands. If my contract wasn't renewed recently, I would have left the country.

Presumably, he would be eventually qualified to do household electrical work. English-speaking tradesmen always seem to be in demand here...

About the age thing - my wife is 13 years younger than me so I couldn't possibly comment! :-)

oh... he will have to quit his current job, his contract is permanent. But still...its a shitty job which he hates and after the training it might be a bit better in general in Germany again hopefully to find a job. And maybe the firm even can keep him then, who knows

He should just do it and no regrets.

I retrained when I came over here - 6 months as a volunteer, 3 year Lehrling and came out top of my "Jahrgang"

You do 3 years of graft, but then you've got the rest of your life as a profi in front of you.

Go for it

top of his Jahrgang might be the oldest one (cuz Bully won't be there anymore) but who cares

it's a bit weird for me (typical german) :$ , the Lehrlinge I knew were all my age around 16 when we started, one was 19 and seemed already so old

all these compliments Hannah, I actually done these while i was out of work so the arbeitsamt paid me, I was getting unterhaltsgeld so i was not on the statistics

He's not the only one Hannah! A friend wrote to me last week and said that they'd had such trouble finding a decent Lehrling amongst school leavers - it's for an office admin thing and they need good German and maths skills, which apparently their applicants didn't have - that they're taking on a 38 year old who wanted to change careers after years of unemployment.
And I know of two Brits who started these Lehre a few years ago without great German, both passed and one finished top of the class! So it definitely can be done, and let's face it right now, nobody is going to take foreign qualifications seriously when there are so many qualified Germans unemployed, so if he wants to stay here it makes a lot of sense. And if you ever went back to the UK, he wouldn't exactly have difficulty finding work as an electrician.

Good morning,

thanx all and thanx for changing the title of the topic (whoever did this)

Well looks like it will work out 99,9999999999999999999999999999%
My bf will go with the eventual future boss on saturday morning to a building site for a few hours training. The boss said its actually not so much that he wants to test him, it would be more that my bf wont have false expectations and maybe let him down again after a few weeks (well this might be not the whole truth but I wont blame a boss for testing if the person has maybe "2 left hands"). But my bf is confident, that he (prolly ) wont fall off a ladder after 3 seconds or break a hammer or looks like a complete idiot. And I trust him in this (i guess )

They also talked alot about how to manage the "timeline" what would be best for both of them. The future boss offered him to start the Ausbildungsvertrag on Dec 1st but that wont work out now cuz of the notice time for quitting his old job in his contract. He could start on the 15th of December, but the boss asked if he doesnt want to go to England for christmas and have a bit holiday before he starts
We would not mind really if he wont be off and we wont go to England, but he would give him a contract from 15th until 31st of December as a helper for just when he needs him a couple of hours and give him off around christmas. Then start the Lehre 1st January. So there wont be a lack cuz of the health insurance stuff etc.

sounds like a dream actually

just to let you know: It worked out! He'll start December 15th

That's brilliant news!

Congratulate him from us or is he a BBer too?

@Hannah now that is good news, well done Hannah_bf

thanx
He is not a BB'ler (yet)

Keep working on it/him then!

Just to add my tuppence worth I did an Umschulung here at 30 had a brilliant time second childhood and all that (or was it the third or fourth?) started with virtually no written German skills and finished 4th out of 30. My advice is take the chance and go for it.

the only shite is that he cant claim anything cuz he has a job which he has to quit for it and he is doing it cuz he wants to do it. So he will only get the "Lehrlingsgehalt". Its not to bad compared to what I got when I was learning, then again I was only 16 and lived with my parents
But we'll be ok

Top tip (but in a very grey area legally speaking). He should speak to his boss and make it very clear he is going whatever the case, but to make the parting a more friendly affair he would like his contract changed to a Zeitvertrag back dated a year or so and running out a week or two before the start of the Lehre (meaning he will be at that point Arbeitslos, dont forget to register!). Then, providing he's worked the required time here in Germany (3 or 5 years not sure) he is entitled to an Umschulung (which is paid for by the Arbeitsamt, all costs of the course plus Arbeitslosengeld equivalent or at least it used to work like that). All this can be organised as soon as the Zeitvertrag is in his hands.

hmm, nah, I don't think we want to mess around with "grey" stuff :$

oh and one of the reasons he hates his current job is the boss. I dont think, he'll do this. And it kinda spoiles the moment where he can say: oh f*** you, I will be gone by 15th

ok he quit and only a couples of days left to work in old place. People asked him what he was doing there still (he should call in sick)
Well he wont do this (good guy), actually he enjoys ppl asking him "WHAT you're leaving" hehe
He smiles like a "Honigkuchenpferd" nowadays

He got a folder with the stuff which the others did in school already, and ordered some english books aswell, like "Electronics for dummies" and basics etc. to keep up with them.

a 'HoneyCakeHorse' with a big smile that always cracks me up

whats the real english word for it then?

"He walks around with a big grin on his face"

Is the closest I konw ...

how boring

But HoneyCakeHore sounds good. Maybe we should adopt the word...
We have already adopted "Kindergarden" and "Doppelganger",
so why not HoneyCakeHorse ??

Oops :$

I think you are referring to word spellt differently...

i always spell it like this