Maria Bader - German Language Student From Russia
Yana Immis
Meet Maria from Russia! She lived in Munich and Berlin and she studied the language, but frankly speaking, LOVE brought her to Germany. Read more here...
| Place of Birth | Perm, Russia |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Russian, but I identify myself as a citizen of the world! |
| Where did you live? | Perm (Russia), Berlin (Germany) |
| Education Level Prior to Relocation | Specialist Degree |
| Reason of moving to Germany | Love |
| When did you move? | 2013 |
| How old were you? | 23 |
| Are you still in Germany? | Yes |
| What is your future goal? | Self Realization and Family |
| Would you like to stay in Germany? | Yes for now |
Chapter 1: My monolingual childhood
I grew up in an absolutely monolingual environment where I only heard the Russian language. My relatives come from Belarus and St. Petersburg and I grew up in a city called Perm.
Integration, moving, relocating, changing a country – terms which were not new for my family.
Now it is easy for me, I moved a few times already. But I know how it felt: all the stories I heard in childhood. It is not easy. Moving abroad you have to do what it takes. And to better prepare your children you need to start early enough.
I always had a feeling I do not belong in Russia. I was craving more languages, more knowledge, more travels, and completely new experiences! I felt like I should discover the world and, thankfully my parents took me to trips around Russia and Europe from back then when I was a toddler!
I experienced all of that when I was a child, when people first face it at 20-30 years old they have an opinion already about many things, and it is much more different.
Parents would give me challenges. They didn’t speak the language so they made me translate everywhere through resistance. That’s why I was forced to learn English on my own.
- “Maria go check this shirt and ask them if they have a different color and size and different collar type”
- “How do I do that when I don’t speak English that well?”
Challenge accepted…
These challenges I hated so much back then but thanks to that I learnt the language.
I knew what I liked since then. I was never bored and I knew I would connect my life with languages. I always followed my dreams and since my intuition never fails me… the only question was: where do I move? Trial and error!
At 12 years old I had my first cultural shock. Like when we were around Scandinavia: people from other nationalities, people wearing funky clothes, open-minded people.
I started thinking that I could belong there perhaps? Could I live abroad and could I live with the Europeans? When I was 12-14 years old I was totally in love with Denmark and Sweden and I was sure my future would be connected with the Nordics.
But then I also loved Spanish language and I did professional Latin American dancing and I also would imagine myself somewhere in Latin America?!
I was actively attending the Latin American dancing all my life and I also listened to Spanish music - my soul spoke Spanish!
I planned that when I would finish my 5 Year Specialist Degree (Russian system back then) I would do the 2-3 months backpacking trip across Latin America. I was slowly reaching my goal: earning money, finishing studies, learning the language & working.
What I also did: I travelled every summer for the language & volunteering camps in Portugal, Italy, and Spain.
I earned enough money to travel 1 month to Italy and lived with an Italian family, where no one spoke any other language than Italian. I lived in Liguria in the North next to the sea. I started speaking in 1 week!!! It was an amazing experience.
I also did 2 volunteer projects 1 month each: Portugal (Evora, sports clubs & swimming pools promoting sports for children in rural areas) and Spain (Catalonian farm, Barcelona and I flew to Ibiza to have a look). What a cool experience!
I monitored the flights and bought the cheapest ones, earned money as much as I could and since volunteering organization gets your visa, I didn’t have to organize this. I met so many people from around the globe and practiced languages thanks to my volunteering trips!
I knew I would have to work with children and I wouldn’t allow myself to go to these countries without any language. I always made sure to make pen friends with the tandem app or website prior to my trips: this way I got a couch surfing host for Lisbon, got language practice and friends in that particular country before moving there.
When I managed small talk in each language I considered myself ready to go. The rest you can learn very quickly while being in the country with native speakers.
I also worked in a start-up acquiring my journalism skills in Russia. Our aim was to connect students from all universities, we were publishing a newspaper and a magazine with all the current events for students. I was in charge of cooperation with student newspapers abroad.
Every time I had an opportunity to go abroad I took it! Carpe diem!
Looking back to my past now: all of that contributed to where I am today and I am very happy.
Chapter 2: Life will not happen as you have planned
I finished my studies in Russia and I was ready to go on my next adventure (relocating to Latin America, preferably Argentina or Chile).
But the universe had other plans. And in particular: a job offer! French company in Russia offered me a position using English/French/Russian languages. Since I had a translation and linguistic degree, it was perfect for me: to join a corporate world through my translation work experience. A good opportunity as well to earn enough money for my trip.
I notified them that I would take a sabbatical to travel for 2-3 months and I would let them know in advance when.
I saw a plane ticket Perm-Frankfurt-Rio de Janeiro a while after for less than 500 Euro and I booked it. Off I go, I thought! I was so sure I would go alone but little did I know…
In the meantime, two backpackers from Europe were travelling through Russia with the Trans Siberian train and asked a friend of mine for couch surfing booking. I was staying at my friend's house that day and without any plan, I ended up talking with this one German guy.
That sounds like the beginning of a great romantic movie and it was!
Was it the love from first sight? I think so!
He would then come back to Russia afterwards again to get to know our culture better and to meet me again as well as my family. I was invited to move to Berlin right after but since my trip to Brazil was already booked, it wouldn’t work out. And he decided to follow me to Latin America! For 3 Months!
Some people say that you need to live together with someone to know their real selves. I tell you to travel for 3 months together to know their real selves.
Slums, crazy bus rides, heat, cold, stress, hostels, safe and unsafe surroundings, lack of money, food, no buses within 2 days – that is the best relationship check and we have been through everything together.
Sadly, all good things come to an end and so did our trip, when both of us moved back home after: to Russia and to Germany. We couldn’t imagine separating after and we started searching for German language lessons for me in Berlin. I wanted to speak the language of the person I love. I did attend them and learnt the language very fast in Germany after all because all my surroundings were German…
…but I moved to Germany for a different reason: David proposed to me over Skype! Call us crazy or call us a very modern family 😉
Did I say yes?
No
I said
“Ja, aber Hallo! Natürlich!”
To get a family reunion visa you need to pass A1 German and I learnt the language in 3 weeks.
Yay! 98/100! How? I was listening to the German radio and did German tests. Every day tried to talk to my fiance in German showing my skills over Skype.
I attended A2 language lessons in Berlin and after that, I realized it was sufficient. Only practice makes perfect now.
When you speak Russian, English, Spanish, French and you understand Italian and Portuguese… you learn languages at extreme speed and nothing is a challenge anymore. I dropped the course after and learnt by listening to my husband’s friends and family.
3 Months into living in Germany we decided that the language of our family will be German. We will talk German with each other so that our children understand that this is the language of the parents and this is where we are from. That’s when I started thinking about my children’s language acquisition and my business idea came up to my mind.
Chapter 3: My children’s multilingual future
We have been living in Berlin for 5 years but then my husband’s work took him to Munich.
I adore both cities they are incredibly different. I am very happy in Munich.
But then we are a very mobile and flexible family.
A good offer from Dubai or Armenia? We would move.
We were traveling in Australia and Asia for several weeks with a baby and road-tripping a lot in Europe.
I am happy to be surrounded by 5 languages because languages are alive when you are having daily practice.
First I wanted to fulfil my parents’ dreams but then
they became my own.
My grandfather and grandmother spoke Belarussian and Russian. My mother was very sad that she wouldn’t speak Belarussian.
Everything your parents give you in your childhood will highly contribute to your future. Dedicate learning languages and travelling to your child from start!
Multilingual life is my goal and my children will speak multiple languages to understand the world better. My children speak strictly Russian with me. They speak German to the father. They attend a French Kindergarten.
Many people ask me why not English? It is such an easy language, they will pick it up in school. I want them to think, dream, express themselves, read lyrics in both German and Russian as first priority. English will follow!
My children have 2 passports: German and Russian. We travel a lot around the world. We have just done a Portugal road trip with both of them, we flew to Singapore as well. There are no challenges for ambitious people!
Life doesn’t stop when you have children!
I combined self-integration into the country, children education, and language passion for my business.
I do language coaching for those parents who would like to raise children bilingual or multilingual. I am organizing seminars, workshops and private counselling locally and online. Because globalization is the future, there are a lot of mixed families, who often raise children in another country.
I started to build my community from the Russian newspaper in Berlin where I was a columnist writing on multilingual matters. I am in touch with journalists and bloggers in Europe, Russia and Asia to promote bilingual education for children.
I realized that the literature I read in English, German, French and Spanish is very helpful for parents, but is not available for Russian – speakers hence I started translating articles and preparing Pinterest checklists, helpful books to raise children and started teaching Business Russian to professionals.
Which languages will your children speak depends only on you! On the parents. Children copy your behavior that’s why you need to promote languages on your own. Don’t wait for kindergarten or school, from an early age you can already contribute to their language development.
I am bringing parents locally together so they can exchange experience and speak of their children because there is no single language and there is no right approach. It is very unique and I love to hear the language stories.
Pay a visit to my website and tell me the language story of your family. I am happy to help!
