„Raus mit der Sprache“ - "Say it" Campaign aimed at learners of German

“The message is: you can be successful, and the essential element here is being able to speak German", said the federal government commissioner for integration, Maria Böhmer, outlining the campaign.

German TV presenters Collien Fernandes and Nina Moghaddam, the founder of the dancehall group Culcha Candela, Itchyban, the Magician Farid and the Green Party’s education expert in the Berlin state parliament, Özcan Mutlu, are all supporting the project. All 16 prominent supporters are portrayed sticking out black-red-gold coloured tongues.

“Here I want to motivate immigrants to learn the German language, so that they can find their way better in society and so lay the cornerstone for a shared life together” said Collien Fernandes.

The "Raus mit der Sprache. Rein ins Leben" initiative is the start-up campaign of the newly-founded Deutschlandstiftung Integration (Germany Foundation Integration) in Berlin. The present campaign is also supported by 59 German magazines and newspapers, explained Wolfgang Fürstner, managing director of the VDZ, the umbrella organization of German magazine publishers. Advertisements to the theme can be seen in April and May federal-wide in the print media.

Alongside the campaign a language school database is being launched with an integrated search machine. Through this portal it is intended gradually to make available information on all language schools in Germany.

The language school search machine is available not only in German and English but also in languages such as Turkish, Polish and Italian.