More on increasing numbers of Europeans learning German, this time in Berlin

Some new numbers from here showing the increasing number of people from Spain and Italy in particular coming to Berlin to learn German. Not too much new but the huge drop in percentage of Turks (40% to 8%) is quite interesting.

More and more people from euro crisis lands are learning German in Berlin. According to a survey by the news agency DAPD there is a particularly large number of Spaniards and Italians in German classes.

At Volkshochschule Mitte the proportion of Spaniards has gone from 1.1% in 2002 to the current 9.72%. Italian students have gone from 2% to 6.38% percent, Greeks from 0.9% to 2.05%. Volkshochschule Mitte has 6,000 registrations per year, making it one of the largest providers of language courses in the capital.

Yearly statistics for the entire city were not done, but numbers from the Volkshochschule provide an indication. The percentage of Turks taking German language courses there has fallen dramatically, from 40% in 2002 to just 8% now.

According to state figures, the last year saw 2,500 Spaniards, 1,300 Greeks, 2,600 Italians and 456 Portuguese coming to Berlin. These numbers also take into account the number of those that left the capital.