Kreis Herzogtum Lauenburg - Willkommen- ukrainisch, russisch

Transport/passenger transport
Learning German
Bus
• Smoking is forbidden in all buses and tickets are compulsory.
The ticket must be bought before you start your from
the bus driver or at a ticket machine or at the customer centre.
Check if you and your companion could use the “ÖPNV” (=
“Local Public Passenger Transport”) free of charge.
• Always board the bus through the front door and show your
ticket. Cards with date/ time indication printed on them are
valid right from the moment and do not need to be cancelled
or stamped.
• There are one-trip-tickets, all-day and group tickets.
• Bus stops usually are announced or shown on a display.
When you want to get off, press the “Halt”-Knopf” (= “Stop”
button) before reaching the stop.
Railway
• Tickets are compulsory for train journeys. If you are checked
without being able to present a valid ticket, you will
have to pay a fine of at least € 60.- plus the ticket price for
being a fare dodger. If you travelled already several times
without a valid ticket, you might be charged with a criminal
offence.
• There are tickets for 1rst and 2nd class carriages: 1st class
(comfort) is considerably more expensive.
• Tickets can be bought through Internet (www.bahn.de),
im “Kundencenter” (= “Customer Centres”) or at automatic
ticket machines in the railway station. At the automatic
ticket machines you choose the language and enter the
departure and destination railway stations. Then you pay by
EC card or cash and the ticket is handed out falling into the
box, perhaps along with change, as the case may be. If on
the ticket is stamped “hier entwerten” (= “cancel/ devalidate
here”), the ticket must be cancelled at the stamp machine on
the platform shortly before departure.
• You will find the platform you need on the display boards
in the railway stations and on the platforms next to the
tracks. To change or get off the train, the next stops and the
side of the exit "in Fahrtrichtung links/ rechts (= “exit on
the left/ right side in travelling direction “) are announced
by loudspeakers shortly before the train reaches the stop.
Attention:
When boarding a train, pay attention for 1st and 2nd class
carriages - marked in each case with a large 1 or 2 on the
outside next to the doors. Using 1st class can result in a fine
if you bought the wrong ticket. To continue your trip on
other means of transport please look for the following
symbols:
Tram:
S-Bahn:
Underground:
Taxi:
Bus:
There are a number of different
language courses where you can
learn German.
There are a number of different language courses where you
can learn German.
An integration course consists of 600 learning units of language
instruction and of 60 units of orientation instruction,
which is intended to inform you about life in Germany (law,
culture, history). There are many different providers of integration
courses.
In addition to that there are so-called "STAFF"-courses which
are usually offered by the “Volkshochschulen” (= “Adult
Education Centres”). The Job Centres and the Employment
Agency, too, offer courses designed to teach the German
language. The same applies to offers by “BQG Personalentwicklung
GmbH” (www.BQG-Personalentwicklung.de).
In many places there are voluntary helpers who teach German
in their spare time. Sometimes language courses are
offered, sometimes language partnerships develop in which
you speak and learn German in small groups (sometimes
with only 2 persons attending).
Advice: Take every opportunity to speak German.
If you are looking for contact with German-speaking
people or have other questions, contact the Advice
Centres for Migrants of the Worker´s Welfare
Organization in Geesthacht (franziska.just@awo-sh.
de) and the Deacon´s Social Welfare Work in Ratzeburg
and Mölln (https://www.diakonie-ratzeburg.de/
adressverzeichnis-diakonie/).
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