Can foreign immigrants in Germany get some aid from the government to learn German?

1) "The Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit, BA) administers public funded professional training programmes. As shown in Table 2, 2,713,000 migrant workers liable to social security contributions worked in Germany in 2006. The number of foreign participants whose applications for a BA training programme were approved or who took a test to prove their occupational qualifications rose from 98,304 persons in 2005 and 121,705 persons in 2006 to 144,944 persons in 2007. In comparison, the total number of all such persons (i.e. including German citizens) rose from 1,054,547 in 2005, 1,247,838 in 2006 to 1,363,376 in 2007. The comparison indicates that the ratio of foreigners in BA qualifying measures slowly rose from 9.3% in 2005 to 10.6% in 2007. Since 2004, BA has furthermore organised language courses to improve the language skills of migrant workers."

"After the new law took effect, integration courses for all immigrants were established. These courses are conducted by private or semi-public providers. Integration courses are restricted to a maximum of 25 participants. The courses are mainly designed to upgrade migrants’ German language skills and therefore provide 600 hours of basic language training. Another 30 hours are assigned to so-called orientation courses. These include lessons on German history and culture as well as the political and legal systems. At the end of these courses, participants have to pass a test to receive their certificates.

Those eligible for these courses are:
- new arrivals from non-EU member states (unless it is apparent that there is little need of integration);
- ethnic migrants;
- foreigners already resident in Germany but in need of further integration (subject to course availability).

It should be noted that members of the above-mentioned migrant groups can even be obliged by public agencies to participate in an integration course if they exhibit limited knowledge of German. In these cases, immigrants could face severe sanctions if they failed to participate in the courses. Possible sanctions include:
- Cuts in social benefits of up to 10%.
- Cuts in unemployment aid of up to 30%.
- Refusal to prolong the residence permits of immigrants with foreign nationality.
Source and further information:
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/ewco/studies/tn0807038s/de0807039q.htm


2) "Folk high schools in Germany and Austria are usually funded on a local level and provide non-credit courses for adults in:
general education
vocational education
political education
German as a second language (especially for immigrants)
various foreign languages
various forms of art
information technology
health education
preparatory classes for school exams (especially for the Abitur or Matura)
This type of folk high school is currently most widespread in Germany. Because they offer preparatory classes for school exams, the German folk high schools also function as the equivalent of adult high schools in other countries. Germany also has folk high schools that are boarding schools, called Heimvolkshochschulen."
Source and further information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_high_school#Germany_and_Austria