From left to right: Hildegard Lierow, Sylvia Richel, Dudu Sönmezcicek, Birgit Storr, Dr. Gisela Steppke-Bruhn

Dr. Gisela Steppke-Bruhn and Birgit Storr are currently in the process of editing the German-language Letters for Parents. With a streamlined content and new layout, they will be printed in the coming year. Birgit Storr is also supervising an extra letter on “domestic violence,” which will be published in German and three other languages.

Dudu Sönmezcicek is in charge of the Turkish-German Letters for Parents series, has completed the extra letter on “forced marriage” and is currently working on two extra letters on “language development” and “language promotion,” which are supposed to be translated into nine languages.

Hildegard Lierow is responsible for school topics. Together with Sylvia Richel, she is revising the Berlin School Letters. She was also in charge of the extra letter “Underway with children” (for parents of elementary school children), which will be published in German and Turkish in February 2009.

Dr. Gisela Steppke-Bruhn and Birgit Storr are currently in the process of editing the German-language Letters for Parents. With a streamlined content and new layout, they will be printed in the coming year. Birgit Storr is also supervising an extra letter on “domestic violence,” which will be published in German and three other languages.

Dudu Sönmezcicek is in charge of the Turkish-German Letters for Parents series, has completed the extra letter on “forced marriage” and is currently working on two extra letters on “language development” and “language promotion,” which are supposed to be translated into nine languages.

Hildegard Lierow is responsible for school topics. Together with Sylvia Richel, she is revising the Berlin School Letters. She was also in charge of the extra letter “Underway with children” (for parents of elementary school children), which will be published in German and Turkish in February 2009.

The path from the initial idea for a Letter for Parents to the completion of the final version that is ready to print involves many steps and stages. The first step is always doing the research for the content. We get an overview of the publications on the subject, evaluate professional literature and make ourselves knowledgeable about the subject of the letter.

The next step is getting scientists, experts and practical specialists to work with us in advisory committees while we prepare the Letters for Parents. The various committees are an important source of information for us, and meeting with these experts is the next milestone for writing such a letter. So, we are first advised by a scientific committee, then by an expert committee from family services and the youth and school authorities, and thirdly by a committee of practicing pedagogical specialists.

The objective is always the same: What do the various experts think is important for the new Letter for Parents?

The diverse information is reviewed and systematized. Now we also know what questions still need to be solved. So we conduct new talks with the experts.

After the research has been evaluated and open questions cleared up, we come up with a concept taking the following main questions into consideration: What information is important for parents? Which messages are supposed to be communicated, what is supposed to be emphasized? What is the letter’s gist supposed to be? How do we address parents so we really reach them?

“Acting directives” are developed from this concept. They constitute a type of guideline for the author from which he or she can figure out the exact content and messages the letter should communicate and the style it should be written in. The acting directives in part already contain concrete wordings, ideas for titles and examples.

It is now time to search for an author. Once it is clear who the author will be, we hold a small workshop with him or her, discuss the matter and the Letter’s messages, clear up questions about the concept and acting directives. Once the author is sufficiently informed, it is time to start: The acting directives are transformed into a well-written Letter, the manuscript emerges.

An exciting moment for us is when the first manuscript lies on the table. We take a look: Is everything in it and is it what we had in mind? Is it the right amount of text? We enter into the next phase, editing the manuscript: We fine-tune formulations, shorten the text in some places, add information here and there, check whether the message “comes across.” Sometimes we keep editing the manuscript and reformulating paragraphs until we are satisfied with the preliminary final version.

If we think it’s a good manuscript, we ask the advisory committees involved in the Letter for Parents to check it. Now things get exciting again for us. We ask ourselves: How does the text come across, is there criticism? The Letters for Parents committees generally have various suggestions and ideas for additions, which now have to be integrated. We work further on the text, make additions and do some more reformulating.

The edited version is finally done, but the layout and graphics still have to be designed. We are also involved in this step. We check the following: Do the layout and text fit together? Do we like the new Letter for Parents? If everything is correct, then the moment with the manuscript’s final version has finally arrived. The Letter for Parents can be printed and distributed, and we look forward to feedback from our readers.

Some Letters for Parents are not only published in German but in several languages. That involves additional steps. Sometimes it does not suffice to simply translate the Letter. More is needed to really reach the parents in question. The text has to be adapted to the needs, living conditions and oral traditions of the parents. We discuss that with the respective experts and adapt the acting directives to the specific language and cultural context. Since we want to preserve the main messages of the text, we mainly adapt the examples of everyday life situations in a way that they fit the different target groups. The Letters will then be written by professional authors (native speakers), so that the final product will be lively and appealing. The adapted versions are also translated into German so that there is also always a German version of the modified foreign language Letter for Parents.

An exception are the Turkish-German Letters for Parents. They are not adapted versions of Letters originally written in German but are truly original. Considering the strong oral traditions of the target group, these Letters were conceived as a sequel – ongoing tales from a young family with Turkish background. Authors of the Letters are Kemal Kurt and Habib Bektas, well-known authors of children’s books.

Translation, adaption or a whole new concept? This question needs to be discussed each time we plan a new Letter for Parents. The answer is not always the same. Nine different language groups are involved in the preparation of our new Extra Letters on language acquisition and language promotion. You can probably imagine the interesting and fruitful intercultural dialogue this implies.