Nika was born in Iran and came to Germany when she was 6 years old. Her first language is Farsi (Persian), and this is what she usually speaks at home with her parents. "Salam" is how you say "hello" in Farsi. In addition to Farsi, English, and German, Nika also speaks a little bit of Kurdish since her family are ethnic Kurds. Kurds are an ethnic group in the Middle East who live in many different countries because they do not have their own country or state.
Emine, Sargun, and Zynep are all fairly common names at school since most students are immigrants or have parents who are immigrants. Most of their families are originally from the Middle East, with Turkey, Syria, Egypt, and Morocco being the most common origin countries. Many of these families came as refugees, especially from Syria, during the Syrian Civil War. Germany welcomed lots of refugees during this time, and Syrians are an important part of the community. Many of Germany's doctors, for example, are Syrian or from other Middle Eastern countries. Besides the Middle East, some students have families from Ukraine, Russia, Greece, Italy, Croatia, Bosnia, the Philippines, and Ghana. I also have a Spanish exchange student in one of my classes.
