They learned German in Morocco—but not the dialect their bakery customers spoke
Soumia and Amal had studied German before leaving Morocco to work in a bakery. Once they were behind the counter, the two young women discovered that their language classes had left them in for quite a surprise.
Soumia El Ouardani, 30, and Amal Ajovaov, 28, arrived in Germany together in October 2023. They had already reached B1 level in German and were to train as specialist bakery sales assistants at the Raisch company in Baden-Württemberg. But from their first conversations with customers, they ran into an unexpected difficulty: Swabian dialect, widely spoken in this region of southwestern Germany.
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“This Swabian dialect is really difficult,” Amal says in a report by German public broadcaster SWR. The classes they took in Morocco had taught them Standard German, but the bakery’s regulars used words specific to their region. One of them, “Weckle,” means a small bread roll. Amal especially remembers struggling to understand customers who asked for one.
The bakery eventually put together a kind of German-Swabian dictionary to help its new recruits. The two Moroccan women also received extra language classes and support from their colleagues. Over time, conversations at the counter became much easier.
Delayed visas, then two diplomas
Getting settled had already taken some effort. Recruited in spring 2023, Soumia and Amal waited several months for their visas before joining the company in Germany in October. Once they arrived, they had to catch up on the classes they had missed. Their employer had arranged shared accommodation for them and helped them with their first steps.
Their efforts paid off. In summer 2026, the two Moroccan women completed their training and earned their diplomas. They now work at Raisch, a family-owned company with several dozen bakeries in the region. Amal already hopes to one day manage a store, or even oversee several locations.
For Soumia, their success is also beginning to inspire others in Morocco. In an interview with Lebensmittel Zeitung, she says her brother and sister, who stayed in Morocco, have also started learning German. “My brother and sister in Morocco are now learning German too,” she says with satisfaction.
