Describes experiences in teaching adults to read and discusses the following needs of illiterate adult students: a program containing adult materials and a low student/teacher ratio, teachers skilled in teaching basic skills who are knowledgeable about a variety of teaching methodologies, and a way to find and bring them into the classroom. (EL)

It was not until the end of the 1970s that public debate on the problem of functional illiteracy among adults began in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). Even afterward, Germans were reluctant to admit that illiteracy was a problem in their country. Literacy education efforts began at the local level, and the first national conference on adult…