The Latest at Goethe

German as a foreign language is not easy for all tongues to learn. Some of those who do it nonetheless now met in Hamburg for the second Deutscholympiade. The contest ended with plenty of winners including the German language itself.

Admittedly, for purists and pedants, the name is a nightmare: Deutscholympiade! The word Olympiade actually describes the time between the Olympic Games and not the games themselves. Still, language is a living thing and in German the word is used this way. Hence the games in which contestants wrestle with the German language have bowed to the colloquial use of the word.

These Olympics have become very successful in Hamburg. Nearly 90 pupils from five continents came here to measure their German skills with their peers. The participants in the Internationale Deutscholympiade were between the ages of 16 and 19 and qualified for the competition in semi-finals in their home countries. They competed with one another on three skill levels and also had to solve single and group problems in a creative contest. A jury consisting of Goethe-Institut teachers and media representatives chose ten winners.

Mihaela Antonova took one of the first places. She is 16 and won over the jury with her excellent language skills and broad vocabulary in particular. She comes from Bulgaria and she and her group presented a talk show in which she played the role of a designer who only hires models if they weigh at least 65 kilos. She also wrote an impressive article about musicals in Hamburg for her wall newspaper.

Like Mihaela, many of the young people have been learning German for years, but this was their first time in Germany. The Olympics focused on investigations and talks between the teenagers on subjects such as “What do happiness and friendship mean in Germany and in my country?” or “How do I envision my future?” as well as “Are the people who live in Germany more reserved or more open than in my country?”

Boom for German in Asia

Theatre and music projects were also part of the programme. For instance, Kenichi Kiyohara and his group not only rapped on stage, but also presented a romantic love story. His personal interest in the German language is less of a romantic nature than practical: the 20-year-old from Japan plans to become a lawyer and help expand the links between Japan and Germany.

The competition lasted two weeks. For most, the cultural dialogue and meeting other young people from all over the world were just as important as winning the contest – as suits the Olympic creed: The most important thing is to take part.

In the end, even the organizers were thrilled with the results. “The cosmopolitan seaport of Hamburg was the ideal venue for the peaceful contest between guests from 46 countries,” said Klaus-Dieter Lehmann, the president of the Goethe-Institut. Matthias Makowski, head of the Language department of the institute also praised the great dedication of the teachers in the contestants’ countries.

To see how much enthusiasm there still is around the world for the German language is both an incentive and an affirmation for the Goethe-Institut. About 1,700 German teachers worldwide receive scholarships for further training in Germany every year and approximately 200,000 people take a language course either at one of the 136 Goethe-Instituts abroad or one of the 13 in Germany.

According to the latest figures from the Netzwerk Deutsch, most German learners live in Poland and Russia. On the whole, interest in learning the German language has dropped sharply in the countries of the former eastern bloc since 2000; nonetheless due to globalization Germany and its language are very appealing for many regions of the world. There is a proper boom in German learning in Asian countries such as India, but the language is also gaining in popularity in Brazil.

This was the second time that the IDO took place on German soil. The first was in Dresden in 2008. That positive experience encouraged the initiators – the Goethe-Institut and the Internationale Deutschlehrerverband – to hold another Olympics this year. The event is part of the campaign German – Language of Ideas by the Foreign Office and takes place every two years.

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With the kind support of Deutsche Welle