German Language Olympiad at Goethe Institute
By Mariam Chanishvili
Friday, March 6
The Goethe Institute of Georgia along with the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia and the National Assessment and Examinations Center of Georgia hosted the award ceremony of the German Language Olympiad.
German Ambassador to Georgia Hubert Knirsch and Deputy Director of Goethe Institute Sascha Fabri attended the official award ceremony along with guests.
The winners of the German National Olympiad were Ketevan Kalandadze, (# 1 experimental public school of Tbilisi) and Elene Mindiashvili (# 195 public school).
Sascha Fabri noted that the International German Language Olympiad is one of the largest and most important competitions held every two years.
“62 best students of German-speaking public schools in Tbilisi and Georgia participated in the final round of the Goethe-Institut International Olympiad. I was very pleased with their presentations and overall preparation. In this case, in addition to the students' linguistic knowledge, their creativity and critical thinking skills were assessed. After the written exam, 20 selected pupils moved to the oral stage from 62 participants. The speaking part was assessed through public group presentations when the jury of the final stage of the National Olympiad was composed of representatives of the Goethe Institute, the German Embassy, the German International School and the German Language Teachers' Association,” said Fabri.
Millions of students worldwide are invited to participate in the International German Language Contest (Olympiad). 150 German learners aged 14 to 17 qualify in national preliminary rounds in over 75 participating countries and will travel to Germany.
The International German Language Olympiad is the largest German-language competition in the world, held every two years in Germany and draws students from 75 countries across five continents. To travel to Germany, 62 best students of German-language public schools of Tbilisi and regions of Georgia took part in the final round of National Olympiad of German Language. The final round consists of 2 stages: written and oral exams. After the written exam, 20 out of 62 participants will move to the speaking and presentation stage. The oral exam consists of public group presentations that assess students' creativity and critical thinking skills in addition to their language skills.
The winners of the German Language Olympiad will travel to Germany for the International German Language Olympiad on behalf of Georgia, which will be held from July 26 to August 8, 2020. The venue for the final round, which changes every two years, is the location of the Goethe-Institut in Germany. After Berlin (2016) and Freiburg (2018), this year’s edition will take place in Dresden. The participants will be guests in Dresden for two weeks. Classes taking place in Dresden include creative and journalistic writing, presentation techniques and theatrical play.
The jury of the final stage of the National Olympiad consisted of representatives of the Goethe Institute, the German Embassy, the German International School and the German Language Teachers' Association.
The International German Olympics not only motivates committed young people abroad for learning the German language.
