Otjiwarongo
With tourism being an important earner of foreign currency and one of the fastest growing areas of Namibia’s economy, there is a pronounced need in the hospitality industry for Namibians who speak German.
This was revealed by German Ambassador to Namibia Christian Schlaga last Wednesday during the first-ever German Language Day held in Namibia. The event took place at Otjiwarongo Secondary School in Otjozondjupa Region.
More than 100 000 German tourists visit Namibia each year. Schlaga elaborated to New Era on the sidelines of the event that knowledge of the language could increase one’s job prospects in tourism, and with German and other foreign companies in other fields, in Namibia and abroad.
About 8 600 children and youths are learning German at 55 private and public schools in Namibia.
The German language benefits from its similarity to Afrikaans and has a prominent position in tourism and business sectors.
He said that although there are a few Namibians in the tourism industry who can speak German, there is still a great need to increase the numbers in various aspects of communication between different parties in Namibia.
According to him, there is a need to maintain the competitive advantage Namibia has in the German language, adding that no other country has it, including South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Angola.
Tourists from German-speaking countries travel wide and far and are among the world’s biggest spenders when on holiday. Therefore, the ambassador said, they appreciate to be looked after by German-speaking staff and tour guides.
“It is one of our endeavours to market this idea. This tourism industry desperately needs German-speaking staff. They (tourists) told us that there is a huge need for such people. The beauty and vast spaces of this country attract tourists. If you go around your national parks and see an elephant standing right in front of you – it’s something the average German has never seen and will never see.
“Customer service is excellent. However, many people are just pleased to be serviced in German. Many Germans, especially the upper level, don’t speak English, so they are really very happy to be welcomed in their mother tongue. This is a competitive advantage for Namibia,” he maintained.
Daniel Stoevesandt, the director at the Goethe-Institut Namibia, said they offer 16 scholarships per year in Germany for learners, teachers and other stakeholders in the education field for development of the German language in Namibia.
“Namibian schools have the opportunity to become part of an international network of over 1 800 PASCH (Partners for the Future Schools) worldwide,” he said.
However, he said, the German government is only willing to assist with capacity building when it comes to offering teachers for the German language, but they will have to be remunerated by the Namibian government when teaching in schools.
He also emphasised that proficiency in German helps one to function productively for an employer with global business connections.
Namibia is a multilingual country where German is recognized as a national language (a form of minority language). While English is the sole official language of the country, in many areas German enjoys some official status at community level.
German is especially widely used in central and southern Namibia and was until 1990 one of three official languages in what was then South-West Africa, alongside Afrikaans and English. German is the main or mother tongue of about 30 000 Namibians, a number composed roughly equally of German Namibians as well as older black speakers of Namibian Black German descent and Namibians who as children grew up in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).
There are approximately 120 million people worldwide who speak German, 90 million of them as native speakers.
In order to make this fact better known in Namibia and to inform the public about the possibilities German language skills offer to them, the Otjiwarongo Secondary School, in partnership with the Goethe-Institut Namibia and the German Embassy, hosted the first ever German Language Day in Namibia.
The focus of the German Language Day saw various activities such as games and cultural events revolving around the German language. A hip hop concert closed off the evening by a German band called Mine and Edgar Wasser.