WINDHOEK - The Goethe-Institut of Namibia crowned five students as winners of the National German as a Foreign Language Competition that was held on Saturday. 

The learners will be sent on an all-expenses paid trip to Germany to experience the country, its rich traditions and culture and meet its diverse population for four weeks. 

Participating learners are from Namibian schools that offer DaF (Deutsch als Fremdspcrache) - German as a Foreign Language - subject.

This year, Goethe-Institut welcomed over 70 learners from 26 Namibian schools.
Learners from Grade 7 to 11 participated in the competition.

Irmgard Reeder, organiser of the Sprachwettbewerb was pleased with the number of participants even though they reduced the number of students this year.

“The activities that we had for them was to set them at ease and let them have fun. It should not be a typical school set up where they sit for exams but make it enjoyable partaking in their exams,’’ Reeder explained.

Learners completed a 30-minutes-long oral examination that gave them the opportunity to showcase their language skills in German. If not in an exam, learners had access to numerous activities such as dancing, making waffles, meditating, improvisational theatre and handicrafts making.

Speaking during the prize giving ceremony on Saturday, German Ambassador to Namibia Christian Schlaga commended the learners.

 “It is a pleasure to see how the German language brings young Namibians together every year and sends some of them to Germany for an authentic experience of the country. Learning German is an advantage, not only in Namibia but also on the global scale,” said the German ambassador.

This year saw the following learners rise to the top of German as a Foreign Language in Namibia: Justin Brandt (Namib High School), Max Titus (Rocky Crest High School), Panduleni Shatilwe (Delta Secondary School), Carla Vosloo (Private School Swakopmund) and Kauzemburukua Muikute (Academia Secondary School).