Celebrating five decades of the German Language Diploma
On 16 March 1972, the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs in Germany undertook to create a "German Language Diploma", which has been offered since 1974. In 2024, the German Language Diploma of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (DSD) will turn 50 years old.The DSD is a language examination for German as a foreign language, which can be taken after several years of school-based German instruction. The German Language Diploma Level I (CEFR Level A2/B1) provides the language requirement for foreigners to attend a preparatory college in Germany, and the German Language Diploma Level II (CEFR Level B2/C1) provides the language requirement for attending a German university. In Namibia, the DSD is offered at three schools: Deutsche Höhere Privatschule (DHPS), Delta Secondary School and Namib High School in Swakopmund.
To celebrate this milestone, the three schools together with the Central Agency for German Schools Abroad, the German Department of the University of Namibia (UNAM), and the German Embassy in Windhoek, organised a DSD Camp from 26 to 26 May, funded by the Federal Foreign Office.
Fifty students from the three schools who are preparing for the DSD this year, were given the opportunity to camp on the picturesque Farm Godeis in the Khomas Hochland and engage intensively with the German language for a weekend.
In total, seven workshop units were offered, including the opportunity to invent a country, write song lyrics in German, solve an escape room in German, cook German recipes, design a picture frame, and much more. The programme was rounded off with a ride on the farm's "party bus" and a communal barbecue in the evening.
The German Embassy in Windhoek thanks all the volunteers and the farm staff who had to feed 65 hungry people, as well as everyone else involved, for making this event a success!