Celebrating 50 Years of the German Language Diploma

On March 16, 1972, the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs in Germany decided 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 appropriately, 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, organized a DSD Camp from May 24-26, 2024, funded by the Federal Foreign Office.

Fifty students from DHPS, Delta Secondary School and Namib High School, who are preparing for the DSD this year, were given the opportunity to camp on the picturesque Farm Godeis in the Khomas Highlands and engage intensively with the German language for a weekend.

In total, seven workshop units were offered on Saturday and Sunday, 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 program was rounded off with a ride on the farm’s “party bus” and a communal barbecue in the evening. Together, the students, teachers, and workshop leaders celebrated the power of the German language, which connects us and opens worlds.

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 complete success!