Barinder Saluja, Chandigarh,Oct. 15: To explore the burgeoning diversity and rich history of the German language and to bring together the natives, German language learners and aficionados of the language, German Language Day was celebrated with much fervor in Vivek High School, Sector 38 and Paragon Senior Secondary School, Sector 71 Mohali. Painting competitions were organized and the best of the three students in each school were given prizes. Students performed skits, sang German songs and presented their views on Germany.
In Vivek High School, Dr. Mathias Makowski, Head, Language Department, Goethe Institute Munich Germany gave away the prizes and inaugurated ‘German Room’ in Vivek High designed especially for German classes. Speaking on the occasion Dr. Mathias Makowski, who is also a Member of the Evaluation Commission in the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees said, “This celebration is giving us a unique chance to celebrate the richness of the German language while mingling with the students, and I am very delighted to be part of this event and celebrate my language with both native and non-native German speakers”. He further informed the students that German is one of the world’s major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Globally, German is spoken by approximately 120 million native speakers and also by about 80 million non-native speakers. Standard German is widely taught in schools, universities and Goethe Institutes worldwide.
At Paragon Senior Secondary a brilliant cultural programme was held to mark German Language Day celebrations. The programme conducted by students was conceived in Hindi and in German. A German prayer and songs were sung by the students of the school. A painting competition with the theme “Paint Germany”, was organized which was attended by about 150 students from the tricity. On the occasion Mr. Surinder Maken, Director, Goethe-Zentrum Chandigarh briefed about the Project “Schools: Partners for the future” (PASCH). PASCH is a brain-child of Hon’ble German ex-Foreign Minister Steinmayer. Under this project, the German Government has signed MOU with around 1000 schools all over the world. The partner schools are members of a global network. Their teachers are trained and offered refresher courses for teaching German as a Foreign Language in their respective schools in cooperation with Goethe-Institute New Delhi.
Mr. Eberhard Weller, Director Language South Asia, Goethe Institute also expressed their views about the importance of learning German language. He further informed the students that German is the third most taught foreign language in the English speaking world, and is one of the official languages of European Union. He exhorted to students that they should sincerely learn German if they want to become international players in their respective careers later on. The programme concluded with well choreographed Gidda and Bhangra performances by the students.