Taking home the gold: 105 teenagers from 61 countries are trying to make this dream come true. It's not Olympic gold they are vying for though, but Olympiade gold. And to win, they have to prove their prowess of the German language.

The 2024 Internationale Deutscholypmiade (International German Olympics), or IDO, is taking place in Göttingen, a small, historic university city in the heart of Germany, from July 15-22.

Considered the world's largest German-language competition, the biennial event gives 14-to-17-year-olds from around the world the chance to come to Germany and spend roughly one week polishing and then demonstrating their German language skills in a competitive and collaborative format. In addition to the competition, the teenagers also take part in cultural events and excursions.

Supporting a future generation of German speakers

Two main aims of the IDO, which is run by the Goethe-Institut, Germany's international cultural organization, and the International Association of German Teachers (IDV), are to strengthen interest in the German language and support young German language learners.

Globally, some 15.4 million individuals of all ages are learning German, the German Foreign Ministry found in a 2020 study on German as a foreign language, with the majority of them in Europe. 

In comparison, some 50 million individuals were learning French worldwide in 2022, according to the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF), whereas global current estimates for English language learners range anywhere from around 300 million up to 1.5 billion.

IDO can therefore be seen as a way to boost interest in German as a global language by making it more attractive and visible, says Seyna Dirani, the IDO's project manager at the Goethe-Institut. 

Just under 106,000 secondary schools offer German worldwide, the German Foreign Ministry also found. For those students learning the language, participating in the IDO gives them the opportunity to meet and connect with fellow students from around the world who are just as excited about German as they are.

Participants are accompanied by a teacher from their homeland; the educators take part in pedagogical workshops during IDO.

United by a passion for German

The students' language abilities go far beyond "Hallo" and "Danke"; all of them will have already bested many fellow students in their home countries at national-level German competitions to secure their place in Göttingen.

"Learning German and the German language unites so many young people around the whole world. It's a major thing they have in common and that brings them together in Germany, at the finals in Göttingen," Dirani explains.

Still, the students have varying future aims, which they shared with the Goethe-Institut in a pre-competition questionnaire.

Sixteen-year-old Rayyona Ibrokhimova of Uzbekistan dreams of attending a German university in the future. "I'm learning German, because in the future, I want to study German Language and Literature in Germany," she wrote. 

A goal of the IDO is to promote Germany as a place of further education or university studies. "We're pleased when young people are interested in German, and many of them are also interested in further education or work opportunities in Germany," project manager Dirani says. 

Mexican participant Robert Perez Castillo, 17, also hopes to one day perfect his German and earn a top-level language certificate. "But this doesn't mean I want to leave my home country," he wrote.

In fact, many of the participants' future stated goals have nothing to do with German; they hope to become doctors, engineers, become rich, run marathons, have families. Fourteen-year-old Jaryna Schewtschuk of Ukraine hopes for an end to war in her country.

But 16-year-old Aryee Gilberta Akuvi Yesulom of Ghana, whose passion is German, has a very specific goal: become the Ghanaian Ambassador to Germany. 

Language skills, team skills and creativity

Despite their students' differences, Dirani, who has been involved with IDO since 2022, has seen how the cohort comes together over the week. "I was very impressed with these young people, who approached each other with so much joy and motivation and openness," she says, recalling her previous IDO experience.  

In Göttingen, the participants will take part in creative workshops that help prepare them for the competition, which consists of three parts: an individual written assessment, team oral presentations and a creative group assignment. A multiperson jury will assess not just the students' language skills but also their creativity and team spirit. 

When the event is over, the participants return home with more than at their arrival.

"I think the teenagers take a lot back with them, also on a personal level. I think [IDO] strengthens their self-confidence. But they also take new friendships with them," Dirani explains. "And I think they also leave with a more open mentality toward other cultures and countries."

And while there isn't an actual gold medal to take home, the first-place finishers in each of the three evaluated language levels do get a prize.

Edited by: Elizabeth Grenier