GOETHE-INSTITUT

The 'Goethe-Institut' (GI) is a German non-profit organisation whose mission is to promote German language and culture outside of the German-speaking countries. Its primary concern is teaching German as a second language. The Goethe-Institut's second goal is to strengthen Germany's international cultural relations. This includes not only the exchange of films, music, theatre, literature, and the like, but also the values of civil society.

Contents

History

Organization

Exams

Recognition

Trivia

See also

References

External links

History

The Goethe-Institut was founded in 1925 as the 'Deutsche Akademie' (DA), and currently has branch institutes all over the world: 16 within Germany and 128 in 77 other countries.
The Goethe-Institut merged with Inter Nationes, an organization with certain common goals, in 2001. After an interim name "Goethe-Institut Inter Nationes" the name was shortened to the old version.
It is named after German polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Organization

The Goethe-Institut is mainly financed by the national government of Germany, and has around 3,300 employees and an overall budget of approximately 278 million euros at its disposal, more than half of which is generated from language course tuition and examination fees. The Goethe-Institut offers scholarships to students from foreign countries. Most of these scholarships, however, are aimed at teachers of German.
The Goethe-Institut has its headquarters in Munich. Its president is Professor Dr. Jutta Limbach, the General Secretary Dr. Hans-Georg Knopp; Financial Manager Mr. Jürgen Maier.

Exams

The institute has developed a series of exams for learners of German as a foreign language (''Deutsch als Fremdsprache'', DaF) at all levels: A1 up to C2. These can be taken both in Germany and abroad, and have been adapted to fit into the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEF), the standard for European language testing. There is also one exam, the ''Großes Deutsches Sprachdiplom'', which is at a higher level than the highest CEF level. Below is a table of the basic Goethe-Institut exams as they fit into the scheme:

CEF level	Goethe-Institut exam
C2	Zentrale Oberstufenprüfung, Kleines Dt. Sprachdiplom
C1	Zentrale Mittelstufenprüfung (in future C 1), Prüfung Wirtschaftsdeutsch
B2	Zertifikat Deutsch für den Beruf
B1	Zertifikat Deutsch
A2	Start Deutsch 2
A1	Start Deutsch 1

In 2000, the Goethe-Institut also helped to found the Society for Academic Test Development (''Gesellschaft für Akademische Testentwicklung e.V.''). The resulting ''TestDaF'' exams are run by the TestDaF-Institut in Bonn, the German Academic Exchange Service. They are aimed at people who would like to study at German universities, academics and scientists.

Recognition

In 2005, along with the Alliance française, the Società Dante Alighieri, the British Council, the Instituto Cervantes and the Instituto Camões, the Goethe-Institut was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for outstanding achievements in communications and the humanities.
In 2007, it received a special Konrad Duden Prize for its work in the field of German language.^[1]

Trivia

In Iran, the Goethe-Institut officially opened in Tehran in 1958, but was forced to close down in 1981 due to a diplomatic row with Germany. It reopened under the German embassy in Tehran as a "point for dialogue".
In India the institutes are called Max Muller Bhavans in honour of the famous German historian and archeologist involved in the excavation of the Indus Valley Civilization in India.

See also

★ List of Goethe-Institut locations

★ Alliance française

★ British Council

★ German American Partnership Program

★ Goethe Medal

★ Instituto Cervantes

★ Instituto Camões

References

1. 06.03.2007: Goethe-Institut erhält Konrad-Duden-Sonderpreis

External links

★ Official Goethe-Institut web site (in German and English)

★
★ List of locations from the Goethe-Institut web site (in German and English)

★ TestDaF homepage