Around The College

Goethe Exam Day 

Hello Brentwood Community! Our names are Tara and Anesshae and we are the language captains for 2022. Last week year 10 students studying German at Brentwood were give the unique opportunity to partake in an internationally recognised German exam with the Goethe Institut.

Goethe Institut is a non-profit German cultural association which operates worldwide with 159 institutes. Their goal is to promote the study of the German language abroad and encourage international cultural exchange and relations. Along with their participation is German cultural study, the Goethe Institut offers courses in German, which around 246,000 people take part in, as well as holding German exams, testing people’s ability to communicate in the German language. 

At Brentwood, year 10 German students participated in this four-part exam containing a reading, writing, listening and speaking component. The exam is referred to as “Fit in Deutsch 1” at the “A1" level, as it is the first of many exams the Goethe Institut has to offer. Upon successfully completing this exam, participants will gain a certificate, credibly demonstrating a knowledge and capability to engage in A1 level German. 

However, the day wasn’t all tests and exams, as the year 10’s spent the second half of the day in the food tech rooms, making some classic German dishes. We cooked traditional German pizzas, “Flammkuchen”, which consisted of pizza base, sour cream, caramelized onions and bacon. Of course we couldn’t forget the famous soft pretzels, each making our own delicious treats, all though the shapes may not have been perfect!  

Overall, the year 10 German student’s Goethe Exam Day was not only a unique opportunity to test our German communication skills on an internationally recognised level, but we also had a lot of fun delving deeper into German culture through food and movies. We would like to thank the amazing German Languages team who made this day possible - Frau Bruns, Frau Holl, and our language assistant Barbara – as well as the representative from the Goethe Institut. We would also like to thank Mrs Bulbul and Cathy, without whom this day would have not been possible. Hopefully this is an opportunity that future German classes will be able to participate in, further bringing the unique German culture into our Brentwood community.