Goethe-Institut
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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.
It was founded in 1925 as the Deutsche Akademie (DA), and has currently branch institutes all over the world: 16 within Germany and 126 in 77 other countries. It is headquartered in Munich.
It is named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who is one of the most popular German poets of all time.
The Goethe-Institut is 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. Its president is Professor Dr. Jutta Limbach, and the General Secretary is Dr. habil. Andreas Schlüter.
The Goethe-Institut merged with Inter Nationes, a similar organisation, in 2001, and was for a short period known as the Goethe-Institut Inter Nationes.
The Goethe-Institut is also a means of strengthening Germany's international relations, as in the case of its branch in P'yŏngyang, North Korea, which celebrated its opening on June 2, 2004. With this new branch in the insular nation of North Korea, the German government wants to give the North Korean people access to sources of western information and literature.
Exams
The institute has a series of exams for learners of German as a foreign language (Deutsch als Fremdsprache, DaF). 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, 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 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. They are aimed at people who would like to study at German universities, academics and scientists.
See also
External links
- Official Goethe-Institut web site (http://www.goethe.de/) (in German)
- List of locations from the Goethe-Institut web site (http://www.goethe.de/ins/wwt/sta/deindex.htm) (in German)
- TestDaF homepage (http://www.testdaf.de/)