Fifteen students from Rutherford College participated in this year’s Goethe Society Oral German language competition on Saturday the 10th of August 2024 and received their prizes at a formal prize-giving at the University of Auckland earlier this week.

The Goethe Society offers a valuable opportunity for German language learners from all over Auckland to hone their language skills through its annual exam.

Students were tested in their German speaking skills  and were competing in year level groups. Heritage speakers and native speakers were tested in the Advantaged Speaker category.

The Goethe Exams have been a mainstay in Auckland for over 50 years and were designed to  enable participants to demonstrate their command of the language in realistic conversation settings, promoting the use of German as a practical communication tool.

All of our Rutherford contestants did really well and earned a range of awards, from commendations to top places, recognizing their efforts and achievements in language proficiency. Rutherford’s exchange student Louis Herbert from France won the first prize in his year level group.

Here’s a summary of the achievements:

Year 9:

Xavier Bridges: Bronze

Spencer Edwards-Mckeowen: Silver

Adam Yuan: Silver

Year 10:

Autumn Bell: Silver

Nico Curran: Silver

Daniel Day: Bronze

Lucy Day: Gold

Year 11:

Fabian Fabricius: Commended

Louis Herbert (exchange student): 1st place

Amelie Donald: Commended

Renee Lochead: Commended

Year 12:

Kaia Evans: Highly commended

Khamial Gerrard: Commended

Advanced and native speaker category:

Sophie Cosslett: Highly commended 

Amy Cosslett: Highly commended