28 winners

"Kids fit for Europe" 2023 language competition - award ceremony at the VBKI

Ceremonial award ceremony in the Goldberger Hall of the VBKI: 28 Berlin students from grades 6, 8 and 10/11 honored.

The motto of this year's language competition was "Nobody's perfect", a beautiful motto chosen by the pupils themselves for the very first time. All participants had written down their thoughts on this motto in short stories or poems, some serious but some humorous, which they wrote in a foreign language. Impressive!

In her welcoming address, VBKI Managing Director Ute Weiland said: "What could be more important in these times than giving young people the linguistic tools to be open-minded and have an unprejudiced view of other cultures and countries? We at Verein Berliner Kaufleute und Industrieller (VBKI) are pleased - and also a little proud - to have been on board as supporters and sponsors of the competition for 20 years. It has always been an honor and a great pleasure for us to present the annual awards to the European students. It is simply an incredible pleasure to see how talented and committed the upcoming Berlin generations are!"

Dr. Mark Hamprecht, Head of the Department for Foreign Language Policy at the Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family, sees learning a foreign language as a key to a good future. It is a key that helps unlock the door to professional fulfillment because foreign languages promote mobility and flexibility.

The award ceremony was accompanied by a colorful music program, which in its diversity once again underlined the positive side of multilingualism.

Congratulations to everyone who took part in this phenomenal competition!

And: You can find the winning texts here - recommended reading!