Article:
ISSUE No.8 January - February 2007

German Language on Everyone’s Lips
The Goethe-Institut German Language Center Opens in Dubai

The Goethe-Institut German Language Center in Dubai opened officially on December 4, 2007. Many important personalities from the cultural, economic and political arenas attended the gala event at the Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre located in the Mall of the Emirates.

Among the guests of honor were HE Mohammed Al Murr, Chairman Dubai Cultural Council, HE Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, Commander-in-Chief Dubai Police, HE Johann-Adolf Cohausz, German Consul General in Dubai and Heiko Sievers, Regional Director of the Goethe-Institute for North Africa and Near East.
“Cyminology”, the jazz band from Berlin, delighted attendees with their compositions of oriental and occidental music. This international quartet with their Iranian singer Cymin Samawatic, mirrors not only Germany’s multicultural society, it also symbolizes the intercultural lifestyle of the 21st century.
The Goethe-Institut German Language Center has been offering German language courses for beginners and intermediate students since last November. Friederike Möschel, director of the center, told us that the services offered by the Goethe-Institut German Language Center are in much demand: “It is amazing to see the number of inquiries for the German language courses that are coming in daily since the announcement of our opening in Dubai. I am surprised, in a positive way, to see so many inquiries from private persons as well as businesses. Employees of German companies in Dubai make up the largest number of our German language course participants. There are also many students who see the German language studies as an attractive addition to their qualifications. We are happy to have the rewarding task of introducing the German language as an important international communications medium, especially in this region”.
Besides the Goethe-Institut Liaison Office in Abu Dhabi which opened in May of 2006, the globally active cultural institution from the Federal Republic of Germany is now also represented in Dubai with a language center.

Find more information about courses at: www.goethe.de/dubai.