Participate!
Online IDO 3–7 August 2020

The Internationale Deutscholympiade is a biannual worldwide contest in which contestants can put their German language skills to the test at three different levels (A2, B1 and B2). The finals are held in a different Goethe-Institut location in Germany every two years. This year the IDO will be held in a Dresden-themed virtual space.

The finalists are determined in advance in each participating country’s national contest: the winners of the qualifying rounds then represent their country in the finals, where they compete against the world's best German learners for the top three slots at three different levels. The competition is not only about language skills, however, it’s also about intercultural skills and international teamwork. An international panel will evaluate both individual and team results.

The contest will be enriched by a programme of supporting events, which give the contestants an opportunity to get to know Germany and its culture as well as interesting aspects of the local culture. The Olympic ideals of fairness, peaceful coexistence and respect for the rich diversity of the world’s cultures will be writ large in the opening and closing events.

who is eligible?

Finalists must be high school students who have won their national Deutscholympiade and are between 14 to 17 years old at the time of the IDO in Dresden. For reasons of fairness, students who have lived for more than six months in a German-speaking country, whose native language is German or who have one or more German-speaking parents are not allowed to take part in the IDO. 

Students of German schools abroad and local private schools whose principal language of instruction and communication is German are also excluded, as are students who have already begun their studies at university. Students who provide false statements will be disqualified and/or stripped of their titles.

Each country may send two contestants to Dresden, which means they cannot field contestants in each of the three language levels (A2, B1, B2).
Unfortunately, it won’t be possible to hold a special seminar for German teachers this year. On the other hand, the contestants’ friends, family and teachers will be invited to attend a number of events on the IDO programme as virtual guests. They can virtually attend the opening and closing events as well as the awards ceremony, for example, and may even be actively involved in parts of the contest itself.

The winners of national Deutscholympiaden must register for the Internationale Deutscholympiade at their local Goethe-Institut or Goethe-Institut liaison office abroad, which also provide information about the national rounds of the Deutscholympiade. If there is no Goethe-Institut or Goethe-Institut liaison office in your country, you can register through your national German teachers’ association or the International Association of German Teachers. For further information, see the websites of the corresponding German teachers’ associations.