Language students impress Oxford judges

RIPON Grammar School students impressed judges with their language skills in a prestigious national competition run by the University of Oxford.

Tom Charlton and Yanxi Wang, both 14 years old, were runners up in their age categories and invited to attend a ceremony at Oxford’s magnificent Bodleian library.

In total, 12 RGS students from Year 8 to Year 13 took part in the highly competitive annual competition, now in its 12th year, which attracts hundreds of entries from schools all over the UK.

It is designed to challenge students of all levels to get creative with their German language skills and expand their knowledge of the culture, history and literature of German-speaking countries.

This year’s theme was animals - but from perspectives with a difference. The tasks take inspiration from the animal stories by Franz Kafka (1883-1924), who gave the German and English languages the word kafkaesk / Kafkaesque to describe a weird, disturbing experience.

Yanxi, from Ripon, said: “The prizegiving ceremony was lovely and there were several guest speakers who awarded prizes.

“Afterwards we visited the Kafka exhibition where all of Kafka's works were on display. There was also a tank of cockroaches! They gave us goodie bags which contained a book by Kafka and a cup, with an array of German foods and refreshments available to prize-winners.

“I’m really grateful to have had the opportunity to take part in this competition.”