Results: 52nd Annual Ontario High School German Contest

The 52nd Annual Ontario High School German Contest took place at McMaster University on April 13th, 2025. McMaster initiated the first German Contest for high school students over 50 years ago and we were thrilled to again hold this special celebration of the Contest in its birthplace. The Contest welcomed students from all over the province including participants from Appleby College, the deutsche Sprachschule Concordia German Language Association, Gary Allan Saturday School, Harbord Collegiate, and University of Toronto Schools. Our examiners were so impressed with the high caliber of language proficiency in German among the participants.

First place winners in the four categories were:

• Group 1 (beginners) Ivan Bowley, University of Toronto Schools
• Group 3 (some German background or exposure through travel) Nola O’Neil from the Gary Allan Learning Centre, Halton,
• Group 4 (extensive German background and/or travel) Leander Coshun from the Concordia German Language School, Kitchener-Waterloo.The Group 2 (students with more than one year of regular German studies) was Sophie Demsey from Concordia German Language School, Kitchener-Waterloo. For her accomplishment, Sophie will travel to Austria this summer for a two week Jugendcamp program, all expenses paid, courtesy of the Goethe-Institut Toronto, with financial support from the contest team and the OATG.

  Our thanks go to our wonderful sponsors: Goethe-Institut Toronto, Husky Food Importers, the University of Waterloo Centre for German Studies, the Consulate General of Switzerland in Montreal, the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Toronto, the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures of the University of Toronto, the Department of Languages and Literatures at Wilfrid Laurier University, Goethe Books and Media, the Ontario Association of Teachers of German, Dimpflmeier Bakery, Zeiss Corporation, and PanoCap Canada.

  Our special thanks to the faculty and staff of the Department of Linguistics and Languages, McMaster University for hosting the Contest and making the event such a success.Our thanks also go to our amazing German teachers, especially those on the organizing and testing committee: Dr. Yasmin Aly, Berit Bein, Bettina Brown, Dorothea Coskun, Jeremy Forward, Allison Grant, Susanne Kallweit, Carina Rösch, James Steele, Gabriela Szolnoki-Bourgeois, Nicola Townend, Dr. Alexandra Zimmerman, and Thomas Zuliani.

  Check out this video coverage of the event on YouTube!

  We look forward to the next Contest in 2026!

Herzlich,
Dr. Anne Popovich
Contest Chair