John Le Carré presents Olympiad awards

Tuesday 18 June saw the official launch of the Oxford German Network and the awards ceremony for the first ever Oxford German Olympiad - with prizes awarded by author John Le Carré.

Over 40 students aged 11-18 from schools across the country, along with parents, teachers, and representatives from Oxford University and local and national cultural organisations, converged on the Bodleian Library to celebrate the launch of the Oxford German Network and the achievements of our 'Olympians'.

Describing his relationship with German as 'love at first sound', John Le Carré gave a rousing speech to the students on his own experience of German and on the joys that await them as they continue to learn about the language and culture.

Read John Le Carré's speech from the ceremony

Watch John Le Carré's speech from the ceremony

Read the Oxford Mail's report on the ceremony

Read an article on the awards in Germany's national paper the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

...and a response to the speech by a reader after he read John Le Carré's speech in the German magazine, Focus.

Read the latest (July 2017) statement on why learning German by John Le Carré