On Monday we had a group discussion, as a way to determine our grade for Speaking. It was a very interesting evening, and our teacher had prepared two texts beforehand, which we chose our theme from.

The discussion was about the disappearance of the Austrian dialect, in favor of a more generic German, or if it is just a transformation of the language, a normal and organic evolution. Everyone was very engaged in the discussion, and brought some really interesting questions and arguments to the table, as such the discussion which was supposed to take half an hour, extended for over an hour.

We talked about dialects, and foreigner integration, but also about language as a living part of a culture, and the importance of passing on the Austrian German to future generations. Then we extended the topic to dialects in our respective countries, how important they are and whether or not it would be easier if everyone spoke the same language. Taking it a bit further, we projected into the future, and discussed the possibility of there being only one universal language, at some point in time.

A very rich and engaging discussion, I really enjoyed being a part of it and would be very interested in joining such events in the future.