Maltese decorated with German Order of Merit

German Ambassador Bernd Braun recently decorated Maryanne Azzopardi with the German Cross of the Order of Merit, during a ceremony at his residence in Lija.

Ms Azzopardi is the officer in charge of German language courses at the German-Maltese Circle and is responsible for Goethe Institute examinations in Malta.

Ms Azzopardi has been involved in the promotion of German and in the teaching of German for more than 30 years. In 1976, she was the first Maltese citizen to obtain a German language teaching diploma from the Goethe Institute.

Since then, she has conducted many German language courses in state schools where she worked, as well as at the German-Maltese Circle, and on radio and television.

In 1982, Ms Azzopardi was involved in the introduction of German as a Foreign Language within the Bachelor of Education course at the University, and later in the launching at the German-Maltese Circle of new high-level language courses under the auspices of the Goethe Institute, namely the Mittel- and Oberstufen courses and the Großes Sprachdiplom.