New Amigos enables dialogue with Russia even in difficult times
Wrote the German newspaper “Sächische Zeitung” already in 2016.
We have made a collage of language combinations on the rule booklet of our board game where we write “New” in one and “Friends” in the other. Common for all these language combinations is that they represent cultures or countries that are in or have been in conflict with each other.
The idea of the collage is to suggest that if you learn to speak each other’s language, you will get insight into each other’s cultures and be of value to each other. Moreover, when you are of value to each other, you quickly become New Friends. Hence the name of the game.
People are people on both sides of borders. People are not bad on one side of the border and good on the other. When you get to know each other, you can create friendships on grass root level and defuse tension.
It is in the DNA of New Amigos to create New Friendships across barriers, as two people with a different language can play to learn each other’s language. Both will then learn from a native speaker, so no teacher is required.
These cross-culture friendships among young people as a whole can contribute to increased dialogue, cooperation, and community in Europe and the rest of the world.
The school competition with New Amigos in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Russia is ongoing for the 16th year.
“For the German-Russian forum, this competition is one of the most sustainable projects in bilateral exchange,”
Matthias Platzeck, leader of the Forum and former leader of the German Social Democratic Party.
“Especially in politically difficult times, it is important to strengthen trust in the younger generation in German-Russian relations. Through this unique concept, the competition offers young people the opportunity to get a playful approach to Russian, which is generally considered difficult to learn. In addition to the language, the competition also provides information about the country and its people, which promotes a deeper understanding of Russian culture. This is how we build bridges between nations.”
Matthias Platzeck
