On 19 September, more than 450 people from towns and communities across Colombia took part in an online information session on the vhs learning portal. The high turnout shows that there is considerable interest in accessible opportunities to learn German – and that this interest extends far beyond the capital, Bogotá, and other urban centres.
The webinar was held as part of a cooperation between DVV International and the Colombian Instituto Colombiano de Crédito Educativo y Estudios Técnicos en el Exterior (ICETEX). Both institutions have been collaborating on the ‘Deutsch Global’ project since April 2026. The aim is to provide more people with flexible and affordable access to learning German.
The vhs-Lernportal (www.vhs-lernportal.de) plays a central role in this. This digital learning platform enables self-directed learners to learn German regardless of where they live, their financial circumstances or fixed course times. Particularly in a country like Colombia, where language learning opportunities are often concentrated in larger cities, this creates new opportunities for access and – especially when combined with online courses – offers a great opportunity for people living outside urban centres.
Nationwide media coverage
The strong interest in learning German and in the vhs-Lernportal was reflected not only in the number of participants. Media outlets across the country also reported on this new opportunity, including El Tiempo, Caracol Radio, Noticias Caracol and Infobae. During the webinar, Tobias Bönemann, a German as a Foreign Language (DaF) teacher and a training instructor for the vhs-Lernportal for many years, presented the platform’s various learning opportunities for German as a Second Language (DaZ) proficiency levels and explained how learners can use them independently.
The cooperation with ICETEX combines the digital educational infrastructure of German adult education centres with the nationwide reach of a central Colombian educational institution. It forms part of the “Deutsch Global” project, which DVV International is implementing in collaboration with telc in Colombia, Kyrgyzstan and Tunisia, with the aim of improving access to German language learning and certification through its activities. The response in Colombia highlights the potential of digital resources to make German language learning accessible even in places where traditional language courses have so far been difficult to access.