TIM Pichkessey, an official for the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, finds great pleasure in the language’s structure and use.

“The language is like a poem because it has a rhythm,” Pichkessey said, reflecting on a month-long scholarship spent in Germany.

“The grammar is very interesting and completely different from English . . . adjectives change according the noun that follows after them. For example, ‘Das sind die schönen blume’ means ‘These are beautiful flowers,’” she added.

Not only did Pichkessey fall in love with the language but her ability to communicate in German wove a stronger communication network between her colleagues while she was working for KKEV-Cambodia, a local NGO and orphanage.

In a similar vein, Phun Sokphaos, 22, who has been studying the German language since he was 17 found the experience transformative after being awarded a month-long scholarship by Goethe Institute.

“It was life changing and [something] I never thought I would [experience]. It was such a dream,” Sokphaos enthused, emphasising the surplus of opportunities that come with being multi-lingual.

Language immersion also became a way for Kuoch Sokhuor, another winner of a scholarship funding study in Germany, to connect with the other 120 million German speakers worldwide and pad his resume.

“I got a lot of benefits from [learning] this language, I worked as a German speaking guide and a German teacher at Deutschkurse [in] Phnom Penh,” Sokhuor affirmed.