For debaters at De La Salle Worlds in Manila today was launch day, with three preliminary rounds taking place at De La Salle University (DLSU). During preliminary rounds, no distinction is made between different language levels (Open/ESL/EFL), so especially round 1 saw a wild mix of debaters from all over the world, clashing over the motion "This house would make fathers take paternity leave", a nice and not-too-hard start into the day. ...

Heidelberg Debating A (Sven Hirschfeld, Daniel Sommer and Franzi Kriegelstein) won the final of the renown Streitkultur Cup 2011 in Tübingen. They defeated Streitkultur Pheme from Tübingen (Peter Croonenbroeck, Anne Suffel and Jonathan Spanos).Free speakers were Philipp Stiel, Lukas Windhager and Dominic Hildebrand. The final was judged by Vanessa Schilling, Tobias Kube, Oliver Hörtensteiner, Sarah Kempf and Leo Vogel. Mario Dießner functioned as president of the final debate. The audience chose Peter Croonenbroeck as best speaker of the final who was awarded with a traditional cactus. [caption id="attachment_11479" align="alignright" width="300" caption="The winners of the Streitkultur Cup 2011: Sven Hirschfeld, Franzi Kriegelstein ...

The break of Streitkultur-Cup is here: The first team to break in Tübingen is Heidelberg Debating A (Sven Hirschfeld, Daniel Sommer, Franzi Kriegelstein), the second is Streitkultur Pheme (Peter Croonenbroeck, Anne Suffel, Jonathan Spanos). Free speakers breaking: Philipp Stiel, Lukas Windhager and Dominic Hildebrand. The top-of-the-tab team Xavers Zamperl from Munich (Franziska Schuster-Städter, Almut Graebsch, Jan-Felix Schneider)were not eligible to break since the broke something else: the pro-am rule. The fresher in the team must not have started debating before September 2011. Read more on this in the German version of this article.

Debaters of Saxony-Anhalt competed in the first Saxony-Anhalt Derby. Read the German version to learn which society defeated the other.

Two of the most prestigious debating tournaments took place over the last weekends, the Oxford (November 10 and 11) and the Cambridge IV (November 18 and 19), and Achte Minute was there! Because there is a long tradition of comparison between the two Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, also this report will try to compare both tournaments since IV stands for intervarsity, a competition between universities. The first tournament that took place was the Oxford IV – which started on Friday (for international arrivals on Thursday evening) and took place at the impressive Oxford ...

SkypeDebate - online debates via Skype, initiated by Debattierclub Johannes Gutenberg. Curious? Read more on this in the German version of this article.

Please read the very, very entertaining report that Sven Hirschfeld has written for Achte Minute on the Gutenberg Cup, the expertise on carnival in Mainz and an obviously superb tournament. Please got the German version to do so. Pleeeeease!

Please check the German version of this article to read our review on two German online debating platforms, debatare.de and sagwas.net. xzy / apf

Mainz won the Gutenberg Cup! Please read the German version of this article to learn more about the details.

The final break at the Gutenberg Cup in Mainz: Mainz (prop) vs. Freiburg (opp), Free Speakers are Robert Epple (Frankfurt), Michael Powala (Mannheim) and Victoria Reuter (Heidelberg). On the panel are CAs Sarah Kempf and Torsten Rössing, by their sides Marion Seiche (president), Pauline Leopold (chair), Ruben Brandhofer, Sven Hirschfeld and Daniel Jurjew. The final motion: God is a woman.

Leonhard Weese of Debattierklub Wien is now doing his master studies in Hong Kong. Inbetween studies he finds time to take part in debating tournaments, for instance in Beijing. This time, he made it to the Hong Kong Open which was staged in Hong Kong for the second time. Read here his exklusive report from China. Being known for their academic achievements as much as their students’ performances in the natural sciences for years, Hong Kong schools look for other fields to distinguish their students. And tiger parents are too. Fully loaded with (almost) untaxed income from the plenty of booming ...

At the Masters' Cup in the famous fortress of Wartburg in the middle of the Thuringian Forest, Lukas Haffert defeated his competitors. His fellow finalists were Marietta Gädeke, Torsten Rössing and Marcus Ewald. Lukas may now call himself Master of the Masters. The exclusive tourney is hosted by Deutsche Debattiergesellschaft (DDG), the German alumni debating society. The motions read as follows: Round 1: "Dieses Haus würde Palästina als Vollmitglied in die UN aufnehmen." Round 2: "Dieses Haus bestraft eine erwiesene Falschbeschuldigung nach der Strafe, die der Beschuldigte erhalten hätte, wenn er aufgrund der Beschuldigung verurteilt worden wäre." Round 3: "Dieses Haus wandelt ...

The motion of the break semi-finals read: “Dieses Haus würde dem Wutbürger einen Maulkorb verpassen.” Semi 1: Bastian Laubner Lukas Haffert Almut Graebsch Marcus Ewald Judges: Verena Gräf, Mario Dießner, Andrea Gau, Bernd Hoefer Semi 2: Torsten Rössing Farid Schwuchow Jan Lüken Marietta Gädecke Judges: Allison Jones, Marion Seiche, Alexander Postinett, Benedikt Nufer The Masters’ Cup is the annual tournament which is staged at Eisenach since 2005. The venue for the final is the ballroom at the world heritage site Wartburg. The Masters’ style was specifically developed for the Masters’ Cup where teams will be allocated by drawing lots. In teams of two, every speaker gets ...

A workshop on BPS was the reason why debaters from all over Germany assembled in Mainz where Marcus Ewald and Lukas Haffert coached participants on how to make an economy argument out of any motion. In exercises such as switch debate and oppy proppy debaters learned a lot, Teresa Widlok summed up the past weekend. Read more on this in her report in German.

[caption id="attachment_11004" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Die Berlin Debating Union leistet Aufbauhilfe im Norden Europas. Der deutsche Hauptstadtclub debattiert, trainiert und tauscht Tipps aus mit Debattanten aus der norwegischen Hauptstadt. (Foto: Manuel Adams)"][/caption] Norway is one of those geek countries who always appear superior in statistics. No other country is that richt, that educated, that peaceful and that fair. Or so so Manuel Adams sees it. Please read the German version of this article to find out what kind of development aid Berlin provided in Oslo.

The sparkling sun on wet skin, the smell of sun lotion and tasty food, motions challenging our debater-skills and interesting debates with people from Russia, Germany, Austria, Israel, Greece, England – this year’s Red Sea Open (RSO) was the perfect combination of all of that. ...

Eleven months until Belgrade Euros start - and here's some news about it in the media! Also found: More statements concerning the ESL final motion of the European Universities Debating Championsips (EUDC or Euros). And the Israeli press is delighted about team Tel Aviv winning that very final. ...

Die gute Nachricht gleich mal vorneweg: Reinhold Koch vom Debattierclub München hat das Turnier beim International Debate Camp in Porto, Portugal, gewonnen. Lest hier den Bericht von G. Rhydian Morgan, der als Debattiertrainer schon die ganze Welt bereiste - diesmal das westlichste Land Europas. It started as an idea, back in November 2010, when the first Portuguese participants attended the renowned IDAS training held annually in Slovenia. Impressed and encouraged by the quality of instruction and the intensity of the programme, a group of debaters from the University of Porto Debating Society (SdDUP) headed by their President, Ary ...

Ahhhh, summer holidays! Finally: Sleeping in, extended breakfast, enjoy the summer day, relax from school. A good book might compete with the all-too-fast online world. Uhm, well, the German delegation who went to the World Schools Debating Championships (WSDC or World Schools) 2011 in Dundee obviuosly meant to do the oppositie of all this: Long trip to Scottland, getting up early in the morning, out into Scottish weather, in to the next debate, out of the  debate, doing late night online research for the next day. Tired, hungry, disappointed by losses, totally euphoric from wins, running between venues, competing with ...

From 17 to 19 August the first women only debating tournament took place in Germany organized by the Debattiergesellschaft Jena. 16 speakers argued in five preliminary rounds and the final. Sophie Binas (Klartext Halle) and Franziska Bröker (S.A.E.C.L.O. Greifswald), the latter just finished grammar school, won the final from the position of Closing Opposition. To learn more about the tournament and its motions, please read the German version of this article. Get an impression of the tournament from the video that broadcaster Jena-TV published on their website. vro / apf

Furor on the web about the ESL final motion and more blogs and articles that report from the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC or Euros): That’s what we found for you on the internet. ...

Disclaimer: This article reflects my (Manos Moschopoulos’) own personal point of view, which does not necessarily reflect the opinion of anyone else involved with the Adjudication core or Organizing Committee of Belgrade EUDC 2012. Addendum: Manos' text refers to a Facebook group where a Dutch debater complains about the motion of the ESL final at the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC or Euros) at Galway, Ireland. This very debater, Eric Stam, has also voiced his opinion on the website of the Dutch debating assosication. By the way, the motion read "This house believes ...

Numbers, winners, facts and pictures! That and more is to be found in international media about the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC or Euros) that were held at Galway, Ireland from August 7 to 13. Since we assume that our appreciated readers do not want to waste their precious time on thorough research, but still wanna know what's going on - well, your Achte Minute team provides you with a quick overview. ...

Since we guess that our appreciated readers follow us on Twitter your head will most probably be replete with impressions from Galway Euros. But what are the facts and figures about the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC or Euros)? Or maybe you have been there yourself and want to sort things out now? Your Achte Minute team provides you with all you might want to know - and even beyond. By the way, you still might wanna follow the Hashtag #EUDC on Twitter - you'll find funny stories and how everybody copes with the ...

One week of debating, nine preliminary rounds, quarters, semis and now the final! This year's European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC or Euros) held at Glaway, Ireland, produced new champions in the open break as well as in the category ESL, English as a Second Language. ...

Diner is over, everybody is well fed, veeeery sweet "sticky toffee" fudge as dessert. But here is, what you're probably really interested in instead of our diet. Maybe the motions of the quarters? Open break quarters: "This house would never fight for King and Country." ESL break quarters: "This house would ban all EU arms companies from selling arms outside the EU." From quarters, it was the following teams who advanced to semis: ...

Wow, great applause to our volunteers here at Galway! They are doing a great job and more than deserved the standing ovations they were payed to. They're doing an amazing job. We're right now enjoying a nice and decent soial with traditional Irish music. Everybody's a little tired after nine prelims up to now - but at the same time rrrrrrrreally excited: Who is going to break tonight? Who will compete in tomorrow's quarter finals? It's a tough competition - yeah, really, what else are we supposed to say about it? It is ...

swifObama's taxation failure, donor siblings and hacking - yesterday's motions swiftly summed up. The first was about the debt deal in the United states, the second about siblings selected as donors for much looked-after tissue for their older brothers or sisters and the third was about the question if hacking is an appropriate means of protest. We hope all our much appreciated readers followed us on Twitter during the debates, so we would not bother you with boring summaries of the debates. Two great news from yesterday, the first: There was no rain! ...

“This house would bring back death penalty.“ Thus read the motion of round one. Easy starting for the first round of a major competition. Everybody would have discussed that topic before, be it as a debater or in an essay back at secondary school. On the other side, that made it quite difficult for the lower half of the tables to find good extension – opening fractions wouldn’t leave any arguments. In our room it ended up being a bit too much about psychopaths we’d say. But valid arguments on both sides helped ...

Mixing cocktails, strolling through Berlin, the German women football team losing to Japan, prospective Worlds and Euros convenors beating each other in distributing their giveaways ... All that and much more is the Berlin IV. Find here the motions, the break to (semi-)finals and the tab! And read the German version of this article to learn more about how Manuel Adams saw the Berlin IV or what it is called these days. The motions: [caption id="attachment_10365" align="alignright" width="226" caption="Convenor Dessislava Kirova talking to a participant of the Berlin IV.  (Picture: Manuel Adams)"][/caption] 1. Vorrunde: This house would financially incentivise parents to have two ...