There is enough to say about SOAS IV 2012 itself. The tournament was outstandingly well organised for a British tournament. That is to say that it would still be considered very badly organised if we were to apply continental European standards. However, there was food and hostel accommodation close to the campus. With 140 teams SOAS IV is one of the largest tournaments on the Island. Because it enjoys a friendlier reputation than Oxford or Cambridge with regards to how it treats participants, about 30 ESL teams traveled to London to debate at SOAS IV. 3 of them were sent ...

This weekend a big experiment started. Seven countries, seven capitals, seven tournaments, one league: The Debating League of Europe.  With the DLE, the European debating circuit could get what the circuit has almost become already anyway: A cohesive debating scene where debaters from all over Europe regularly meet and mingle. The League provides a common framework for keeping track of results of chosen tournaments across Europe to find a winner at the end of a season. The rule is simple: The biggest tournament of the capital of a country is eligible. The DLE is open for participation for every debating society ...

And the winners are... Some tears, standing ovations and two exciting and excellent final debates - a lot of emotions at the finals of this year's European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC or Euros). Now, really, without further ado, here are the winners from two categories, ESL (English as a Second Language) and Open (open to everybody proficient enought): ...

The Cambridge Union Society invites to this year’s Cambridge IV - one of the most prestigious competitions in the debating world - from November 16 to 17. Fine judging and motions will be provided by chief adjudicators Viktor Finkel (world champion 2011),  Jack Watson (twice euros final panalist) and deputy chief adjudicators  Rebecca Meredith and Germany's Isabelle Fischer (née Loewe). Reg fee ist 85 British Pounds per team and includes five rounds of seven minute speeches, open break to quarter finals and ESL break to semi-finals, a Black tie Social (Pack your tuxedoes!) on Saturday as well as free drinks and a ...

Come to Warwick IV: On February 4, Susan Connolly, Yina Koh and Lindsay Bing are going to CA four prelims, semis and final with five-minute-speeches. Reg fee is £40, n-1 applies. Registration is already opened, more information please check the website of the Warwick Debating Society or the tournament's Facebook page. There is going to be a „fantastic club social on the Saturday night“ with lots of pizza and drinks. If you have any questions, please contact the org com at su315@sunion.warwick.ac.uk. xzy / tr

Oxford Women's Open from January 20 to 21 means debating without men – only female debaters and judges are admitted. The same is true of the chief adjudication team consisting of Catherine Murphy (Trinity College Dublin Historical Society) and Jen Coyne (Oxford Union). Catherine is a Euros finalist 2011 and also topped the tab there. Jen broke to quarters at the Euros 2010 in Amsterdam and at the Worlds 2011 in Gaborone, Botswana. Reg fee is 20 British Pound (about 24 Euros) per institution, no matter how many teams an institution sends. Mixed teams are welcome, too. Registration is already open, if ...

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 ...

Debating in London – this year’s SOAS IV is being held from October 21 to 23 in the midst of London at the campus of the School of Oriental and African Studies. Registration fee is 40 pounds, including 6 preliminary rounds, quarter finals and ESL-semis as well as a debating workshop on Friday 21st. All registered debaters will be accommodated in a Hostel. Harish Natarajan (semi-finalist Koc Worlds 2010, finalist at Amsterdam Euros 2010 as well as at Galway Euros 2011) will serve as chief adjudicator, joined by Pam Cohn (Finalist Cambridge IV 2010), Filip Muki Dobranić (WUDC best speaker ...

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 ...

The Crazy IV offers on October 15 a tournament of a very special kind. The University of Strathclyde's convenor Sorana Goga promises on the Facebook page: "We are going to bring to you a set of original motions, each one set in a fantasy world/alternate reality based either on a film or book ranging from Harry Potter to Inception and going through everything in between". The relevant books and films are to be announced shortly. But why would one organise such an uncommon debating competition? Their inspiration was their last year's successful show debate on topic "This house would tell the ...

Big names in a relatively small town - learn how Andreas Lazar saw this year's Durham Open and read the German version of this article.

The Scotsmen are calling! Let's go and compete at this year's Edinburgh Cup on October 8 and 9. It's an open, so you may "bring whoever you like for 5 rounds of 7-minute speeches over two days, with a break to a semi-final," the convenors promise on their Facebook website. They assembled a great team for adjudication: Isabelle Loewe (EUDC champiom 2006), Ben Woolgar (finalist at Euros and Worlds alike) and Dearbhail O' Crowley (chief adjudicator at the upcoming SOAS Open). They make it a fine start into the new season in fall, being "a great opportunity to get back into ...

At the confluence of the rivers Foss and Ouse lies Eboracum, or so was York called under the Roman conquerors. On May 7 this year, it will be stage to the York Open. The one-day competition is promised to be “great for Euros prep, or alternatively a good opportunity for those who would like the chance to speak with an old friend, or former speaking partner”, the convenors told Achte Minute. They offer four prelims with a direct break to final – and seven-minute speeches throughout the day. Chief adjudicator of the York Open is Tom Hosking from Oxford and Dearbhail ...

In a city, already used by Romans to relax from their exhausting attempts to conquer the British isles, an equally relaxing debating tournament was held. The Bath IV 2011 lured teams from cities of the farther vicinity into the almost mediterranean spot near Bristol: Teams from that very Bristol, Cardiff, Oxford, London, Manchester, Mainz and more came to compete against each other. Comfortable pubs and an amazingly warm weather of almost twenty degrees that led every second student of Bath to dress in short trousers and t-shirts were greeting the debaters. Near the university lake with many ducks the Bathonians ...

Debating in a sad wasteland: This year the Cardiff IV again attracted over 100 debaters mainly from Great Britain, but also from the Netherlands (Utrecht, Erasmus) and Vienna to the Welsh capital. 30 teams (plus two swings) if counted correctly competed in four rounds with seven-minute speeches over the title of winning team, best speaker and best ESL speaker. Just like last year, the Cardiff Debating Society offered quite an experience, though less teams registered and the competition was one round shorter. Cardiff itself does not have a lot to offer. Girls are wearing barely nothing on the streets despite cold ...

This weekend, VDCH debaters took part in tournaments in Stuttgart and Leeds. On top of that, our neighbors in the Netherlands have also been competing at a tournament. Three tournaments, three CA teams, three languages. Find all motions of this weekend here. Additionally, we kindly ask you, our much appreciated readers, to do us a favor: Which motion did you find the most interesting, the best to debate, the most exciting? Which one did you think was no good idea? Please do not hesitate to leave your comments below and vote for your favorite motion. ...

Wet, wet, wet - you must love England, for its weather, its guilty pleasures (deep fried chicken wings, huge burgers, chips and vinegar) and its talkative debaters. That was equally true for this year's Manchester IV in late February. With Ruth Faller (CA Galway Euros) and Sam Block (CA De La Salle Worlds) as motion setters for 80 teams, the Manchester Debating Union did a great job entertaining the debaters with regard to culinary and social needs. Particularly popular were the debate videos they had produced, playing with famous TV shows as "Dragon's Den" or "Glee", Andreas Lazar from Debattierclub ...

“Free Speech Since 1842“ – the slogan of the Durham Union Society will also apply to this year’s Durham Open on 18 and 19 June. Chief adjudicators (CA) at this tournament in the North East of England will be Ben Jasper (EUDC finalist 2008, CA of Oxford IV 2010) and Patrick Rooney (EUDC winner 2010, WUDC quarter-finalist 2011, CA of DCU Open 2011). The Durham Open is known for its open motions as well as for copious amounts of Yakka, a cocktail made of vodka, lime juice and ice, as the convenors state in their e-mail to the international debating ...

The Glasgow University will be stage to the Glasgow University Ancients on 18 and 19 March. The team cap is 40 – teams may register from now on via e-mail to debates@guu.co.uk. Chief adjudicators (CA) are Leela Koenig, CA of past year’s Amsterdam Euros, and Ruth Faller, CA of this year’s Galway Euros. The tournament offer five prelims, semis and a final at the Debating Chamber of the Glasgow University Union. Dress code: Black Tie. The final night will introduce a great lot of Scottish tradition to you: Convenor Ross Mitchell promises a three course dinner, a “ceilidh” and buckets of ...

The Leeds Debating Union (LDS) is bidding for hosting the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC or Euros) 2012. Since we have already introduced the Belgrade bid to you, Achte Minute now talked to James Wood, the prospective convenor of the Leeds bid, who revealed his excitement for organising events and projects, seven good reasons to chose Leeds over Belgrade and the adjudication team. Achte Minute: When and how did you come up with the idea of hosting next year’s Euros? James Wood: The idea of making a Euros bid was something I'd thought of before I joined the committee of the Leeds ...

For those spontaneous among female debaters: On 11 and 12 February, the Oxford Women’s Open will be held at Oxford. The name of the tournament makes you think it’s a women only tourney – yep, that’s right! Only female debaters are admitted. On the Facebook page of the event, the convenors promise two great socials – and maybe even a chocolate fountain. Moreover, a great pool of world class judges will give feedback twice as long than usual at IVs. The registration fees are 30 British Pounds (about 35 Euros). Novice teams are encouraged to register. Crash for two nights ...

Michael Saliba won the Freshers' Cup 2010 of the Oxford Union. In late November, the former president of Debattierclub Stuttgart (DCS) competed with other freshmen at the famous debating union. The Ph.D. candidate from Stuttgart won on the motion "This house would rig elections to keep extremist parties out of parliament if it could get away with it" from opening government. The Oxford Union stages this Freshers' Cup annually for students of all kinds who start or continue debating at Oxford. About 60 freshmen collected points  in five debates over the first trimester. The eight best speakers break to the final held ...

The Aberystwyth Debating Union invites to the Aberystwyth Open 2011, taking place on the 2nd of April 2011 at the Welsh Coast. Chief Adjudicator is going to be Matt Szeto, the format will be British Parliamentary. The Residents of Aberystwyth call their city simply “Aber” – it´s a Welsh seaside resort with approximately eleventhousand five hundred inhabitants, of which Prince Charles was one of them: he studied at the Aberystwyth University, whose Debating Union is hosting the ABER OPEN 2011. Because of the city being small, the organizers were kind enough to provide debaters with a “Traveler´s Guide to Wales”, ...

In the grand final on Saturday evening, Victor Finkel and Fiona Prowse of Monash A won the Cambridge IV 2010 as opening opposition in the final debate on the motion “This house believes in the virtue of a disproportional military response”. Monash A prevailed over Durham A (Pam Cohn and Guy Miscampbell), Manchester A (Sam Block and James Dixon) and Sydney Union A (Tim Mooney and Naomi Hart). Monash University is based in Melbourne, Australia. Shortly before, Rob Honig and Ali Al Khatib as Leiden B had won the ESL final (i.e. the category for speakers of “English as ...

“There's no money in Debateland!“ – pieces of wisdom abound in genuine debateland as they do in our beautiful ZEIT DEBATTEN country. I knew that from the very beginning of my British debating career when I started to attend the Leeds Debatin Union. And of course I appreciate the refreshing pint after a fervid debate. As an Erasmus student at University of Leeds I began exploring the British debating circuit a few weeks ago. Bad news first: There is no OPD (open parliamentary debate, a format developed in Tübingen, Germany) on this island! No kontaktfähigkeit (interpersonal skills), no sprachkraft (expressiveness), ...

The SOAS Debating Society continues to establish its IV as one of the largest debate competitions in Europe. On October 16th and 17th, 116 teams competed over six preliminary rounds at the School of African an Oriental Studies near King’s Cross in London. For VDCH-debaters, this was a particularly successful weekend. The final was won by Harish Natarjan and Matilda Wnek (Cambridge H). They triumphed over Cambridge E (Maria English and Jack Watson), Loyola (Emily Ravencroft and Bobby Cashen) and KCL A (Daniel Berman and Jordan Anderson). The ESL final was won by the German vice-champion and current exchange student Filip Bubenheimer ...

Manchester calling: From 25 to 27 February, the British town will be stage to the Manchester IV 2011. The conveners advertise their tournament with a funny music vid. In the past, VDCH teams have been quite successful in Manchester: In 2010, they outnumbered other associations or countries in the ESL final, while in 2009, a team from a VDCH society even won the ESL final. CAs of this coming Manchester IV are going to be Ruth Faller (CA EUDC 2011) and Sam Block (CA WUDC 2012). More information on the competition is available via iv[at]mdu.manchester.ac.uk and soon on ...

Another debating event at a venue heavy with culture: Bath, located in the south west of England and UNESCO's world heritage site, is stage to the Bath IV on 26 and 27 March 2011 hosted by the Bath University Debating Society. ...

The ICU Debating Society present their Imperial College Open Debating Competition in London. The tournament, staged on 23 October, offers 4 preliminary rounds, semis and a final. Registration will start at 8 a.m. at the Imperial South Kensington campus. Chief adjudicators are Jack Watson (Cambridge) and Ben Woolgar (Oxford). With this year’s competition, the conveners aim at defending their reputation for their strong judging pool and promote this event as a perfect preparation for competitions in Oxford and Cambridge. The registration fee is 35 British Pound per team, societies are requested to send n-1 judges. Crash is available. For more ...

The Oxford Union, maybe the best known debating society worldwide, consistently provokes media attention. Recent Daily Telegraph detection (22nd September): "Oxford Union members get sex shop discount as 'treat'". German media also jumps on the bandwagon. Süddeutsche Zeitung today (23rd September) reports headlining "Elite-Rabatt im Sexshop". In some areas several VDCH debating clubs may follow suit the Union - it may be doubted that this special area may be part of those. The discount seems to provoke debates in the Union, too. The Daily Telegraph reports: "'It's incongruous with the image of the Union, its prestigious history and the ...