French Minister Thanked Malaysia's Education Ministry For Promoting French Language

By Nabilah Saleh KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 (Bernama) -- For almost 20 years, Help College of Arts and Technology (HELP CAT) in Malaysia, has been a 'devoted' venue for a special French language day, but the latest event - 'Jom Cakap French lah - held recently was special as it coincided with the visit of French President Francois Hollande. Although some, if not all of the 700 student who attended the event, were slightly disappointed that the president was not present, they were however encouraged with the presence of French Minister of State for Development and Francophonie, Jean-Marie Le Guen, who came with a delegation of 12 French members of parliament. In his speech, Le Guen expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Education for its effort in promoting the French language as one of the main international languages taught in public secondary schools. He said that Malaysia's Education Minister, Mahdzir Khalid, had assured him that the ministry will continue the training of new French language teachers in order to sustain the development of the language in the country. Meanwhile, HELP CAT President and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Choong Yeow Wei, told Bernama that the special language day, which was part of the week-long annual event called Francophonie Week, has been receiving continuous and undivided support from the French government. "Through its embassy here, this long-established partnership has helped our efforts to promote the French language in Malaysia with numerous activities. Not only the language, but also its culture, values and history," he said. On this day, schools and universities nationwide teaching French are welcomed to commemorate the special event at the city campus in Kompleks Metro Pudu 1, here in Kuala Lumpur. "We realise that the French language is one of many important international languages. Thus as an important institution like HELP CAT, it is our priority as a 'teacher' to encourage students to learn as many languages as they can," he said at the event organised by the French embassy in conjunction with Hollande's two-day state visit to Malaysia recently. Ambassadors of French speaking countries namely Belgium, Morocco, Laos and Qatar, were also present at the event, apart from the 700 students from more than 25 secondary schools including from Kelantan and Terenganu. For Aini Ariffin of SMKA Maahad Muar, her keen interest to learn French has inspired her to get to know more about the country's culture and history and she has also been receiving good support from her creative and dedicated teachers. She said that she was actually hoping to meet the president at the event. "Unfortunately I think all of us here are not that lucky," said the 15-year-old girl, who represented her school with 40 others. The 'Jom Cakap French lah!' event consisted of activities in which students learning French could watch francophone movies, answer quiz on francophone countries, join in a singing contest as well as be part of a talk with French speaking diplomats. According to the French embassy here, there are 14,000 students learning French in Malaysia's secondary public schools and 5,000 students in higher education. -- BERNAMA