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Jom Cakap French Lah! with the Embassy of France in Malaysia

Published by SchoolAdvisor | Mar 28, 2017
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 French, a window to the world for Malaysia DSC_0057 

With more than 13,060 students learning French in secondary public school in 2016 in Malaysia (compared to 5449, 5 years ago), and more than 5,000 students in Higher Education (2,600 in 2010), French reaffirms itself as a global language that allows one to travel, study abroad, work in international organisations, and create business in emerging countries.

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For more than 20 years, HELP College of Art and Technology has welcomed schools and universities teaching French for a special French language day. This year, it was held on the 28th of March 2017. Students learning French watched francophone movies, answered quizzes on francophone countries, participate in a singing contest and were part of a talk with French speaking diplomats. The event grows every year, with 400 students in 2014 and more than 700 this time around. DSC_0053

Dr Choong Yeow Wei, President of HELP CAT

“Events as such is held to bring awareness to the importance of Francophone”, says Sophie Lafont, project manager for education cooperation. She adds that in Malaysia, people aren’t always aware of the impact of the French language. French is the third most widely used language on the web with 274 million French speakers worldwide. It is also the second most studied language in the world.

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In order to encourage students learning French and to motivate their teachers, the Education Department organises various programmes other than the Francophonie Day. The department also trains French language teachers in Malaysia to support high-quality teaching in the country. All teachers of French in national schools are trained in a six-year programme jointly initiated by the Education Department and the Ministry of Education Malaysia.

The teachers specialised in French receive a joint scholarship to spend three years in France at the University Franche-Comté/CLA in order to graduate with a bachelor's degree in FLE (French as a foreign language). The Education Department provides scholarships for teachers (schools and universities) to develop their skills during their careers (master's and doctorate). Sophie believes that the success Malaysia has had in producing nearly 14,000 French learners is because of this highly effective training programme for Malaysian teachers. There are currently 90 secondary public schools and 27 universities offering French.

 

“I travel the world learning and teaching French. Because of that, the French culture and my own culture have met and become part of me” – Madame Ku Azzuanith Ku Azmi, SMK Convent Green Lane, Penang.

 

DELF Scolaire

 

The DELF is a diploma awarded by the French Ministry of Education to prove the French-language skills of non-French speaking candidates. The diploma acknowledges 6 levels, from beginners to advanced and for each level 4 skills are evaluated: listening, speaking, reading and writing. DELF scolaire is organised every year in Malaysia by the Ministry of Education, the Alliance Française in Kuala Lumpur and the Education Department for Malaysians secondary schools.

After Form 2, students can sit for level A1 and by Form 5 students should have level A2.

 

Benefits of French for Malaysian students

 

Malaysian students who have reached the competency level of B1 can apply for the European scholarships and French scholarships to study in France. France is a popular education destination for students from all over the world because of its affordable tuition fees. Students are only expected to pay RM850 for a Bachelor’s programme and RM1,200 for Master’s programme in tuition fee. According to Monsieur Hamzah Hamsan from SMK Agama Mahad Muar, Malaysian students studying in France have repeatedly emerged as top scorers for engineering and linguistic courses. Students also have the opportunity to experience top tourist destination in the world and immerse themselves in a rich and diverse culture.

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 Monsieur Hamzah Hamsan from SMK Agama Mahad Muar

University of Malaya and Universiti Putra Malaysia are currently the only two public universities that offer French as a major. Through the programme, students are able to participate in exchange programmes to France.

 

Learning French

 

Alliance Française in Malaysia is a centre for excellence for the teaching of French as a foreign language. It offers a large variety of classes and workshops and a wide range of levels for all age groups as well as a proven expertise for corporate tailor-made classes. Teachers at the Alliance Française are qualified and experienced French native speakers that use modern French textbooks with digital content to guarantee an interactive and communicative teaching as well as an efficient and dynamic learning process.

 

“Thanks to the French language. I can meet new international friends through the programme sponsored by the Education Department. It was an amazing opportunity!”- Najah Alia, Student, University Putra Malaysia.

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