Language Week Closing Ceremony 2012

It can be difficult to learn a new language, a language that one is unfamiliar with. However, the end results will be ever satisfying. Learning another language can lead us to an unexpected opportunity that will be beneficial in the future.

"Most people in the world are multilingual, and everybody could be; no one is rigorously excluded from another's language community except through lack of time and effort. Different languages protect and nourish the growth of different cultures, where different pathways of human knowledge can be discovered. They certainly make life richer for those who know more than one of them."(Nicholas Ostler, Empires of the Word)

The School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts (SHTCA) organized the annual Language week on 5th April 2012 at KDU University College, Damansara Jaya campus. This event trained and build students to being brave and open to speak a new language in public, instead of being shy and timid in using the language that they have learned. 

SHTCA International Language Week-Closing Ceremony 2011

It is the year 2011. This time around, the SHTCA International Language Week is still going strong after years of  organizing this annual event. Language is a very important tool to communicate with different people from all around the globe. We can make more friends, understand them better, and even hanging out with them. Besides that, learning other languages can also bring us to go further in other countries, be it in career or travelling. The Language Week closing ceremony took place at KDU Damansara Jaya Campus, Auditorium on 13th October 2011, organized by the School of Hospitality, Tourism & Culinary Arts (SHTCA).

Ms. Kitty Lee (Head of School, SHTCA) gave a very interesting and insightful speech.

"It is very heart warming to see the International Language week enjoy another year of success as we come to participate in today's closing ceremony. It is a challenge to students and lecturers to give time and effort to make this event enjoyable to all, especially the students. Congratulations! We fully recognize your dedication and enthusiasm in promoting the wider use of the importance of languages like French, German and the International language, English. Do accept our sincere thanks for your efforts in making the learning of these languages fun and interesting."

She also added, "KDU University College emphasizes on graduating a wholesome student which definitely includes proficiency in command of the English Language and a second language of either French or German. This makes our graduates bilingual and multilingual, thus, assisting them in securing global employment in the hospitality industry. As I conclude, I urge all students to continue speaking the foreign language that they have acquired . A wise man once said, "If you want to learn a language, just speak it. Yes! Just speak." Do not worry about mistakes and you will soon improve. I would like to announce that, SHTCA, established in 1987, will be celebrating it's silver jubilee, 25 years in 2012."

MAS Cabin Crew Members' German Language Graduation

Malaysia Airlines System, an official 5-star airline, and one that has won numerous awards for cabin staff service, never ceases to exceed her customers' expectations. Besides delighting customers with excellent service, the cabin crew has taken one step further - to communicate better in many other languages, which includes French, German and Spanish. KDU University College has provided this linguistic training to MAS, and as Ms Kitty Lee, the Head of KDU's School of Hospitality, Tourism & Culinary Arts, said, "KDU wants to ensure that MAS gives the best service too in her endeavour to train the cabin crew to be multi-lingual. We're proud to support them in this training."

Ms Kitty Lee presented the certificates to graduates

So, at the recent graduation held at the Malaysia Airlines Academy at Kelana Jaya, the 24 cabin crew members gave their native-speaking trainers a standing ovation as a gesture of their appreciation. Ms Janina Brill and Ms Raja Schupp were both thrilled and proud of their students, who took turns to recite a German poem.

Confidently reciting a few lines of a poem in German

(Above) Members of the cabin crew gave a standing ovation to trainers (below)
Ms Raja Schupp (left) and Ms Janina Brill

For a 120-hour course at elementary level, it was amazing to hear Andrew Nari and Norazima Othman deliver their speech of thanks, which was done very smoothly and confidently. They thanked their trainers who have been most patient with them. As Andrew said, "When we first started, we found learning numbers very confusing, but after learning about modifying verbs, we persisted, and we prevailed. Our goal was to better ourselves, not competing with each other."

A short speech by Andrew Nari (left) and Norazima Othman

Encik Md Hassan Adan, the CCLOPS Controller in his opening speech said, "There will be a lot of expectations, but remember that learning a language cannot be done over a short period of time. To master the language, you need to speak the language and communicate freely. Support will be given to you to advance to the next level, and feedback from inflight passengers will be shared with you."

Opening speech by CCLOPS Controller, Encik Md Hassan Adan

Ms Kitty Lee also encouraged them highly. She said, "Today's graduation is a testament of your drive and determination. We would love to hear the inflight cabin crew speak German during their flight from Zurich to Frankfurt and also , especially when KDU students and staff fly from KL to Frankfurt-Zurich, as we send our students twice a year to Switzerland, taking up 260 seats per year. Everyone can learn together as KDU students are also learning to speak German, besides French."

What's the advice from Ms Brill and Ms Schupp? "Motivation is the key to learning. It's very encouraging to know that you've progressed so well, and that you can now apply a wide range of vocabulary in your conversations. Continue to speak German, and we hope to see you at the intermediate level!"



Congratulations to the graduates (Deutsch - Sprachkurs, Jahrgang 01/2011):

IFS Ahmad Johari Mohd Noor
IFS Peter Chiang Boon Huat
IFS Mohamed Razi Mohamad Idrus
IFS Lee Siew Poh
IFS Nor Azizah Hashim
CS Md Jaffar Moksin
CS Andrew Nari
CSS Tamilselvi Letchumanan
CSS Ng Ai Li
CSS Salawati Sarikawi
LSS Irena Oung Phaik Keow
LSS Teoh Lee Peng
LS Bonaventure Jude Tai Yuk Tet
LS Shaharul Bahrin Naharuddin
LS Raymond Pasqual
FS Prabagaran Muthalu
FS Gabriel Karl Wing
FS Halim Hassan
FS Hazmil Nahar Mahat
FS Asril Hafiz Sabri
FSS Norazima Othma
FSS Chew Kay Leng
FSS Norhayati Baharom
FSS Fadhillah Zulkepley
FSS Yong Ciow Hon

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