German language skills broaden student horizons.

Local students have pinned their hopes on building their future by learning German and taking advantage of the broadening cooperation between Laos and Germany. The students, who are studying German at the National University of Laos (NUoL), gave their perspectives to Vientiane Times last week. NUoL has 36 students learning German in their the second to fourth years with the university’s Department of German Language expecting to soon receive about 20 students to begin their first year of study. Ms Mina Kongmany, a fourth-year student learning German at NUoL, said that even though German movies were her initial motivation for studying the language, her dream was to work for a Laos-Germany cooperation project run by the German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation (GIZ). Ms Mina is also learning English, which will also help her to find a job with a German project. She said learning foreign languages was a passion of hers. “It’s interesting that we can communicate with many foreign nationals in their own language. It’s better to speak German when we work with German people,” she said. Germany was the second largest bilateral donor after Japan in the implementation of the seventh (previous) National Socio-Economic Development Plan. The broadening cooperation programme between Laos and Germany as a leading industrial country helped inspire the students to learn German. Another second-year student in the German Language Department, Mr Vandarak Phavorachit, who lived in Germany with his parents for 11 years, said he could speak basic German, but that was not enough for official communication at work, so he was continuing to learn the language which he hoped to use in his future career. Vandarak’s parents run a restaurant but his goal is to be a government employee. Laos attracts many German visitors, who are ranked top among tourists from Europe, and this is another motivation for students in acquiring German language skills. Ms Anita Khounthong, a fourth-year student, whose parents operate a travel agency, said she would help her parents in the business after graduation. However, she also wanted to work for a German government assistance project. Anita said she was confident that with German language skills she could find a job in Laos, but noted that her skills would have to be pretty good. Students at the German Language Department want the German government to provide more support to the department, especially creating opportunities for students, such as study tours to Germany so they can gain firsthand experience of the culture and practise their language skills while mixing with the German people. They also wanted at least one German native speaker to lecture them at the university. By Somxay Sengdara (Latest Update October 6 , 2017 )