Vietnamese language among optional subjects at Malaysian university
The Vietnamese language and culture is an optional subject at the Universiti Malaya (UM) - one of the top public universities in Malaysia.
About 100-140 students at the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics (FLL) of the university are learning Vietnamese language and culture, said Dean of the FLL Prof. Surinderpal Kaur.
The students are from Malaysia, China, India, and Indonesia. Meanwhile, the faculty has offered courses for its undergraduate programme with nine language subjects - Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish and Tamil.
The FLL was initially set up as a Language Centre in 1972, responsible for conducting language courses relevant to the needs of the university. The FLL offered Vietnamese language courses from its establishment until 2017 when its only Vietnamese lecturer retired.
Vietnamese language and culture courses were resumed in 2023 after the faculty employed Vietnamese Master of Linguistics Nguyen Thuy Thien Huong who is said to having inspired FLL staff and students to learn more about Vietnam.
Prof. Surinderpal said that the faculty is cooperating with the Malaysia - Vietnam Friendship Association on student exchange programmes, with the desire to build a separate programnme on the two countries’ cooperation.
It also plans to develop a curriculum providing comprehensive Vietnamese courses from primary to advanced levels. It also wants to organise activities to promote Vietnamese culture such as cooking classes, Vietnamese traditional music classes, tours, and Vietnamese movie screenings.
At the celebration of the 52nd founding anniversary of the FLL held on June 13, Vietnamese coffee and typical dishes such as spring rolls and banh mi (Vietnamese sandwich filled with pâté, cold meats, and vegetables) were introduced, attracting many visitors to the Vietnam booth.
