Abu Dhabi, UAE, 14 October, 2012: A UAE-based French company is stepping up efforts to entice Emirati students to choose study abroad options in France by designing new reading workshops and language courses.
The French Alliance has created the courses, which will take place in their offices in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, to help alleviate the common fears of studying in a foreign country. UAE students will receive a 45 minute taster session at the upcoming NAJAH Education, Training and Careers fair, taking place from 16 to 18 October at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.
As the second most widely learnt language after English, French is spoken by more than 200 million people across five continents. The French Alliance has been teaching the nuances of the language in the UAE since 1974 and now has more than 1,400 students enrolled, 30 per cent of whom are Emirati.
“Our aim is to move past existing perceptions of the French language and culture in order to broaden its appeal to students here in the UAE and to further their potential careers”, said Nayla Khalife, Head of Communications at The French Alliance.
“The reading workshop we will offer at NAJAH will include several games so students can have fun while mastering their comprehension skills, whereas the language course is more intensive and runs over a period of seven weeks.”
Khurram Saeed, Exhibition Director of NAJAH, said: “The importance of French has risen sharply over the past few years and we are seeing a consistent rise in the number of UAE students studying in France.
“We are also witnessing an increase in trade between the UAE and France which indicates that the country is a solid option for Emirati students to develop potential career opportunities.”
According to the French Ambassador to the UAE, trade between the two countries stood at AED12.85billion at the end of 2010 and there was a five per cent increase in 2011. There are more than 1,000 French companies based in the UAE and an increase of 10 per cent per annum is forecasted.
NAJAH is the UAE’s leading education, training and careers event. The fair is sponsored by the Presidential Guard as Diamond Sponsor, the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA) and Berkley Middle East and is supported by the UAE Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research, Abu Dhabi Education Council, and Emirates Nationals Development Programme (ENDP).
Other global universities and institutions taking part this year promoting education abroad include Education Malaysia, British University in Egypt, the Swiss Hotel Management School, the British Council, Institute of International Education from the USA, the International Group for Education Consultancy (IGEC) and IDP Education, which promotes higher education opportunities in the USA, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand.
They will face stiff competition from the dozens of locally based private and federal universities continuing their long-standing relationship at NAJAH, including Sponsors Al Hosn University, Ajman University of Science and Technology and Zayed University.
The three-day event returns with the popular psychometric assessment centre, along with the advice clinic where visitors will receive one-on-one counselling on education and careers options by qualified Emirati career counsellors.
Up to date information on the exhibition can be found at www.facebook.com/NAJAHonline.
Caption: The French Alliance is stepping up efforts to entice UAE students to study in France with new reading workshops and language courses, to be launched at the NAJAH Education, Training and Careers Fair.
For more information, please contact:
Amy Walker / Gareth Wright/ Sharrah Kapadia
Total Communications
Tel: + 971 43 369909 Mob: + 971 50 273 3832
Email: amy@totalcompr.ae / gareth@totalcompr.ae / sharrah@totalcompr.ae