Mastering English
Nipuni Wimalapala
The Sri Lanka Air Force’s significance has been increased since it is
not confined to the security of the air space. Its effort is to mould
competent qualified and talented officers to undertake any
responsibility perfectly. Language skills have become a prominent
requirement as they are supposed to work in the 21 century’s high
technology-based environment.
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Sri Lanka Air Force Director Training
Air Vice Marshal K Yahampath and Sqn. Ldr. Hamza look on. |
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A dance
performance |
Language Day 2011 was held recently at Sri Lanka Air Force Trade
Training School, Ekala. It totally emphasized the importance of language
skills to master their career skills in the modern world.
Language Day has been held since 2004 as an annual event. It started
soon after the completion of English Intensive Course. In 2006, it
became a mega event with a lot of competitions in which the trainees
have enthusiastically participated. First it was entirely conducted in
English and in 2008, Tamil language was introduced. In 2009 and 2010,
the whole Air Force was allowed to participate in the event. This time
it was more interesting and there were a lot of eye catching items
throughout the event.
“The language day was initiated with the intention of providing a
stage for the affluent where the weaker is to be encouraged. During the
last decade we conducted many successful language days, some of them in
collaboration with the British Council and National Institute of
Education. At a time where the role of military forces in a post-war
phase is being raised, this effort provides a testimony to the bulk of
meaningful activities we are capable of carrying out in the present day
context,” noted Squadron Leader M Hamza Riyaff, the Officer In Charge,
Language Training.
According to Hamza, they want to improve the language skills of the
trainees and they basically target English and Tamil languages, while
Sinhala also plays a vital role. They have organized many competitions
such as dictation, handwriting, essay writing, prepared speech,
narrating stories, recitation of poems, news reading, drama, singing
solo and singing group. Most trainees really interested in these
competitions participated enthusiastically.
The Language Day 2011 was a total success which was full of
creativity and competence. The trainees were passionate and did their
best to make the day a great one. Their performances and language skills
were really good. They presented three types of dramas: comedy,
classical and realistic. There were some music items as well. Their
performances were quite eye catching which ended up in offering a great
day for the audience. The distinguished guests were, Director Training,
Air Vice Marshal K Yahampath, Consultant for the Ministry of Education,
Dr Chandra Amarasekara, Group Captain L D Gunawardena and many other
specific figures. The guests highlighted the importance of being fluent
in all three languages to excel in their career.
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