Learning of Foreign Languages at Colleges of Hotel Management in the Context of Knowledge Application in Practice

The specificity of management in hospitality requires a vast variety of knowledge and skills of employees. The heterogeneity of the professional profiles correlates with numerous and various services which are integrated in a hotel product. Besides the practical, technical, marketing and managerial knowledge, in recent years a due attention has been paid to communication skills in direct contact between hoteliers and guests. The fundamental goal of colleges of hospitality management is to master the functional knowledge based on the optimization of the relationship between theory and practice. The curriculums of such institutions focus on foreign language learning. The approach to teaching foreign languages must synthesize basic professional expertise in hotel management, with special emphasis on communication skills. The organization of foreign language teaching, the content of the curriculum and leveling of skills will be presented in this paper on the example of The College of Hotel Management from Belgrade. Mastering communication skills in foreign languages is a priority goal of foreign language teaching at The College of Hotel Management. This objective is, in part, realized by organizing and implementing student practical training abroad, where, in direct contact with guests, the students apply their knowledge.