source name:http://www.hindu.com/2011/04/08/stories/2011040850400200.htm
Bangalore: Knowledge of a foreign language sits very nicely in a CV. No wonder there is an explosion in the number of those learning a new tongue as it opens up career opportunities as well as helps understand the literature and culture of other countries. In Bangalore, there are many who beat a path to the door of institutes offering courses in Spanish, German, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, French, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic and Dutch among others.
professionals and homemakers are among many opting to study foreign languages either as part of their curriculum, for professional reasons or purely with the passion to learn.
Pallav Ghosh, who works in Oracle as a foreign language expert, has done his graduation and masters in Russian along with a certificate course in Portuguese. “My love for Russian literature drew me to study it. I learnt Portuguese as business between the two countries is booming and career opportunities are opening up,” he said.
Translators in demand
As India’s tourism is developing and many multinational companies opening their offices here, translators are now very busy. There is great demand for German, French and Japanese in the city, said Vikram Malhotra, proprietor of Vidushi Academy which offers courses in German, French, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese. “Spanish and Portuguese do not have many takers but they have huge scope as South American and Portuguese markets are opening up,” he said.
Young people are opting to learn foreign languages as a base for further studies. Karthik Adithya, a journalism student, has learnt German as he plans to pursue his higher studies in international politics. “After learning German I have grown to appreciate German movies,” he adds.
Tech professionals
People employed in BPOs, call centres and software professionals who are posted abroad queue up to learn the respective languages. Hari Joshi, proprietor of Foreign Language Institute, says: “Senior directors, CEOs of companies and Americans posted in India are learning foreign languages. Many MBA graduates and engineers also apply for the courses.”
Just for the love of it
And then there are those who come merely for the love of the language. Jyotsna S., has been learning Japanese for the last two years from Sakuraa Nihongo Resource Center. “I started learning Japanese as I found it interesting. It is very challenging to learn the three Japanese scripts. But now because I have learnt the language, I’m exposed to the world of Japanese media,” she said.
