HYDERABAD: Having a flair for languages is not everybody’s cup of tea. Some take to it very well while some don’t even get a word of the language no matter how hard they try. Nonetheless, foreign languages have started gaining popularity among youngsters mostly through movies and music initially. Now, thanks to globalisation, foreign languages offer more opportunities and an extra edge to youngsters in their rat race for that elusive lucrative job.It seems there is a sudden interest among people in the city to learn the Mandarin script, for many reasons, one of them being China’s lead in the race to become the next super power. With the global business focus shifting from the West to China, India may well lose its edge as the largest pool of English speaking population. But alternately, it may well be the largest supplier of Chinese-cum-English speaking skilled employees! From schools to universities, private institutions and corporate offices, everybody appears to be in a hurry to speak the Dragon’s language.“I love learning Mandarin. It looks like it’s difficult, but it is very easy to learn,” says Abha Singh, a Class V student of Rockwell International School, who has been learning Chinese since June this year. “I think it’s great fun and when I am conversing in Chinese, most of my friends don’t understand what I speak. So, I have an advantage over them,” she laughs. Subash Boda, chairman and managing director of Rockwell International School believes that kids can learn up to seven languages. “I think it is very important that kids learn different languages at this age as they can register them very well. Chinese is ranked as the 6th most spoken language in the world. So, not just personally, but it well help them even career-wise. There are 22 kids from grade one to 10 as of now in this course. We started it from this academic year and we teach students both basic and intermediary level. Kids seem very excited about the course, and they converse in Chinese during their recess and also we encourage them to introduce the assembly in Chinese. This way, they will be more actively learning the language,” he explains. The school has tied up with Tekiru, a language-based company which develops audio and video techniques to build the language skills. The Vivekananda Institute of Foreign Languages also has students learning Chinese. SK Srinivas, director of the institute says, “We have had a 20 per cent increase in the number of students from last year and most of the students are graduates or post-graduates. People these days have been asking a lot specifically about the Chinese course, as it is turning out to be the next destination of opportunities. China is in need of a lot of English instructors and students here are learning Mandarin to be able to teach the students there.” He adds, “There are two benefits of learning Chinese, one is you can teach English and since you can speak Chinese, there will be many offers your way.” The institute has three levels, the basic, intermediary and the advanced level and it charges `10,000, `12,000 and `18,000 respectively. Srinivas also says, “Practising the characters definitely takes a lot of time. The problem we have, is we have a shortage of instructors to teach the language.”Apart from Chinese, even French, German and Spanish have also been gaining popularity. A lot of institutes cater to teaching foreign languages. Like the English and Foreign Languages University, Alliance Francaise, Goethe-Zentrum, among others. A former student of Alliance Francaise, Nivedita Rayavarapu says, “I learnt French for almost three years and it is always an added advantage for me, since when there are projects in my office dealing with companies in France, I am always given a preferance.” Despite the gloomy economic scenario in Europe, it seems, European languages are still popular compared to Chinese. Though, things are a bit changing. Meenakshi Reddy, head of the department (German), English and Foreign Languages University, explains, “I think a lot of students take European languages like German or French when compared to Chinese or Japanese because they will have to learn a completely new script. But, whereas for Italian or French it is comparatively easier.” She also adds, “We have had a constant number of students opting for these languages and almost all the students in the German department have been placed in Deutshe Bank and many other companies. It is always a great feeling to learn a new language.” The 26th edition of Hyderabad Book Fair at Peopls’ Plaza also has quite a number of books on foreign languages. Cambridge University Press’ sales representative said, “People do not usually buy these books at the fair. We did sell a few copies in our showroom though.” But there’s no denying the employment potential of the rising super power’s language. Jagdish, who has a proficiency certificate in Spanish and Japanese from EFLU, says, “I have learnt Spanish and Japanese and am working in TCS as a spanish language expert. But I have come to know that learning Chinese could be more rewarding in the future.” He is already into learning Chinese.
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