Are you eager to know about foreign languages? If yes, then this article is for you. Learning a foreign language in the 21st century has a lot of advantages. Check all the advantages, jobs and salary scopes.
With the globalization of education and opportunities in India, there are a lot of non-conventional courses that have gained popularity over the past decade. Amongst these are foreign language courses offered by some of the best universities in India.
Learning a foreign language in the 21st Century has a lot of advantages and can help your chances of employment if pursued alongside graduation. You can also pursue graduation in any of the popular foreign languages as there are a lot of bright opportunities after the completion of the course.
Some of the most popular foreign languages include French, Spanish, German, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Italian, Persian and Arabic.
Why Learn Foreign Languages?
There are plenty of reasons for which an enthusiast can learn foreign language courses. Some of the key reasons are highlighted below:
- The first and most important reason is interest. If a student has a passion for learning a foreign language, then he/she should nurture that by opting for any of the popular foreign language courses in India.
- Through a foreign language course, a student can know about the origin of that language, its cultural significance, and also the literature created on that language.
- The written and spoken format of a particular foreign language is key to learning of any foreign language courses.
- Apart from this, some foreign language learning institutes give the students opportunities to take part in dance, music, debates, etc. so that they can gain an in-hands knowledge of the language.
- With the emergence of freelancing, learning a foreign language has opened up immense opportunities for people.
- A graduate with a foreign language degree enjoys higher employability chances than a graduate without having the same.
Popular Foreign Language Courses offered by Indian Universities
Type of Course | Name of the Course | Duration |
|---|---|---|
Certificate | Certificate in Japanese Certificate in French Certificate in Russian Certificate in German Certificate in Chinese Certificate in Spanish Certificate in Italian | 1 year to 2 years (depending on the institute) |
Diploma | Diploma in Russian Diploma in German Diploma in Persian Diploma in French Diploma in Arabic Diploma in Japanese | 1 year to 3 years (varies from institute to institute) |
Graduation | B.A. in Spanish B.A. in German B.A. in French B.A. in Arabic | 3 years |
Post Graduate Diploma | PGD in Arabic PGD in German PGD in French | 1 year |
Post-graduation | M.A. in Persian M.A. in French M.Phil. in French | 2 years |
Above are some of the Most Popular Foreign Language Courses in India. You can choose the programme depending on the career path you envisage for yourself. If you want to make your career as an interpreter or translator, the right path would be to pursue graduation degree in the desired foreign language.
Diploma and Certificate courses can be opted by those who want to do either of the following:
- Want to enhance your skills in order to achieve an all-round development
- Want to hone your skills in a particular language to take up freelance projects
- Want to apply for jobs in a particular country that requires basic knowledge of its respective national language
- Simply want to enhance your CV, then certificate or diploma courses are the right options for you
There are several Foreign language courses online that a student can opt for. An online platform like EdX has free online language learning courses through which one can learn Spanish, Japanese, English, Italian etc.
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Colleges in India offering Foreign Languages
Following is the list of popular colleges in India offering Foreign Languages:
College | Language Offered |
|---|---|
Certificate in French Certificate in German Certificate in Russian | |
Miranda House University College for Women, Delhi University | Certificate in French Certificate in German Certificate in Spanish |
Diploma in Korean, Russian, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Sinhalese, Chinese and Polish. | |
B.A. (Hons) in French | |
B.A in German | |
B.A (Hons.) in German B.A (Hons.) in French | |
Certificate Course in French Language Proficiency | |
Certificate in Japanese Language, French Language, German Language, Spanish Language |
Advantages of Pursuing Foreign Languages
Extra Credit: Studying a foreign language broadens your vision and adds value to your overall education. This can be highly beneficial for arts and literature students amongst others.
Study Abroad: For those candidates who want to pursue higher education from universities abroad, studying a foreign language can work miracles. It adds a huge advantage to your CV and brightens your chances of getting good colleges.
Build a Network: Students diversity in abroad universities is broad as they come from different countries and have language influence of their home country. Knowing foreign languages help students build better communication and collaboration with other students in the universities.
International Job Opportunities: If you want to apply for jobs overseas, learning the native language of the particular country can help you a lot. In fact, in some of the countries such as Japan, France and Germany, it is important that candidates understand basic level of the native language in order to apply for work visas.
Cognitive Benefits: There are numerous cognitive benefits that one can fetch by learning a foreign language. It is said that those who are able to speak more than one language have much expertise in problem-solving and critical thinking. Apart from that, remembering and speaking more than one language makes people capable of performing multitasking and developing good listening skills.
Improves Observation Skills: According to the studies, people who are monolinguals can not notice any changes that occur in their surroundings easily. But, individuals having knowledge of more than one foreign language possess a more developed brain and can monitor things much better than others. Another benefit that is included in cognitive development is creativity which becomes more powerful with the practice of speaking and communicating in foreign languages.
Cultural Benefits: Two persons of different cultures get connected with language. If both are able to communicate in the languages of others then the cultural connections between them would be very strong. Not only that, it would create mutual respect for the languages of others. By learning a foreign language, we get connected to a new tradition, history, culture and religion of others which in turn develop empathy, tolerance and acceptance of others.
Improves Confidence: Learning a foreign language and communicating with that language will take you out of your comfort zone. As a learner, initially, you will do mistakes in front of the audience and next time you will rectify those mistakes and speak in a better way. This is a part of any language learning process which will improve your confidence in a great way.
Creates Different Perspectives: Learning a language becomes successful when you will be able to communicate in that language. By doing so, you will be sharing your cultural perspective with others and at the same time, you could see your culture through someone’s eyes. In brief, you will be able to create a completely new and different perspective for your culture and others too.
Broadens Career Opportunities: There are many jobs that require foreign language skills. By learning a foreign language, you won’t be stuck in traditional jobs. The horizon of your career will expand and your employability for some unconventional jobs will get increase. With knowledge of foreign languages like Spanish, German, French, Russian and others, you will be able to work as Translator, Foreign Service Officer, Researcher, Interpreter etc. Apart from that you will be able to perform various social media roles are well.
Job Opportunities and Salaries
Detailed below are various job opportunities and their respective salary one can expect after learning a foreign language.
Type of Jobs | About the Jobs | Salary |
|---|---|---|
Freelance Projects | You can take up freelance projects from online websites like Elance, Upwork, etc. where you will be asked to translate scripts or perform other related tasks. | Rs. 50 to Rs. 250 per page depending on skill |
Data Entry and other IT Jobs | These jobs require you to take up jobs where you have to deal with clients who speak a specific foreign language or clients from a particular country. Therefore communication and basic writing skills are a must. | Rs. 18,000 to Rs. 25,000 |
Teacher and Lecturer | You can also teach foreign languages at school or college levels. | Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 50,000 per month |
Social Media Roles | Social media is universal and there are various jobs that require you to translate social media campaigns or other posts from or to the foreign language. | Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 35,000 per month |
Interpreters | As an interpreter, you will be required to help two individuals or groups from different nationalities and languages to communicate/ negotiate by interpreting what they are saying. | Rs. 300 to Rs. 600 per hour depending on skill |
Embassy or UN | United Nations and Embassy of different countries also hire individuals who can speak foreign languages for different functionalities. | Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 100,000 per month |
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Salaries depend largely on your grasp and understanding of the foreign language in which you wish to make a career and the company that you are working with. Completing your course from a reputed university and lots of practice can help you get good jobs with high-paying salaries.
For more information on Foreign language, stay tuned to CollegeDekho!
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