Aug. 10: Learning a new language at Cotton College soon will be a different experience, as the institution is all set to have the region’s first language laboratory.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has decided to sanction the funds required for setting up a modern language laboratory, with all facilities to learn foreign languages, at Cotton College. It has also asked the college to complete the project within a year.

Robin Goswami, head of the college’s English department said once the laboratory is ready, it would help the students, teachers as well as others learn a language perfectly. “There are many people, who can understand a particular language but commit mistakes while speaking or writing it. This happens because of poor knowledge about the technical aspects of the language,” he said.

“Not just foreign languages, many of us even make mistakes in writing and speaking our mother tongue. Considering the number of languages prevalent in the Northeast, the laboratory will immensely help the students gain excellent command over languages,” he added.

The laboratory will be equipped with teaching and learning materials in the form of audio and video cassettes, slides, gramophone records and film strips pertaining to various foreign languages.

Besides, the laboratory will try to preserve old manuscripts of different languages for study and research projects. Though Goswami could not disclose more about the functioning of the laboratory, a senior official of the college said students from outside could avail the facilities. He said the college is thinking of introducing self-financing courses on language at the laboratory, adding that language experts from different universities and colleges would also visit the laboratory.

Goswami, who suggested the idea of the laboratory after visiting Jawaharlal Nehru University sometime back, said the one at Cotton College should be set up on the lines of JNU’s laboratory.

Goswami said majority of students in the region has good command over English. “But they make mistakes in proper pronunciation of the language. Local dialects are often mixed with English, which results in mispronunciation of sentences and words,” he said.