French has emerged as the most sought-after language for those yearning to learn a foreign tongue.

Over the past few years, foreign language courses in German, French and Spanish have climbed fast on the popularity chart in the state capital.

Institutions such as the Patna Women’s College and the Amity University, Patna, have foreign language classes aiming to train students in a foreign language and providing them an edge over the others in the professional environment.

Shreyansh Rakhecha, a graduate from Amity University, Patna, admitted that the idea of learning French in college seemed funny to him at first but later, it became very interesting.

He recalled how suddenly he noticed that he had always read French words as a part of the English language but had never known their origin or understood their actual meaning.

Shreyansh said: “Learning French was like lighting a lamp that had long been kept in a dark room. Once I started learning the language, I realised how many French words we use in our day-to-day life but do not know them because of our lack of knowledge about the language.”

Sheema Rahman, a graduate from Amity University, Patna, said: “A degree in a foreign language in your resume automatically increases its worth. It boosts your confidence and makes you stand out in the crowd of job aspirants. Knowledge of foreign languages can help bag a job in an MNC and deal with international clients and audience.”

Nadia Hashmi, a second-year student of sociology at Patna Women’s College, said: “It was a great experience to learn a new language. The idea of knowing an added language motivated me to take up the course. It was also an extra benefit, like an added feather to my professional qualifications.” According to her, learning a foreign language in college was amazing because whatever I learnt earlier was under some compulsion but taking up French was her personal choice.

The foreign language studies at Patna Women’s College are certificate courses of around 15-16 days against a fee of Rs 2,000. The teaching faculty comprises a visiting teacher, Pratik Nath, who also takes classes at Amity University, where the foreign language studies are included in the mainstream course of bachelor of business administration (BBA) and the fee is inclusive.