Where to learn foreign languages: Courses, institutes and work opportunities

You have decided to learn a new language. The real challenge begins now. How do you go about it and what are the options to turn language learning into a full-fledged career?

Advantages of language learning

Language has become the medium of empowerment in a world where different cultures and nationalities are now blended together more than ever. Learning a new language opens newer communication avenues and opportunities — you can chat with someone from the other end of the globe and share common interests or find a job on a foreign shore that requires some knowledge of their native language. Students willing to study overseas are also going to benefit from this pursuit.

Foreign language courses:

Alliance Française Du Bengale, Kolkata

• It offers beginner, intermediate and advanced-level courses on weekdays and at weekends.
• Online courses, intensive crash courses for four weeks, a one-year specialised course for those who want to pursue French Language degrees and diploma courses are also available.
• Specially curated conversation classes are conducted on request.

• Click here for more details.

Goethe Institut — Max Mueller Bhavan, Kolkata

• It offers a basic German intensive course for 14 weeks, a super-intensive course for eight weeks and online group classes for 17 weeks.
• Self-training online courses with three months’ access to online resources and examination preparation courses for German Intermediate B1 level onwards are available
• Specialised courses for individual groups are conducted.
• Click here for more details.

Institute of Russian Language — Gorky Sadan, Kolkata

• It offers Russian courses for students and professionals.
• Six-month certificate courses and 10-month diploma and post-diploma courses are also available.
• One-month crash courses are conducted for students and professionals visiting Russia.
• Click here for more details.

Institute of Spanish Studies, Kolkata

• It offers basic, intermediate and advanced-level courses in Spoken Spanish
• Specialised classes for students and professionals willing to relocate to Spain are also available.
• Click here for more details.

Indo Japan Welfare and Cultural Association, Kolkata

• It offers basic, intermediate, senior and advanced-level Japanese courses for six months each.
• Click here for more details.

Indo Italian chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kolkata

• It offers a digital diploma course in Italian for basic, intermediate and senior levels of mastery. Each level has 44 hours of taught lessons, followed by an exam.
• Click here for more details.

The School of Chinese Language, Kolkata

• It offers express, basic, intensive and short courses in Mandarin.
• Express courses are short-term courses for visiting travellers, students and those moving to China for employment purposes; basic courses are for spoken fluency; an intensive course is designed for those who want to specialise in the language; short courses are especially designed for children.
• Click here for more details.

Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata

• It offers six-month certificate courses in 19 languages — 14 foreign and five Indian. The foreign languages include French, German, Spanish, Ancient Greek, Arabic, Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Portuguese, Persian and Russian.
• Click here for more details.

University of Calcutta, Kolkata

• The Department of Arabic and Persian offers MA and PhD courses in the two languages. You need an undergraduate degree in the same language to apply for the postgraduate courses.
• The Department of French offers diploma, MA and PhD courses in French. You need at least 45% in your undergraduate studies to enrol in the postgraduate course. You need at least 55% aggregate in your MA and at least 50% in the internal admission exam for admission to the PhD course.
• Click here for more details.

Jadavpur University, Kolkata

• It offers certificate courses in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Japanese and Chinese.
• Diploma courses are available in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, and Japanese.
• Advanced diploma courses are offered in French, Japanese and Portuguese.
• Click here for more details.

Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi

• The Centre of Arabic & African Studies (CAAS) offers three-year BA, two-year MA and five-year MPhil/PhD programmes in Arabic Language, Literature and Culture.
• The Centre for Chinese and South East Asian Studies (CC&SEAS) offers three-year BA, two-year MA and five-year MPhil/PhD programmes in Chinese. It also offers two-year certificate and diploma courses in Bahasa Indonesia.
• The Centre of French and Francophone Studies offers three-year BA, two-year MA and five-year MPhil/PhD programmes in French.
• The Centre of German Studies offers three-year BA and two-year MA programmes in German.
• The Centre of Japanese Studies offers five-year integrated postgraduate programmes. It also offers five-year MPhil/PhD courses.
• The Centre for Korean Studies offers three-year BA, two-year MA and five-year MPhil/PhD programmes. It also offers part-time diploma and certificate courses in Mongolian.
• The Centre of Persian and Central Asian Studies covers the entire gamut of language, literature and culture of Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Turkey. It offers PhD, MPhil, MA, and BA courses in Persian. It also offers BA and certificate courses in Pashto.
• The Centre of Russian Studies offers three-year undergraduate and two-year postgraduate programmes. It also offers MPhil & PhD research programmes after postgraduate studies.
• The Centre of Spanish, Portuguese, Italian & Latin American Studies offers three-year BA, two-year MA, and five-year MPhil and PhD courses in the Spanish language.
• Click here for more details

Areas with work opportunities after learning a new language:

• Academia: You can teach foreign languages at home and abroad. Language experts are in great demand at universities, professional organisations and corporates.
• Consulates/Embassies: Knowledge of a foreign language will give you scope to work in foreign embassies and consulates.
• Tourism: Government-recognised travel guides need some knowledge of foreign languages to aid tourists. Such guides are also hired by hotels and international travel agencies.
• Interpretation and translation: Interpreters are employed by consulates, embassies, immigration departments and law firms. Publishing companies and law firms hire translators. These professionals are in great demand In a connected world.