The city has become a busy junction for foreign language learning

O Genki desu ka! Saalam! Kak dela! That's 'How do you do?' in Japanese, Persian and Russian respectively. And it's not just the foreign students and expatriates who're speaking these words. A whole lot of 'Puneris' are keen learners of a wide range of languages. For many years now, French and German have been extremely popular, and students have been ably taught by the Alliance Française, Max Mueller Bhavan, various language departments of colleges and private tutors. Today, institutes like Symbiosis Institute of Foreign Languages have brought even more tongues into Pune, what with courses in Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Vietnamese, Persian, Arabic and Japanese.

The Symbiosis courses are normally held in the evening for the convenience of the students. Basic conversations supplemented with grammar are taught using audiovisuals, texts, and interactive class sessions. Teachers stick as far as possible to speaking only in the language being taught. True to Pune's global aspirations, foreign language learning is in high demand, and the demand is being competently met.

Says Asavari Gupte, the foreign language coordinator and German faculty at Symbiosis, "Chinese is going to be the next big thing. It is already finding takers among businessmen who have collaborations with China and hence need it to sustain and further their trade relations. Even I am learning Chinese, but for an entirely different reason. It is a difficult language and unless I know it, how can I advise others about it?"

Clearly, in our era of global networking, knowing a new language is seen by many as a career opportunity in itself - for jobs as translators. Equally important, knowing a foreign language provides you that added edge in your career, if your company deals with clients or collaborators from different countries. This is why a number of working professionals take up foreign language courses. "I stand a better chance for a promotion or to be sent abroad if I know the language that our foreign clients speak. It is a big plus point during promotions and appraisals," says one software engineer. Then there are those who want to settle down in a foreign country and need to learn the language. Postings and permanent work opportunities abroad prompt people to learn a foreign language.

Not just working professionals but students who are yet to make their mark in the job market are also opting to learn a foreign language. It gives them an added advantage and confidence when they apply for a job in the fiercely competitive job market. Also, students who plan further studies in a foreign country want to learn all they can before they leave. Another reason to learn a new language is the desire to be constructively occupied during the summer vacations, especially post-Board exams.

And there is the most popular reason to learn a foreign language: purely for the joy of it, as a hobby. Says Deepa Kukreti, an English teacher who is learning Japanese: Learning any language, its literature and its script, is most definitely an art. Out of the 11 people learning Japanese at the institute, most are from the technical, software and chemical fields. But I have noticed that those who learn the language thoroughly are not the ones driven by the needs and wants of the job market. They are the ones who have a passion for it." Asavari remembers: "Last year a 70-year old man came to learn Spanish just for the love of learning it. He never missed a single class."

Learning a foreign language opens up a whole new world for people, fostering cross cultural relations and a better understanding of customs, attitudes and lifestyles of a country way across the globe. As the saying goes: learn a new language, earn a new soul.

Many Tongues

• There are roughly 6,912 known languages spoken on this planet. The exact number of languages may never be determined exactly.
• Chinese, Hindi, English and Spanish are the most spoken languages.
• The island of New Guinea can boast of no less than one thousand languages, an estimated one fifth of the world's languages.
• A person who speaks many languages is known as a polyglot and not a linguist.

  Khursheed Dinshaw