Which foreign language should I learn in India? Part 1

Which foreign language should I learn in India? Part 1

We are often asked this question not only by students, but also professionals, housewives, export managers, IT experts, etc. Many foreign languages can be learnt in India, some upto post-graduation level or above. However, some foreign languages have become very common nowadays, and therefore employment and professional opportunities are limited. Thus, the language to be learnt will depend on various personal factors like current education/professional background, amount of time one is willing to invest in learning, earlier foreign or Indian languages known, etc.

Below are some of the foreign languages taught in India:

• French
• German
• Japanese
• Spanish
• Russian
• Chinese
• Portuguese
• Italian
• Korean
• Arabic
• Turkish

Let us check each one of these in detail.

French: is one of the most widely taught languages in India in most schools, colleges, at the university level where MA, MPhil and PhD level courses are available. Throughout India, internationally recognized levels from A1 to C2 are also taught at the Official French Centers of the French Government - Alliance Française, as per the curriculum of the Common Framework of the European Union.

Countries where French language is used: French is a very useful language throughout the world as it is spoken in France, Luxemburg, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, many African countries, Polynesian countries, amongst others. It is one of the official languages of the United Nations and the European Union.

Script: French uses the Roman script and some accents and is therefore easy to learn for those who know English.

Employment opportunities in various industries: Knowledge of French will be useful in the industries like Automobile, Nuclear and Atomic energy, Medical and Pharmaceutical Research , Telecommunications, Technology, Aviation, Perfumes, Fashion, Hospitality, Food and Wine.

German: has a rich teaching tradition in India, with more than 100 years history! It is taught in most schools, colleges, at the university level where MA, MPhil and PhD level courses are available. Throughout India, internationally recognized levels from A1 to C2 are also taught at the Official German Centers of the German Government - Goethe Institute, as per the curriculum of the Common Framework of the European Union. .

Countries where German is spoken: Germany, Switzerland, Luxemburg, Belgium and Austria. It is an official language of the European Union.

Script: German uses the Roman script and some accents and is therefore easy to learn for those who know English. It has grammatical similarities with Sanskrit and is a preferred option for those who know Sanskrit.

Employment opportunities in various industries: Knowledge of German will be useful in the industries like Automobile, Mechanical, Chemical and Electrical Engineering, Medical Biotechnology, Recycling and Waste Management, Wind Energy.

Japanese: Different levels of the language are taught at many academies and private institutes throughout India, and in universities up to post graduation and doctorate levels. One can appear for official Japanese Government JLPT exams from levels N5-N1 and Business Japanese exams – JETRO from levels J5 to J1+.

Countries where Japanese is spoken: Japan, and immigrant communities in Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Australia and Canada.

Script: The Japanese language is written with a combination of three scripts: Chinesecharacters called kanji and two syllabic scripts made of modified Chinesecharacters, hiragana and katakana.

Employment opportunities in various industries: Knowledge of Japanese will be useful in the industries like IT, Semiconductor Industry, Electronics, Engineering, Manufacturing and Agricultural industries.

Spanish: is taught in many schools, colleges, and at the university level where MA, MPhil and PhD level courses are available. Throughout India, internationally recognized levels from A1 to C2 are also taught at the Official Spanish Centers of the Spanish Government - Instituto Cervantes, as per the curriculum of the Common Framework of the European Union.

Countries where Spanish is spoken: Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Uruguay, Venezuela.

Script: Spanish uses the Roman script and some accents and is therefore easy to learn for those who know English. It is also similar to French considering that they are both derived from the Latin language.

Employment opportunities in various industries: Knowledge of Spanish will be useful in the industries like Automobile, mechanical, chemical and electrical engineering, agriculture.

Russian: It is taught at the university level where courses up to MA, MPhil and PhD level courses are available in Pune, Kolhapur, Hyderabad, Delhi, Guwahati and Chandigarh.

Countries where Russian is spoken: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan. It is also the official language of the United Nations.

Script: Cyrillic script is used to write Russian and with 33 letters, it is not very difficult to learn.

Employment opportunities in various industries: Knowledge of Russian will be useful in the industries like Automobile, Mechanical engineering, Oil and Gas, Defense .

We will continue with the remaining languages in our next blog.