Bhubaneswar: We aren’t telling any tales out of school when we talk about the desire to learn a new language. In most cases, this wish is followed by vivid imagery, of a different culture, different people, different food and different scenery, than the ones we’ve been accustomed to all our life. Most of these pictures and sounds are often borrowed from the backgrounds of our favourite movies, TV shows or anime, sometimes without our own knowledge.
But recently with the world in lockdown, there have been ample opportunities for us to step back, and as the thoughts of travel and pleasure have settled down, foreign languages have started being recognised as one of the most significant forms of currency.
Stanford Language Institute was started in 2011, with offices at three different locations in Bhubaneswar until two years back. S K Khalil, the Managing Director of the institute, talks about how the lockdowns led them to pursue online classes and settle on a single offline location in Soubhagya Nagar.
“We had a few different offices and a faculty for teaching different languages like Chinese and Italian, that was in operation before the lockdown. Since 2020 the German language has been our main focus due to its high demand, along with French. This is because very recently Germany has made higher studies free for international students after having done the same for national students a while ago. The universities offer fully English taught programs and require basic German knowledge, mostly for being able to converse with the natives, and go about your day-to-day life in a foreign country,” he said.
“France also has a few such select universities offering free tuition. A lot of students migrate to France for management programs especially Hotel Management or MBA. Germany is the best for mechanical and engineering fields. Now with the COVID restrictions, more people are focusing on foreign companies in our own country and states, like SMS Group Workshop in Khurda. People are slowly coming around to the fact that after mastering a foreign language, you can work from home as a translator, interpreter or even start teaching at institutions like ours,” he adds.
“A lot of our students opt for foreign studies for their Bachelor’s or Master’s degree, or for their jobs in European countries. They have specific requirements that are classified into different levels for example A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2. The levels are set by foreign governments through their embassies and you get your certificate through exams like Goethe and Max Mueller for German. Students may choose A1, A2 basic levels as per their university requirements. A company might specify three levels for a job. We offer a three-month course, per level, at the price of Rs 15,000, including books and full access to all media libraries. We accommodate our students at the time that’s best suited for them, as we have doctors in their 40s-50s and young kids doing their schooling, all eager to learn foreign languages,” he says.
He suggests using apps like Duolingo, more as a mental alarm clock or to keep a record of how many days you’ve been studying the foreign language, instead of using them to pursue higher studies and get a degree. “There are certain YouTube series that we suggest, with entertainment shows for each specific level. The language departments of foreign governments encourage learning through sharing media about a vast array of topics on sites like DW.com of Germany,” he adds. Netflix shows and movies are good for B level intermediate learners but Khalil doesn’t think it’s as effective as some beginners would like to think.
Sai Language Institute was founded by Mamita Kar in October 2019. She started her teaching career in 2006, having completed the highest N1 level in Japanese learning, while also being adept in German and French. The singular focus of the institute is towards the mastery of the Japanese language and all the classes are carried out online, with the recordings of the classes also being available later for the students.
Mamita says the digital form of education has been tailormade for her institution, as they have admissions from Sri Lanka, Hong Kong and Thailand, along with students from different parts of India. “We had offline classes in Khandagiri and Patia, but taking things online has helped local students avoid a lot of hassle. I’ve been notified multiple times that the students are listening to a live class while travelling or even while they are present in a more social setting. The direction we took after the lockdowns turned out to be a blessing in disguise,” she says.
Japanese language is the highest target on the job market and also for higher studies. There is a common misconception about its difficulty, due to it not having English alphabets, especially among the people of Odisha. “I’ve studied German as well and I wouldn’t say that one language is more difficult than the other. We offer N5 to N1 levels which are the five different degrees in Japanese learning. N5, N4 syllabus take 3-4 months but N3 takes 7-8 months of learning, with a fee of Rs 12,000, in preparation for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. The JLPT certificate has lifelong validity, compared to a lot of other language certificates that last two years and have to be renewed after,” she says.
“Our classes also involve fun activities like creating Origami and other Japanese artworks because you need to feel the culture as well as the language and it’s just a fun activity to relax your mind before starting the studies,” she adds.
“My mother tongue is Odia, but unfortunately ever since I started teaching, I’ve witnessed a lot of apprehensions and misunderstandings towards the Japanese language among our people, that I haven’t seen in any other part of the country. These last couple of years of refocusing and reconfiguration, about the career choices that lay ahead, in the foreign language department, has caused a slow but steady change, and I am really happy to say my current batch of students are mostly from Bhubaneswar.”
