--By Sujit Nath

 

The world is shrinking beyond our imagination and unlike few years back more and more Nepali students and professional are now going abroad and opting for foreign language skills to enhance their portfolio.

 

Businesses are expanding speedily and reaching even distant corners of the globe. Rapid changes are occurring in the way business transactions are conducted. Boundaries – physical and linguistic – are hence being naturally broken. 

 

Globalisation has brought countries closer to each other, and there is now increased interaction between them. In such a scenario, knowledge of a foreign language shall go a long way in enabling improved communication and understanding.

 

To attract more students many institutions are getting associated with coveted institutes such as Max Mueller, Alliance Francaise to ensure the holistic development of the students in terms of languages, which will help them in shaping their career in future.

 

We all know that the best age for a child to pick up a foreign language is when he or she has attained an age of 6-8 years. But with working parents it is not always possible for them to go to such language schools. This is because of the time and budget constraints of their parents. Therefore, many of them are offering customised course classes to suit the timing and budget.

 

A senior executive of Mafoi, a leading Indian placement agency that works for most Fortune 500 companies, says, “Our clients have BPO assignment deals not only from France and Germany, but also from Belgium, Netherlands and other countries where these two languages are spoken. Speaking in their language gives confidence in the minds of the foreign clients with regard to their overseas BPOs for it shows that they are well-equipped to handle foreign business. This also helps in building personal rapport for knowledge of a common language, which definitely helps break communication barriers”.

 

On the context of students or professional from Nepal, she said, “I have interviewed many girls from Nepal who has earned expertise in foreign language and doing quite well in USA, UK, Germany and Spain. Most of them were good at Spanish, French and German”.

 

She feels that Nepal has a great potential and especially the youths, who are talented enough to take up any challenges abroad. “They are a good professional,” she said.

 

Mainak Sen, who stayed in Nepal for long time and settled in Germany, said, “In my college days in Nepal, learning foreign language was not so popular. But I learned the language, which helped me a lot in mingle with the local culture in Germany and my profession. I have many friends in Nepal whose children prefer to learn atleast one foreign language as per their future career plan”.

 

Jackson Subedi, Director of Alta Vista,  exclusive Spanish Language School in Nepal which was founded in 2006, said, “In this fast changing global scenario language skills, and particularly the knowledge of European languages, provide a great advantage to youngsters seeking career opportunities in the ever shrinking and increasingly globalised new world order”.

 

It is not only the love and thrill of learning a foreign language alone that brings these youngsters at these foreign language teaching institutes. They are there because they feel that knowledge of a foreign language other than Nepali and English will give them a passport to a whole new world of opportunities and career options, where their language skills will count a lot. 

 

For instance, Prasanna, who learned Spanish in Nepal, believes that his knowledge of the Spanish language will come in handy not just in Spain, but also in USA and Latin America — where this language is extensively used. “The language helped in enhancing my portfolio,” he said.

 

Interestingly, according to Jackson, the Director of Alta Vista, there are students who wants to learn the foreign language to become tourist guide, which they feel is another sector which is booming every day.

 

But how will knowing a foreign language help them in their careers? 

 

 

 

The focus on creating a personalised business environment has meant that even professionally qualified people feel the need to upgrade their qualifications to stay competitive in the employment race. Multinationals, IT companies and BPOs in the country not only look for people with required technical qualifications but also those with linguistic skills.

 

 “Learning Foreign language does make a difference and candidates knowing Spanish, French or German are definitely at an advantage during recruitment. But I personally feel that in Nepal the demand for learning Spanish is higher among the Nepali students”, says Anup Satyal, a well known Spanish language teacher in Nepal.

However, some students are opting for Germany because the their education is bit cheaper and widely spoken in Austria, part of Switzerland and in most East European countries such as Poland, the  Czech republic, Hungary etc. But there is a significant number who also think it shall be very useful, in terms of their career even in India.

 

There is an increasing demand for linguistically skilled people even for interpretation and translation of technical documents, transactions and e-mails. Some opt for multiple foreign languages, for wider look in other countries to get more opportunities.

 

Another factor for Nepali students opting for multiple foreign languages the USA is no longer the only preferred destination, as several youngsters as seek employment in Europe. There are also many who seek employment in countries such as Canada (Canadian immigration authorities insist on a French language certificate), and in the once-French and German colonies of Africa, where knowledge of French and/or German is extremely beneficial.

 

In coming years youngsters from Nepal will shine more in other countries and proved to a great workforce.