As travel curbs ease, students flock to learn foreign tongues

Offline classes have also resumed because people are not as scared as they were during the first and second waves

Governments are relaxing international travel restrictions, and students are back in significant numbers at centres teaching foreign languages.

Professionals in the IT sector, especially those with headquarters abroad, and students planning to study abroad are signing up in bigger numbers for both online and in-person classes.

German classes in high demand

At Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan in Indiranagar, the current enrolment has reached around 80% of the pre-pandemic level.

“Since Germany is known for the fields of automobile, mechatronics and alternative energy, many engineering students look to pursue higher studies there,” says Deepak, who’s the head of language courses and exams at this Indiranagar centre.

The uptake of German classes is also high at the Indian Institute of Foreign Languages (IIFL), which has centres in four neighbourhoods in Bengaluru.

“Almost 50 to 60 students sign up for German classes every month. Since Germany is student-friendly and provides free education, many students prioritise it over other countries,” says Swathi G, counsellor at IIFL.

The centre also conducts classes in French, Japanese and Spanish. Job-seekers also sign up in big numbers. “Germany is the biggest economy in Europe and it’s facing a shortage of skilled manpower, so it offers good career opportunities,” Deepak adds. Furthermore, German is spoken in Austria, Switzerland and other parts of Europe, Deepak explains why it’s a popular choice.

‘Will hit pre-Covid levels by year-end’

Offline classes are yet to begin at Alliance Francaise, which is a premiere centre to learn French. However, they have run packed classes online through the pandemic. “We take a maximum of 20 participants per class,” Zafer Mohiuddin, president of the Vasanth Nagar centre, says.

Prizma Academy in Kalyan Nagar offers coaching in German, French, Spanish, Italian, Korean, Mandarin.

“The numbers are yet to reach pre-Covid levels (at our centre) but I’m positive we will get there by the end of this year,” says founder Sahil Parnami. He believes people are not as scared as they were during the first and second waves, and they are venturing out for classes.

It takes two to three years to gain proficiency in a South Asian language whereas European languages take a year of dedicated practice, says Noor Ayisha, managing director, Forefront Academy, HBR Layout. Languages are taught at six levels at her centre, which offers courses in German, French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese and Korean.

“The learner needs to get to the intermediate level to be able to have a full-fledged conversation in a language,” she told Metrolife. Learners can go abroad once they meet university and visa requirements, and don’t necessarily have to go through all levels.

Wallet factor

The fees for European languages such as French, German and Spanish are between Rs 15,000 and 18,000 for each level (which takes 55 to 60 hours to complete). For South Asian languages such as Japanese, Korean and Chinese, the fees are higher, averaging between Rs 19,000 and 21,000.