The advent of 21st century marked the beginning of the global age; a time when the entire world became one entity. With globalization, the world transformed into a small interconnected village, where businesses, people, cultures and even languages crossed the geographic barriers. Talking about languages, prior to globalization, knowledge of just one language or along with the basic knowledge of English was considered sufficient to stand apart from the crowd. However, today, when English has acquired the status of being the global language; students who want to build a successful career in the global market, need to learn foreign languages as well. The expanding market of foreign language classes stands as a testimony to this trend. But still, compared to other professional courses like MBA and engineering; students still don’t look at foreign language as career option.

Why Foreign Language Courses
One of the first question that a student will have before joining any foreign language courses would be why another language. The answer is simple ‘Demand & Supply’. The globalization phenomenon we talked means that many foreign companies have set up their base in India. While the majority of business conducted by these MNCs is conducted in English; there are some operations that need to be run in local foreign languages. Therefore, there is demand for language professionals who can run these operations and thus job opportunities. Due to this trend, many career counsellors suggest that learning a foreign language or taking up foreign language courses during school or college studies can add significant weight to your resume.
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Career Choices after completing Foreign Language Classes
There are a number of career choices for students who choose to undergo formal training through foreign language institutes. The growth potential and career prospects provided by this domain have prompted many universities and colleges to start offering foreign language classes. The biggest advantage of foreign language courses is the plethora of career opportunities in different roles that it opens up. Some of the common career options that students can join after graduating from foreign language institutes include:
- Hotel resource associate
- Interpreter
- Foreign language teacher
- government organizations
- Interpreter
- Translator for private as well as
- Language specialists
- Public Relation Officer
- Freelance Writer, Translator,
- Research Associate
- Tourist guide
- Air Hostess or Flight Steward
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Foreign Language Courses – Salary and Package Details
Now that we have established the fact that foreign language courses are indeed a good career choice; let’s have a look at how foreign language as career can be a lucrative option? Despite the general neglect among the students, formal training in foreign languages like Spanish, French and German can open up great employment opportunities. While many students pick up full-time graduation and postgraduate programmes offered by universities; some prefer short-term certificate or diploma programmes offered by private institutes like Max Mueller Bhavan, Instituto Hispania, Goethe Institut and Alliance Francaise.
Although official numbers are not available, a fresher who has completed foreign language courses in India can easily look at salary package in lakhs. Starting from freelance writers and editors, who make around Rs 1000 per hour for checking basic language and grammar; foreign language teachers and interpreters can land a package of around Rs 10 to 15 lakhs. Contrary to the belief that foreign language experts are only hired by the private sector, the Ministry of External Affairs regularly hires candidates with knowledge of foreign languages for different roles in the government departments. As far as package details are concerned, you can easily look at attractive salary package along with all the perks associated with a Sarkari Naukri.
On the other end of the things, many students who have completed their foreign language training from reputed institutes/universities have also been hired by embassies of different countries. They mostly get paid in foreign currency which can range anywhere from $20000 to $30000 for full-time employment.
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Top Foreign Language Courses in India
Considering the importance of the Foreign language courses in India and the variety of lucrative career options they offer; many students would be interested in joining them. Currently, there are two primary options available to students planning on joining a foreign language course in India.
The first is to go for full-time academic programmes offered by universities and colleges in the form of Bachelor’s and Master’s degree courses. Some of the popular foreign language courses offered by universities/colleges are listed below:
Foreign Language Courses – Graduate / Postgraduate Level Programmes |
|
University / Institute |
Courses |
Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi |
B.A.(Hons.) Persian |
Jamia Millia Islamia |
B.A (Hons) in Turkish Language and Literature |
Banaras Hindu University |
B.A. (Hons.) - Chinese and Russian |
English Foreign Language University-EFLU - Hyderabad Campus |
B.A. (Hons) Arabic |
University of Mumbai |
B.A. in French |
University of Delhi |
B.A. (H) Italian |
University of Pune |
MA in German |
Foreign Language Courses - Certificate Programmes |
|
University / Institute |
Courses |
Jawaharlal Nehru University |
Certificate of Proficiency in Mongolian/ Bahasa Indonesia |
Jamia Millia Islamia |
Certificate Course in Chinese Language/Uzbek/Modern Arabic Language/Turkemenin/Modern Persian/Pashto/Turkish/French/Russian/Italian/Portuguese/Spanish |
University of Delhi |
Certificate in French/German/Spanish/Italian/Portuguese/Romanian |
Kurukshetra University |
Certificate in French and German |
Maharishi Dayanand University |
Certificate in French and Spanish |
Aligarh Muslim University |
Certificate of Proficiency in Persian/Arabic |
Punjab University |
Certificate Course in French/Russian/Chinese/Tibetan |
University of Mumbai |
Certificate in Russian/French/Spanish/Italian/Arabic/Islamic Studies/German/Japanese/Persian |
Banasthali Vidyapeeth |
Certificate in French and German |
School of Foreign Language (IGNOU) |
Certificate in Arabic |
University of Pune |
Foreign Language Certificate course in German, French, Spanish, Russian, Japanese |
Foreign Language Diploma Courses |
|
Jawaharlal Nehru University |
Diploma of Proficiency in Bahasa Indonesia |
Jamia Millia Islamia |
Diploma in French/Spanish/Russian/Italian/ Portuguese (Part Time) Diploma in Uzbek/Modern Arabic Language/ Turkemenin/ Kazhaki/ Modern Persian/Pashto/Turkish |
University of Delhi |
Diploma in French /German /Spanish/ Italian/ Portuguese /Romanian |
Kurukshetra University, Haryana |
Diploma in French and German |
Maharishi Dayanand University |
Diploma in French |
Aligarh Muslim University |
Diploma of Proficiency in Persian/Arabic |
Punjab University |
Diploma in French/Russian/Chinese/Tibetan |
University of Mumbai |
Diploma in Russian/French/Spanish/Italian Arabic/Islamic Studies/German/Japanese/Business Japanese/Conversational Japanese/Persian |
Banasthali Vidyapeeth |
Diploma in French and German |
University of Pune |
Foreign Language Diploma course in German, French, Spanish, Russian, Japanese |
Foreign Language Advanced Diploma Courses |
|
Jamia Millia Islamia |
Advance Diploma in Modern Arabic Language/ Pashto/Spanish/Russian/Potuguese/Italian/French/Turkish/Modern Persian |
University of Delhi |
Advanced Diploma in French/German/Spanish/Italian/Portuguese/Romanian |
Kurukshetra University |
Advanced Diploma in French and German |
Punjab University |
Advanced Diploma in French/Russian/Chinese |
University of Mumbai |
Advanced Diploma in Russian/French/Spanish/Italian/Arabic/German/Japanese |
Banasthali Vidyapeeth |
Advanced Diploma in French and German |
Alternatively, students who already have completed their formal education and want to add foreign language as an additional skill on their resume can join a short-term foreign language course offered by different dedicated institutes. To help you chose the right foreign language institutes, we have enlisted the top ranking foreign language classes and universities in the table below:
Foreign Language Courses offered by Dedicated Institutes |
||
Institute |
Language |
Course Type |
Chinese Language Institute |
Chinese |
Diploma/ Certificate |
ABK-AOTS DOSOKAI, Tamil Nadu Centre |
Japanese |
Certifications |
The Indo-Japan Welfare and Cultural Association |
Japanese |
Diploma/ Certificate |
Chinese Language Institute |
Chinese |
Diploma/ Certificate |
Instituto Hispania |
Spanish |
Diploma/ Certificate |
The School of Foreign Languages (SFL) (Under Ministry of Defence, Government of India) |
Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Burmese, Chinese, French, German Hebrew, Persian, Pushto, Russian, Sinhala, Spanish, Tibetan |
Certificate of Proficiency (COP)/ Advanced Diploma of Proficiency (ADOP)/ Interpretership Course |
Bangalore Nihongo Kyooshi-kai (BNK) |
Chinese |
Diploma/ Certificate. |
International Lingua Institute |
French German, Mandarin, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, English |
Certificate |
Institute of Russian Language |
Russian |
Certificates |
YMCA |
Arabic, French, Spanish, German, Japanese |
Certificate/Advanced certificate |
Bangalore NihongoKyooshi- kai (BNK) |
Japanese |
Diploma/ Certificate. |
Japanese Language Teachers’ Association |
Japanese |
Diploma/ Certificate |
Alliance Française |
French |
Certification/ Diploma |
Institute of Russian Language |
Russian |
Certificates |
Goethe-Institute (Max Mueller Bhavan) |
German |
Certificates 30 weeks, Apr-Oct |
BharatiyaVidayaBhawan- Jawaharlal Nehru Academy of Languages |
Arabic, French, Spanish, German, Italian, English, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, |
Diploma/ Certificate |
International Language Schools of Canada |
French, Mandarin |
Certificate |
Mombusho Scholar’s Association of India |
Japanese |
Diploma/ Certificate |
Nihongo-Bashi |
Japanese |
Elementary Course/Advanced Diploma/ Certificate of Proficiency (COP) |
We hope that the detailed analysis regarding the scope of foreign language courses in India would have helped you understand the diverse range of career prospects that they have to offer. By joining any of the aforementioned foreign language institutes, you can add an incredible asset to your resume that will help you not only get your dream job but also pay you rich dividends in terms of the salary package.
If you feel that you have missed out on any important foreign language course or excluded any foreign language institute from our list; feel free to point the same out to us via the comments section. Your suggestions are very valuable to us.
Happy Studying!