Careers in Language

Proficiency in language is one of the most important factors in almost all the industries. Many organizations, especially multinational companies that have overseas business links, are always seeking for those professionals who are adept at languages. In fact, learning a language can increase career opportunities of a person. Those who have learnt foreign languages and have acquired proficiency in the same can become foreign languages specialists, or even work as web content writers, technical translators or decoders, interpreters and translators. These career opportunities are found in the areas of tourism, entertainment, public relations and mass communication, international organizations, embassies, diplomatic service, publishing houses, BPO's etc.

Course Details
Majority of the institutes in India offer courses in languages at the certificate level, diploma level and degree level. However, some institutes also impart courses at both basic and advanced level, including postgraduate and PhD level. To be eligible for the UG courses, students have to pass Higher Secondary Certificate Examination (10+2) in any discipline, recognized by any state/national Board. For the postgraduate courses, one should have completed graduation in the relevant stream, from any recognized University. The curriculum of these courses includes topics that cover various aspects of languages, including their history/literature, grammar, pronunciation etc.

Career Prospects
The field of language has many career options for the young aspirants, including teaching, interpreting, translating and freelancing in language. In the teaching field, many educational institutes, which impart courses in foreign languages, look for professionals having excellent teaching skills. The option of private tuitions is also available. The job of an interpreter might be of different types, such as general interpreting, consecutive interpreting and liaison interpreting. Most of the translators work in a variety of fields, which include technical, scientific literary or business. Freelancing is comparatively a recent trend in the field of language. Freelancers can join translation bureaus, research organizations, international organizations, publishing houses, travel and tourism sector, hotel industry etc.

Top Colleges Offering UG/PG/Other Courses
The prominent institutes/Universities in India that offer courses in foreign languages are University of Pune, University of Lucknow, Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi), Punjabi University (Patiala), Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University (Aurangabad), University of Delhi, Banaras Hindu University (Varanasi), Aligarh Muslim University, University of Madras (Chennai), University of Mumbai, Japanese Culture & Information Centre (New Delhi) and Calicut University.

Remuneration
Those who want to build a career in teaching foreign languages can earn around Rs 10000 – Rs 20000 per month. Translators get paid between Rs 50 – 100 per page. Those working with embassies may receive remuneration of Rs 8000 p.m. - 10000 p.m. Interpreters generally earn around Rs 300 to 500 per hour.