> > > > It is precisely for that reason that my company is > > outsourcing a hefty > > portion of it's work to India. > > I am not sure how this is confirming the impression > that Indian companies are more interested in getting > people with foreign languages on board, given that > English is hardly considered a foreign language in > India. > > As long as I dont see European students who have > studied languages like Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, > Cantonese, Korean or Thai getting jobs, I foresee no > change in the hidebound and backward attitudes of most > European corporations. > > -Frank >
Hi, Yes, you are quite right. I often underestimate how widespread the use of English is - probably from being an English speaker myself ;-) However, with regards to European students learning the languages you name above, I am quite sure that they are being studied and they are getting jobs. Albeit, they are probably in such low numbers that they probably end up in 'niche' jobs such as translators or tutors for the next generation. But if I was to turn the clock back 12 years and become a prospective student again, for what possible economic reason would I want to learn one of those languages for? How would that gain an advantage for me in the British/ European workplace? As a European, I find English quite agreeable for global commerce. Of course, I may want to take up Mandarin soon. To compete and operate in the so called up and coming BRIC markets I find no reason as a mainstream worker to learn any of their languages as they can speak mine. With regards to the call centres that my company operates, foreign language speakers are the first to be kept hold of in any budget crunch. Our application form for the call centre also asks for language capability and will readily employ as many different language speakers that it can and look after them. Ok - they're not paid as much of lawyers.... Cheers, Keith
