Birat Anupam
I have a Facebook friend named Narine Daneghyan from Armenia, a country situated at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe. What surprises me about her is her interest and fluency in many languages. She speaks Armenian, her mother tongue, studied Russian and English in school, and lately has been vigorously learning French and Spanish. Her reason for learning several languages, as a student of journalism, is to be able to work at any of the international media houses. What incredible initiative!
With regard to Nepalis, one of the prime barriers to getting jobs overseas is language. If Narine Daneghyan can learn more than two languages, why can’t we do the same? I am mentioning this Armenian lady journalist not just to praise her versatility in languages, but also to relate her zeal to our context. Many Nepalis belonging to indigenous nationalities are reluctant to learn their mother tongue, which is why the number of speakers is dropping sharply. We favour a single foreign language, English, since it is the only international language taught widely in our academic sector. We do not care for other foreign languages as we think that they are of not much use globally.
This view was proven wrong when South Korea asked for workers from Nepal, and the main requirement was proficiency in Korean. As a result, Korean language institutes mushroomed across the country. This episode raises a number of questions. First, if English is the only international language, why doesn’t Korea agree to take migrant workers who know English? Second, if we can score 80 percent and higher in Korean by studying it for three months, why can’t we learn other languages too?
Learning a foreign language is not only for getting a job in that country. Language is multi-pronged and has multifold dimensions. For instance, if you are good at Korean, you can apply for jobs in Korea and in Korean organisations. We can also use the skill in our own endeavours. Writers can write books in Korean and translate Korean into Nepali. We can be good guides for Korean tourists too. We can even run a Korean restaurant. We can be a correspondent for Korean news media. Hence, foreign languages can open up many opportunities.
We can informally learn languages that are spoken across the globe such as Spanish, French, German, Arabic, Russian or Chinese. Laborious learning will definitely pay us back in many ways. Knowledge of languages can boost our tourism prospects. School goers must be encouraged to learn an extra language along with their mother tongue, Nepali and English. The Nepal Tourism Board can also launch various language classes nationwide. The government should encourage Nepalis to learn languages by conducting cultural exchange programmes. We citizens can make an effort ourselves too. I am learning Chinese from a handbook.