Fluent English will take you places
Clear flow of thought and speech is what the employer looks for when
fresh graduates apply for a job
 English is a funny language; that explains why we park our car on the
driveway and drive our car on the parkway. But communication skills in
English are one of the highly important assets that a student can bank
on in the present scenario. Clear flow of thought and speech is what the
employer looks for when fresh graduates apply for a job.
The recent boom in IT sector saw a lot of spoken English institutes
mushrooming. For students coming from districts, the grass may be
greener in the city; but lack of communication skills in English is
considered a handicap. Most students find it a bit uneasy to adjust to
the English medium of education as they come from Telugu medium schools
where English happened to be one of the subjects.
Competition is what drives them to take up the language on a much
serious note as most of them feel the need to polish their communication
handiness.
"Initially I was a bit sceptical about learning the language; I used
to make do with what ever English I had learnt in school. Living in the
city has changed the way I look at things now and I know that good
English is necessary for students attending campus recruitments," says
Varikolu Ramesh, a student of Osmania University and a native of Khammam
district.
"Students learn from work oriented exercises. Reading is a must so
that the vocabulary improves. Many a student belonging to minority
community join these courses to acquire language skills to get into
MNC's," says English Language Training Centre, Director, A. V. Suresh
Kumar. The IT industry attracts a huge number of students from various
parts of the country. As a result many of them especially from the
northern States attend spoken English classes while pursuing IT related
courses in Hyderabad.
"I come from a Hindi medium school. Every subject was taught in
Hindi. But I realised that I needed to pick up fluent English as well
when I wanted to join the IT industry. Students should aim at speaking
the language without flaws and more fluently," says Manoj Yadav a native
of Haryana who attends English classes at Russell's Institute of Spoken
English at Ameerpet and is pursuing a course in SAP ABAP. "When the
student steps in to enroll for the course, we try to assess his speaking
abilities. Enquiries about the sudden need to learn English are also
made.
The process also includes a written test; to give us a fair idea
about the programme that is best suited to the student's needs", says
Russell Z., Executive Director, Russell's Institute of Spoken English.
"We initially start off with fundamentals and then move on to classroom
activity like orations, discussions and interactions. Students are given
cue cards that give them an idea concerning a theme that they have to
speak about. Thus enabling them to handle situations with ease and
speaking fluently", he adds. Also, the Centre for English Language
Training offers courses in English Grammar and Vocabulary where emphasis
is laid on teaching tenses, reported speech and building vocabulary. The
centre also conducts a course on Communication Skills and Personality
Development.
But good English skills are not enough. Soft skills are also a part
and parcel of the deal. Companies run after good communicators when they
see one.
Etiquette is also the most important thing that most firms look out
for. Simple habits like asking for permission before taking a seat at
the interview, way of greeting people and phone manners are some of the
things that one should make a part of their lifestyle.
Most of these courses range from 30 to 60 days depending on the
skills that is needed by the student and can cost anywhere from Rs.
2,500 to Rs. 3,500 per course.
"Fluency in the language along with soft skills is a combination that
companies search in a candidate when they conduct interviews.
When a student signs up for a course, the main focus stays on
building their confidence while developing their language and soft
skills," says Russell.
(Courtesy: The hindu)
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