IIT
Kanpur Foreign Languages Programme
In a country
like India, multilingual experience is the norm and learning new languages
is often an unconscious process. The Foreign Languages Programme (FLP) at
IIT Kanpur offers a platform to our students to sensitize themselves to languages
used in social contexts other than their own. The programme owes its success
to the combined efforts of a set of highly motivated teachers and successive
batches of students who, despite a demanding academic schedule, show a keen
interest in enriching their multilingual repertoire.
Motivation
Many of our students
wish to undergo the foreign language experience as it prepares them for professional
interactions with the users of these languages the world over both in corporate
and academic settings. A sizable proportion of our student population opts for
jobs with multinational companies and some of the foreign language experience
gained at this institute is useful in these environments. In the academic world,
our students get to work with the best minds the world over, and again, foreign
language experience is a great facilitator.
An additional motivation comes from the belief which the multilingual Indian
psyche so strongly affirms: to know a culture first hand, it is important to
know its language(s). This aspect of FLP at IIT Kanpur is underlined by the
instruction which relies not just on imparting the four essential skills of
speaking, listening, reading and writing, but goes a step further by exposing
students to foreign language literatures and other modes of cultural expression.
Currently the programme
offers Certificate Courses in German, French
and Japanese conducted over two semesters. In addition, it
offers a two-semester Advanced Course in French, a recent initiative
supported by the Embassy of France in India. Apart from the three regular nodal
points for German, French and Japanese, FLP operates through a series of short
term courses organised for specific purpose groups.
Target Population
Courses are open
to IIT Kanpur students, employees and other non-students as well as aspirants
form outside the Campus. While our undergraduate and postgraduate students constitute
a major part of the target population, it is not unusual to find faculty members
crediting these courses. About 30 to 40 percent of the available seats are offered
to outsiders coming from academia and the corporate sector.
Instructors and Instruction
Courses are conducted
by trained instructors who have had foreign language exposure in both institutional
and naturalistic settings. The Language Laboratory set up
for the purpose of instruction has features that facilitate learning through
formal instruction and peer interaction, as well as self-learning.
Registration and Schedule
The registration
process begins in the second week of July every year and the courses commence
in August. Registration is done on first-come-first-served basis. Each of
the courses runs for a duration of two semesters, with classes held in the
evenings.
For further information:
Mr. B.
K. Banerjee
DOSA Office
IIT Kanpur
Kanpur
Phone: (0512)
2597292
Coordinator
Professor T Ravichandran
Foreign Languages Programme
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
Kanpur 208016