Bangalore school students and youth get a feel of Europe

Bangalore is warming up to European languages, thanks to the world of opportunities opening up here.

At the Max Mueller Bhavan, for instance, there are 2,100 students of German. The number has doubled in the past two years, said Dr Anne Shoenhagen, the deputy director of the centre.

Max Mueller Bhavan, which hosted the celebration of European Day of Languages on Monday, was abuzz with students and young engineers getting a feel of French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian.

The keenness to add German knowledge to their resume was palpable in all the singing, eating, dancing and film-viewing that went on through the day.

“I want to work in Germany. I’ve been attending classes here for a month,” said Shami Hegde, a mechanical engineer fresh out of college.

“German is very interesting, it is very famous, I would like to learn it,” said Ayush Saxena, a student of Class VI of Sarla Birla School who was at the Bhavan with classmates.

Training the tongue to roll in new ways is not just an ‘in’ thing here. German is entering the school curriculum in a big way.

“Sarla Birla, Delhi Public School and Kendriya Vidyalaya have all begun to introduce German as the second language. Sarla Birla and Kumarans School have already German as second and third language. Bangalore University too is planning to start a master’s programme in German,” said Dr Shoenhagen.

“Many see learning German as giving them an advantage in the job market. Enthusiasts can even go to Germany to work or study further almost for free. The country is eagerly looking for students,” she said.

The interest was evident at the Max Mueller Bhavan. Students from different schools participated in many activities during the day.
“Who built the Eiffel Tower?” “Is Paris an Island?” “France is a big place, then why did it occupy other places?” Students were full of questions.

The answers to the quiz just came pouring in, so did the prizes—bonbons showered onto the audience. There were many takers for a quick lesson in the Bavarian dance called Schuhplattler, where you could learn to count from one to eight in German under the guidance of a German instructor.

Young children also dabbled in a bit of craft and poetry. “I was hoping people would like poetry in different languages,” said musician Biggi Viavkeloe.

German films with subtitles in the same language were being viewed, too.

The language-curious sat through sessions on Portuguese, Italian and German taking in information about geography, food, dance, music and politics.

The idea of the meet was to celebrate and display the diversity of European languages, said Dr Shoenhagen.

There are 230 languages in Europe. About 26 are official, she informed. For those who had taken time out to join in the celebrations, it was about treating their senses to the bits of Europe.