Game For Some Translation?

The Commonwealth Games offers a host of options for translators and those trained in different languages.

By Pranbihanga Borpuzari

For institutes focusing on improving linguistic skills, the Commonwealth Games (CWG) provides a wonderful opportunity to earn quick money by imparting training in English to the locals, global accent familiarization, soft skills and grooming courses.

British Lingua (BL), an institute that has been given the mandate to train home guards for the CWG, is one such establishment benefiting from the game. Birbal Jha, Managing Director, BL, who started the institute in 1993, says BL was chosen last year to train home guards in English as a pilot project, which was a success. This entailed developing a module and then training the pilot batch of 40 personnel in the softer skills of English language and personality development. “It was anticipated that auxiliary forces may be needed for the games for traffic management and general point of contact for visiting tourists.

To perform their duties efficiently, the need to understand and speak English was felt. We were given the responsibility to train them in the April of 2009 and till date we have trained about 400 home guards,” says Jha. With an eye on the Games, British Academy for English Language (BAFEL) was directed by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to teach its staff English. “We had to go through a long-drawn procedure to bag the DMRC project. Apart from several meetings, presentations and negotiations, BAFEL had to bid for the contract and was selected as DMRC’s training partner out of many other players,” says Alka Gupta, MD, BAFEL.

In terms of business, BL was paid about Rs.1.5 lakh per batch while a regular student enrolling for an English class would pay Rs.6,500 for a four-month course. BAFEL’s growth, on the other hand, is now intrinsically linked to DMRC’s expansion as it grows by leaps and bounds and constantly recruits candidates for its various projects.

Enriched by the experience, Jha is now undertaking training for secondary level teachers in four districts of Bihar. “Now we are taking English to the villages of the state,” says Jha. Owing to the CWG and DMRC training, all small and big corporate as well as individuals related to industries such as tourism, hospitality and transport, have approached BAFEL for upgrading their language and soft skills. “Our corporate clients have increased manifold and so has growth and business. Other government organizations are also considering BAFEL for their various English training programs,” says Gupta.

Next: In conversation with Ranjan Bandyopadhyay, Global Head-HR, TCS BPO ->>>

Tags:
BAFEL, Birbal Jha, British Academy for English Language, British Lingua, Commonwealth Games, CWG, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, DMRC, linguistics