Inlingua May Offer Hindi Language Programme

New Delhi: The $300-million language training major Inlingua International may soon have on offer a Hindi language speaking programme in its portfolio of 20 languages. At least two linguistic training centres in the US, Inlingua Chicago and New York, have already shown interest in such a programme. The Indian licensee of Inlingua is currently running two pilots on the programme, which could be rolled out globally in a couple of months.

Says Inlingua’s licensee in India Vikram Bajaj, ‘‘With the increasing number of expatriate CEOs in the country and many companies relocating staff to their Indian subsidiaries, we have received queries from several centres in the US. We are currently running two pilots of the course with individual students. After factoring in the responses, the programme may need to be rewritten or altered. Once that is done, it would be ready to be provided to other centres. The entire process should take at least two to three months at a minimum.’’

Switzerland-based Inlingua International has more than 300 centres across 29 countries and over half-a-million clients every year.

In India, where it has been present since 2002, Inlingua is currently also in the process of providing modular programmes to cater to specific needs in language and communication skills. For instance, it has recently entered the call centre training market with a special ‘Call Centre English’ Programme (CCE). This is an intensive programme for improving a call center/BPO industry job aspirant’s English speaking skills, with modules that enable them to speak accurately and fluently and interact confidently over the phone.

It has also identified several areas like restaurants and the growing retail outlets as new emerging markets to be tapped. ‘‘With the coming of global retail chains, the older retailers are beginning to recognise the need for negotiating and presentation skills. Many are evincing interest in providing such training for some of their staff,’’ says Mr Bajaj.

At present, 80 per cent of Inlingua’s market comes from the retail segment (the core language skills targeted at the 18-25 year old age group.) The corporate or institutional segment is beginning to develop and will be a focus area this year. It already has a slew of blue chip clients like American Express, Wipro Spectramind, GE, Idea Cellular, Siemens, Red Cross, Asian Development Bank, British High Commission, Coca-Cola and the Ford Foundation.

Currently, Inlingua has study centres in Delhi (South Extension and Pritam Pura), Noida, Gurgaon, Chandigarh and Kolkata. Centres will...