Scope after learning Spanish

Pervin Malhotra              email your queries to [email protected] 

Q.I’ve been learning Spanish in school and really enjoy it. What kind of scope would a career in Spanish language offer in future? — Kripi Goel

A. With shrinking global boundaries, opportunities for professionals who are fluent/familiar with one or more foreign languages have increased. Besides the mandatory academic degree, if you want to make your mark in the booming travel and tourism industry, you need to have some add-on skills. Foreign languages fall in this category.

The other big advantage for you is that Spanish unlike Greek and Latin (pun intended) is relatively easy to understand and read especially for English speakers. Did you know there are approximately 527 million people across the world who can speak Spanish, making it one of the top five spoken languages in the world?

The second official language in the US, Spanish is spoken by 436 million people worldwide. It’s the official language in 21 countries including Spain, Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, Puerto Rico, Panama, Paraguay, Nicaragua, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Cuba, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, and Venezuela. It’s also one of the five official languages of the UN.

While some of us may have developed a taste for Latino music or the Salsa dance form, Spanish language itself has begun to make inroads even for professional reasons.

The interest is particularly driven by our ongoing trade with Latin American countries and the flourishing Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) activity. There are some US clients who need BPO service both in Spanish and English. There is no tradition of English in South American countries except in Mexico, which is close to USA.

Besides these, MNCs, international banks, airlines, customs offices, export houses, telecom majors, NGOs, travel industry and the government including Indian embassies in Spanish-speaking countries require foreign language experts who can speak, translate or interpret from and into the language. Technical translation work fetches even more.

Is NISER admission on basis of JEE ?

Q.Can you please tell me something about admission to NISER. Is it on the basis of the KVPY exam or JEE? — Reema Mehta

A.The National Entrance Screening Test (NEST) is a compulsory test for anyone seeking admission to the integrated MSc programmes at the National Institute of Science Education & Research (NISER) Bhubaneswar and the University of Mumbai – D/o Atomic Energy Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences (UM-DAE CEBS), Mumbai.

The integrated programmes are offered under the following schools:

• School of Biological Sciences
• School of Chemical Sciences
• School of Computer Sciences
• School of Earth & Planetary Sciences
• School of Humanities & Social Sciences
• School of Mathematical Sciences
• School of Physical Sciences

Both NISER and UM-DAE CEBS were set up by D/o Atomic Energy, GoI 10 years ago to train scientific manpower for conducting cutting edge scientific research and for providing input to scientific programmes of the Department of Atomic Energy and other applied science institutions in the country.

NEST 2017 was conducted in 60 cities across India.

Please visit the official NEST website: www.nestexam.in after 26 Dec 2017 for the notification regarding NEST 2018.

For details of the various programmes, log onto: www.niser.ac.in/

NIOS exam rules

Q.We have just transferred our son to NIOS because he couldn’t cope with regular school for health reasons. However, we want to know if the Secondary/Sr. Secondary School Certificates obtained from NIOS enjoy the same recognition as other Boards? Also, is it necessary to have a 2-year gap between passing the NIOS Secondary and Sr. Secondary Exam? — Daya Saxena

A.Yes, the Secondary / Sr. Secondary certificate obtained from NIOS does have the same recognition as certificates issued by other Boards.

NIOS has the authority to conduct Public Exams at the Secondary and Sr. Secondary level (vide GoI's resolution of 14 September 1990), hence NIOS functions as another National Board.

And yes, a 2-year gap between passing the Secondary and Sr. Secondary exams is essential as NIOS does not conduct any exam for class 11.

In case your son doesn’t have the requisite two-year gap, he can appear in a maximum of four subjects only in the first year. He’ll be eligible to appear in the remaining subjects only upon completing the 2-year gap.