IIM-A students learn Chinese

Updated on: Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Ahmedabad: Students of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) are taking lessons in Chinese to break the language barrier while transacting business.

The elective course in Chinese was introduced as part of IIM-A initiative to sharpen business communication skills of the students in foreign languages. A batch of 60 second year post-graduate programme students has opted for the course at the premier B-school.

'Objective of the language courses is to hone the business communication skills of our students in languages like French, German and Chinese,' IIM-A spokesperson Ishita Solanki said.

The orientation programme provides the students with an opportunity to familiarise themselves with business etiquettes and culture prevalent overseas, she added. 'The lady course coordinator for this five-session or 20 to 25 hours elective course has come especially from Xinxianj University of China, so that students get a better grasp of the language and excel,' Anirban Tarafdar, member of media cell at IIM-A, said.

'In today's global economy, language continues to be a barrier when students are sent overseas by global marketing and financial firms to transact on their behalf. So its a good preposition to learn foreign languages,' Tarafdar said.

'A lot of global companies have opened up offices in Hong Kong, where Chinese (mandarin) is widely spoken,' Tarafdar said.

Depending on the feedback from students about the course, IIM-A Academic Council might increase the number of seats from next year, he said.

'Once the students gain elementary knowledge of the Chinese language its easier for them to understand the business landscape there,' Rohan Desai, Secretary, media cell at IIM-A, said.

The course content, which has plays and games among others, makes it easier for the students to get first hand information about environment there (in China) and use it to their advantage, he added.

IIM-A students learn Chinese

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