Chinese learners dwindling in Pune

Pune: Chinese may be the buzzword in kitchens, shops and businesses, but when it comes to the language, there seem to be few takers. Institutes teaching the Chinese language are seeing a fall in the number of students opting for the course.

Though there are few establishments in the city that offer such a course, their enrollments were rising until a couple of year ago. Anagha Natekar, co-ordinator of the course in Symbiosis Institute of Foreign Languages (SIFL), told TOI, “It is our personal perception that the Chinese bubble has burst. We have a capacity of 25 students, but even that number is hard to achieve.”

Agrees Ketan Vadke who arranges personalised Chinese courses: “Compared to other languages, demand for Chinese seems limited. However, by itself, the awareness about the language is definitely rising. We usually see business people and professionals enrolling for language-course.”

Swati Somani, training co-ordinator and counselor with Chrysalis institute has a different take. She asserts that, comparatively, the last two to three years have seen a rise in the number of students. “Since there are few who know the language, lot of people opt for it to work as translators and interpreters. And, there is a fair bit of money in it,” she said.