Swastika Saha

I am Swastika Saha, a second-year student of Department Of Germanic Romance Studies. I am currently pursuing my bachelors in the French language. I have 5-7 years of French learning behind me and have obtained an A1 DELF degree from Alliance Francaise. I am an extremely hardworking individual who has a desire to learn new skills.

I have a special interest in language translation and wish to pursue my masters in this field. I have been attending various Youth Summits from schooldays to college, the recent being the presidential meeting with Emmanuel Macron at Bikaner House. I am currently teaching school kids basics of French and wish to become a professor in future. Apart from this I have also participated in community programmes and worked in NGOs such as Anubhav and SOS farms for kids. I am an art enthusiast and love to paint and draw. I play the synthesizer too and have performed during various cultural events. I have been chosen as the class representative and have displayed leadership qualities and an ability to take risk and initiatives. I presently know English, Hindi, French, Bengali and Portuguese basics. I am an ardent language learner and strongly believe one language sets you in a corridor for life but two languages open every door along the way.

Career Goals

"One language sets you in a corridor for life, Two languages open every door along the way". Frank Smith

Multilingualism is the art of being proficient in two or more languages. In today’s time. When nothing is constant, and everything is ever changing, the demand for connoisseurs is increasing. People with a wide variety of skills, knowledge and talent are in huge demand all over the world. With all this comes the need for being adept in multiple languages.

Having been brought up in a family of teachers and professors, teaching has always been a lucrative domain for me. My love for languages grew when I was in 6^th standard in Birla Vidya Niketan, after which I decided to pursue my bachelors in French language and have been lucky enough to be part of Delhi University for the same. A better understanding of other languages often helps individuals to appreciate people of other countries, thereby lessening racism, xenophobia, and intolerance, as the learning of a new language usually brings with it a revolution of a new culture. Multilingual in the process of assimilating in other cultures also develop a better understanding of their own mother-tongue. As for me, language learning is an ever-growing asset in the current scenario. I will explain this my own personal experience. I am a Bengali girl, i.e. my mother tongue is modern Bengali. Being born and brought up in a cosmopolitan city like Delhi has enabled me to learn ‘Hindi’ and ‘English’ simultaneously with my mother tongue. Multilingual can see their own culture from a new perspective and are able to compare, contrast cultures.As rightly said ‘To have another language is to possess a second soul’.

Jobs like translators and interpreters, tour guides, language teachers are proliferating. Multilingual employees tend to earn more than their monolingual peers over the course of their working lives. Being multilingual can, however open doors to new posts and promotions. My love for French encourages me to pursue research in the field of languages and literature. Being an undergraduate student but with a considerable knowledge of the subject am currently teaching a 6 yr old UK based girl French.

I am an inquisitive individual who loves to learn new skills and sees challenges as opportunities. Because of my academic achievements and active participation, I had been given the opportunity to attend presidential summit during the visit of Emmanuel Macron, the president of France along with the students of top-notch universities.

I wish to continue with my masters in French literature and subsequently pursue a PhD and become a professor in a reputed university. As of now, I believe I will be an asset to Modlingua because of my present skills and command over languages. I promise to work with full enthusiasm and utmost dedication and fulfil my responsibilities.

Swastika Saha is a Summer Intern 2018 at Modlingua, New Delhi