Several, including those who studied in English medium, are enrolling in English-speaking classes to acquire confidence and fluency and remove their vernacular 'accent'.
Anuradha Devkatte, 21, a third-year MBBS student of Grant Medical College, has enrolled herself in an 'advanced English speaking course' at a Dadar institute. The Nanded girl had studied in English medium throughout but lacks the confidence to speak fluently.
"Marathi prevails at home and in medical college. Hence, I've never had the confidence to communicate fluently with my classmates and teachers (in English). Moreover, the accent is also an issue," she says.
Devkatte and her classmates study in a class of 15, which includes Marathi-, Gujarati-, Hindi- and Tamil-speaking people in the age group 20-45. They not only practise grammar and public speaking but also overcome their inhibitions and individual accents.
Courses in such institutes comprise confidence building, improving on voice and accent, body language and presentation skills, besides grammar practise, group discussions, mastery in interviews and public speaking.
The demand for English has grown manifold in the past few years. Rapid urbanisation has fuelled the demand for pre-schools and English medium schools across the country. Those who studied in vernacular medium have no option but to sign up for English language classes.
A couple of years ago the only option available for those not fluent in the language was an English self-help book, Rapidex. Started in 1974, the book is still quite popular and 10 lakh copies are sold annually even now. The book has been translated into 16 Indian languages and three foreign languages.
However, things have moved quite ahead since Rapidex days. Manoj Barot, who works as an analyst at a capital management fund and is now learning advanced English, says, "I studied in Hindi medium and have managed to work in English by self-study alone. But now, I need higher English skills and correct accent for career advancement."
"A human touch is needed to identify and remove inhibitions of these aspirants. They need a mentor who can enhance their confidence and personality," says Amit Dubey, a trainer-cum-mentor.
While such institutes across India could be in thousands, Mumbai alone could have 500, says another trainer. Many of them run classes from small rooms but do a booming business, with classes from 7am to 10pm seven days a week.
A report by iValue Consulting projects the market for English language training in India to touch $4.65 billion in 2015 from $2.75 billion in 2012.
Maya Bhatia, director of BM which has four centres in Mumbai, says, "While the basic course is for beginners, advanced course is taken up by doctors, engineers and other professionals. The business course caters to corporate executives." The basic course costs Rs5,500, advanced Rs7,500 and business costs Rs10,000.
More or less, English has replaced mother tongues in many urban homes. While the importance of English is growing, experts feel that Indian languages will lose their existence slowly.
Pushplata Rajapure Tapas, head of the Marathi department at Mumbai university says, "The growth and love for English is market-driven. If market offers more job opportunities for people who studied in vernacular medium, our languages will grow too."
Customised courses for specific groups
Some centres offer courses for engineering, MBA students and for TOEFL and GRE. Online courses are also available. Some corporates have tied up with these institutes to upgrade the writing and communication skills of their employees
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