Prof. U.N. Singh is the Chair-Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Arts as well as the HoI of the Amity School of Languages. He has done B.A. Hons in Linguistics in 1972 from the University of Calcutta with the highest score in the entire Arts Faculty, and has done M.A. in Linguistics in 1974, from the University of Delhi with a Gold Medal. His PhD is in Linguistics in 1979. His research interests include Linguistics, Language Teaching, Translation Studies, and Culture & Communication Studies. He has won several awards at the national and international levels, and has lectured in 33 different countries. He was the former Director of CIIL, Mysore and former Pr-Vice-Chancellor of Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan.

Amity University, Gurgaon

How do you ensure the student has holistic exposure not just academics?

Our UG students in foreign languages in which we offer honors teaching programs (i.e. French, German, and Spanish) are not only groomed to speak and write the languages well, but they are also introduced to the culture, literature, and society angle in each case. Besides, we encourage them to opt for relevant additional courses that make them either ready for business and commerce enterprises or for translation and interpretation-oriented careers. The idea is to give them exposure beyond their individual disciplines.

How do you try to bring in a practical approach towards subjects and how do students get practical experience from studying the subject? 

The most important practicality for a foreign language student is to speak like a native speaker or understand a native speaker when they are spoken to. For the first of these two tasks, we use the ASL State-of-the-art Orell Digital Language Lab fitted next to the faculty rooms. The second task is accomplished by exposing them to a significant number of original films, television shows, and interactive sessions or newscasting. Some of them have the choice (which they can avail of through our Internationalization programs) of studying Abroad where they get exposed to spoken languages. The emphasis on writing is something that we all do anyway.

What are the best practices offered by the department to the students which help them gain the necessary skills?

Recitation, drama acting, singing, and participation in the cultural programs plus competitions often organised by the embassies and cultural centers where they are taken along by our faculty members are the best practices that can enhance their skills. Here letting them be exposed to seniors as well as juniors make their bonding better.

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How do you help your student cope with the competition being so high in the outside world?

Our Mentor-Mentee mechanism, where each student has a faculty mentor other than the faculty members teaching her or him is a good scheme to make them competition-ready. That also takes the steam out in case they are upset about anything in the college. In addition, our Amity Institute of Behavioral Sciences with its trained Clinical Psychologists and Counsellors has a provision to offer help in need.

What do you see as the department’s/ college’s greatest strengths and how is it helping students to excel?

The greatest strength is the flexibility of choice of courses across the disciplines as well as value-added courses such as Communication Skills, Behavioral Studies, and Foreign Languages for each student.

Can you share some success stories of your students/ alumni?

The success story of Ms. Sajiya Hussain, our student in the BA German program (2017-2020 batch), is exemplary for young, ignited minds planning to pursue courses in foreign languages. Hailing from a humble background, Sajiya not only excelled in her studies while on campus, but she is also doing well in the corporate world. She started her career with Concentrix, Gurugram as a German language expert at a package of INR 3.5 lacs per annum, and later on moved to Amazon, Bangalore with a current CTC of INR 7 lacs per annum. There are several others who have gone abroad for higher studies.

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What valuable advice would you like to the students for them to have a prosperous career ahead?

Believe, Belong and Become should be your strategy. Fix your aims and goals early in life. Make the best use of the institution and organization wherever you are. Remember that learning never ends in life. You should continue learning in every aspect of your life.