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It won't be sports records alone that will be broken at the Commonwealth Games later this year. With the Games expected to draw tourists from countries beyond the Commonwealth, the Ministry of Tourism is hoping to break some language barriers too.In fact, the ministry has already asked the Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (IITTM), Gwalior, to train 1,400 tour guides who can speak Chinese, Russian, Korean, German, Japanese, French, Spanish, Italian, Thai or Portuguese. While the Commonwealth mostly includes countries where English is popular, the ministry wanted to ensure a more comfortable experience for visitors from non-English speaking countries who are likely to visit Delhi for the Games.The new guides will need to have speaking and writing skills in at least one of the 10 foreign languages. The IITTM will then teach them about the history, society and important monuments of Delhi and nearby areas. Dr Sandeep Kulshreshtha, who is Head of Academics at the institute in Gwalior, said that apart from working in Delhi, the guides would also accompany tourists if they want to visit other parts of the country. "Hence, during the training, knowledge on important tourist spots in other parts of the country will also be provided," he said.Applications were invited from interested people in 2008 and the IITTM received 2,275 applications for the 1,400 seats. Those who clear the exam in June will undergo eight weeks of training. Being a part-time course it has also attracted people enrolled in other jobs, but interested in tourism."The duration of the Commonwealth Games is just two weeks. It won't interfere with the regular jobs of the people," said Kulshreshtha. In the first three weeks, the institute will hold classes on manners, etiquette, guiding skills, tourism products and local knowledge. Experts from the Archeological Survey of India will interact with the students during the course. "In the last five weeks they will also submit a final project related to tourism. It could be writing a report on a monument or describing tourist behaviour by making questionnaires," said Kulshreshtha.
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