School of Foreign Languages
Brief History: The School of Foreign Languages (SFL) was established by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in 1948 with the purpose of imparting training in different foreign languages to the personnel of Armed Forces and Government departments such as the MEA, the Cabinet Secretariat, Central Police Organizations viz. BSF, CRPF, ITBP, etc. The Government of India granted permanent status to the SFL in 1954. The functional and administrative control of SFL was transferred from JS (Est/Trg) & CAO/ MoD to HQ IDS on 04 May 17.
Role & Mission: The role of SFL is to meet the growing requirements of the Government in general and Armed Forces in particular for qualified foreign language experts. For IFS (Probationers), it is obligatory to qualify the Advanced Diploma (IFS) examination conducted by the Institute. Civilian students are also admitted for Certificate of Proficiency and Advanced Diploma subject to availability of seats.
Languages Taught: The SFL is mandated to conduct Interpretership and other courses in Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Tibetan, Persian, Sinhala, German, French, Spanish, Bahasha Indonesia, Japanese and Burmese. However, due to non-availability of certain permanent faculty, Interpretership courses are presently being conducted only in Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Persian, Tibetan and Sinhala. The Spanish course would commence in the near future as the recruitment process of the Spanish language lecturer is in the final stages. Short courses are conducted in the balance languages through guest faculty, based on requirements projected by the Services.
Faculty: The SFL has a highly trained and experienced faculty. The Lecturers are recruited through the UPSC with a minimum Masters qualification and most have also completed their PhD in the concerned foreign language.
Courses: The SFL conducts the following courses:
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Certificate of Proficiency (COP) Courses COP is a part time course of one year duration for defence personnel posted at Delhi, their dependents and civilians.
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Advance Diploma of Proficiency (ADOP) CoursesThe ADOP is a part time course for one year - only personnel who have cleared COP can appear for the ADOP.
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Interpreter Ship Courses The Interpreter ship Course is the Flagship course at the SFL and is a full time course that ranges from 16 ½ to 23 ½ months duration. This is subscribed by personnel sponsored by the Services.
Short Term Courses These are customised capsule courses (including refresher courses) of duration 2-4 months, conducted on request from the Services to meet requirements of foreign deputations/overseas courses.
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