Hindi | Centre for Language Learning

Svagatam

Why Study Hindi?

Hindi is the official language of the Republic of India and the most widely spoken language in South Asia. Hindi and India are rapidly growing in importance in our contemporary world with more and more content on the web, and with a growing consumer market in South Asia.

The Devanagari script of Hindi is used to write several other languages in South Asia, including Nepali, Marathi and Sanskrit. It is also very closely related to the scripts used to write Punjabi, Bengali, Gujarati, and Oriya among others.

Hindi is also the language of a long literary tradition, both in modern prose and poetry, as well as pre-modern secular and devotional poetry. One of the biggest film industries in the world is Bollywood. The ever-growing popularity of Hindi cinema inspires movie lovers to learn Hindi. The same can be said for Hindi television with its increasing popularity as well as reach. More non-Hindi speakers watch Hindi channels for news, soap operas and sitcoms. You too will be able to enjoy a wider variety of programming by learning Hindi. Furthermore, by learning Hindi, you also begin to learn some Urdu, since colloquial Urdu and Hindi, in their basic forms, are considered as the same language differing only by script used.

Delivery

Classes are conducted as far as possible in the target language to give students maximum exposure to the new language and culture. During the course, students develop an ability to communicate in Hindi in situations relating to their personal lives.

In addition, students are expected to spend time on self-study preparing for classes and reviewing and consolidating work done in class. Students are also encouraged to develop a repertoire of strategies to promote their autonomy as language learners. At each level, 100% in-course testing is the form of assessment.

Course Overview

Hindi is offered at two levels (subject to demand):

Level 1 (A & B) – Beginner
Level 2 (A & B) – Lower Intermediate

Hindi 1A
Hindi 1B
Hindi 2A
Hindi 2B

Hindi 1A

Hindi 1A is a beginners' Hindi course that introduces students to the Hindi language and to some of its cultural aspects. By focusing on the four basic skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), students will develop an initial ability to communicate in Hindi in basic situations relating to their personal lives. Students will be introduced to the concept of learner autonomy in language learning.

Hindi 1B

Hindi 1B is a beginners' Hindi course that builds on the work done in Hindi 1A. By focusing on the four basic skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), students will enhance their ability to communicate in the Hindi in situations relating to themselves and areas of immediate relevance. Students will continue to develop their autonomy in language learning.

Hindi 2A

Hindi 2A is a lower-intermediate course that builds on the work done in Hindi 1B. Students will be able to function increasingly independently in all four skill-areas in familiar situations and topics.

Hindi 2B

Hindi 2B is a lower-intermediate course that builds on the work done in Hindi 2A. Students will be able to function more independently in a variety of familiar situations and topics in all four skill-areas.

Schedule

There are 52-contact hours per semester. Classes meet for four 50-minute sessions per week, with classes beginning on the hour and ending ten minutes before the hour (e.g. 11:00 to 11:50). These courses are not offered for credit.

Saturday: 1pm-5pm (Semester I and II only)

Course Co-ordinator

Dr. Beverly-Anne Carter
Email: CLL.FHE@sta.uwi.edu
Tel: 662-2002 x83671