Introduction

Hindi is the official and link language of multilingual India. Its homeland is in the north of India, but it is the most widely spoken and understood language throughout India. Hindi is written in the Devanagari script, which is also used for Sanskrit, Marathi and Nepali. Hindi has a special relationship with Urdu because they have the same grammar and they share basic conversational vocabulary and expressions. On many college campuses in the US, Hindi and Urdu are taught as one language under the title Hindi-Urdu. The two languages, however, use different scripts and have different preferences when it comes to borrowing new formal and literary vocabulary. Although Hindi has many Perso-Arabic words, most of the recent borrowings are from Sanskrit in the written style and from English in the spoken style.

Hindi has a rich literary tradition that dates back to the eleventh century. Early literature, which was predominantly poetry, was written in a variety of Hindi dialects such as Braj and Avadhi. Modern literature is mostly written in Modern Standard Hindi that has developed from Khari Boli, a dialect of Hindi spoken around Delhi and Meerut. Hindi literature consists of all genres, such as poetry, drama, short stories, novels, and essays. These days, there are some good literary magazines available free of charge on the Internet.

Hindi is the primary language of entertainment, media and journalism in India. Bollywood films and songs have particularly popularized Hindi at home and abroad. Modern pop Hindi music is highly popular with Indians settled around the world, including in America, Canada, London, Fiji, Trinidad, parts of Africa, and many countries of the Middle East. Film music has almost become an identity shawl for overseas Indians, many of whom love to sing and dance at the tunes of Hindi songs on Indian cultural and national holidays.

Hindi is taught as a foreign language at many college campuses in the United States. Students learn it for academic, business, and/or personal reasons. There are several good Hindi magazines and newspapers on line that helps learners to access authentic language and Indian culture without leaving their dorms. The University of Pennsylvania offers several levels of Hindi courses, and you can see the course descriptions here.

Course Descriptions

See the current semester roster for times and room numbers.

Beginning Hindi SAST-400

Prerequisites: None
Credits: Two (at the end of the year).

Instructor Information: Dr. Surendra K. Gambhir (sgambhir@sas.upenn.edu)

Course Description:
This yearlong course is a systematic introduction to the Hindi language and Indian culture for true beginners. The main focus of the course is to develop listening comprehension and the ability to converse on a variety of everyday topics in varied social situations. Students will also learn to read and write Hindi in Devanagari script, which is introduced at the outset of the course. For achieving a meaningful and operational control of the language, students acquire basic rules of the language and its use, as well as a basic vocabulary of about 1200 words. Authentic and simulated video materials are used to bring the South Asian culture into the classroom. Class activities include watching videos, singing, role-playing, language games and group work. An analytical view of the language enhances one's appreciation for language as a rule-governed behavior within its cultural matrix.

Intermediate Hindi SAST-420

Prerequisites: Beginning Hindi SAST-410 or the knowledge of basic grammar, oral and literacy skills covered in beginning Hindi.
Credits: One per semester.

Instructor Information: Dr. Vijay Gambhir (vgambhir@sas.upenn.edu)

Course Description:
Intermediate Hindi has a two-semester syllabus. In the first semester, the focus is on developing students' ability to produce longer discourse on a variety of personal and social topics that are relevant to undergraduate and graduate students. Students will learn to understand and produce complex sentences with main and subordinate ideas. There will be opportunities for students to develop language functions such as narration, description, and comparison that require students to produce sustained coherent speech or write multiple paragraphs on a topic. In the second semester, students read and discuss a variety of authentic texts in the form of short stories, poetry, magazine articles and current events. The focus is on developing formal vocabulary and discourse organization strategies used in written Hindi. The course materials include instructional videos, segments of feature films, short stories, magazine & newspaper articles. Each semester, students carry out short research projects making use of local Hindi speaking community resources.

Accelerated Hindi SAST-456

Prerequisites: Can understand conversational Hindi.
Credits: One per semester.

Instructor Information: Dr. Vijay Gambhir (vgambhir@sas.upenn.edu)

Course Description: This is a fast paced course for learners who have prior exposure to Hindi. That is, learners who are able to understand basic conversational Hindi and may be able to express themselves in survival situations, but have minimal or no literacy skills. It has a syllabus with a sequence of two semesters - Fall and Spring. In the first semester, students build on their listening and speaking skills and acquire basic reading and writing skills. An enrichment of vocabulary and exposure to a variety of culturally appropriate situations is a continuous process in all aspects of the language development. By the end of the fall semester, students are able to read simple texts and converse on a variety of everyday personal and social topics. Also, students develop explicit knowledge of grammar and sociocultural rules that help them monitor their own language performance and appreciate language universals and language-specific features.

In the spring semester, students continue to advance the four linguistic skills with a focus on reading and higher language functions, such as narration, description and comparison. Also, students learn reading strategies that help them to parse paragraph length long sentences found in Hindi newspapers. By the end of the second semester, students are able to read and discuss straight forward written texts on general topics found in newspapers, books and magazines with the help of a dictionary.

Advanced Hindi SAST-430

Prerequisites: Intermediate Hindi, or Accelerated Hindi, or the ability to speak and read Hindi on general topics with ease.
Credits: One per semester.

Instructor Information: Dr. S. K. Gambhir (sgambhir@sas.upenn.edu)

Course Description: Advanced Hindi aims at systematically developing the higher level linguistic functions and cultural nuances. Students learn to describe, narrate and support their opinions in informal and formal styles. The objective of the course is to promote a meaningful interaction with written literature and with natives in a socially acceptable manner in a variety of simple and complicated situations. A variety of authentic materials are used, such as short stories, plays, newspapers, magazines, videos, television and radio broadcasts, and interviews. Every semester the course materials and foci can vary depending on the needs and interests of students in the class. Students are encouraged to research reading materials and write in Hindi on a topic related to their studies.

This is a one-semester course and it can be repeated for credit. A minimum of two semesters is recommended for achieving a working or professional proficiency in Hindi.

Readings in Hindi

Prerequisites: Advanced Hindi or its equivalent proficiency. Credits: One.

Instructor Information: Dr. S. K. Gambhir (sgambhir@sas.upenn.edu)

Course Description: This course addresses individualized needs of learners in developing Superior level reading skills for understanding written texts on a wide variety of topics. Students in the course may choose to focus on readings in the area of their research. Readings are discussed to expose learners to sociocultural background information and inferential meanings. The development of a wide-ranging formal vocabulary with appreciation for nuances through etymologies is a continuous process for nurturing such a high level of ability in the language. Special attention is paid to mending many loose ends in the domains of grammatical accuracy, discourse level cohesion and pragmatics.

Online Resources

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