Hindi

Hindi is the most widely known tongue of South Asia. Those who know Hindi are also able to talk with speakers of Urdu since the two languages have virtually the same grammar and share a large part of everyday vocabulary. Hindi is an Indo-European language with a not particularly difficult grammar. The increasing number of English loanwords can make the learning of spoken Hindi relatively easy for English-speakers.

The faculty runs elementary to advanced Hindi course as well as classes of Modern Literary Hindi and of Classical Hindi (Braj Bhasha, Avadhi, etc).

An intensive course in elementary Hindi starts every Michaelmas term and runs for two terms. It consists of weekly 2 hours of grammar with Prof. Imre Bangha and two hours of practice with Dr Ashwini Mokashi. During the course, we will be covering the material from Snell and Weightman: Teach Yourself Complete Hindi. Apart from the contact hours, students should expect a workload of 5-10 hours per week for preparing for the classes.

In the Literary Hindi classes, students read short stories and drama excerpts from a wide range of authors including classical, Dalit and contemporary writers and discuss questions of interpretation and translation. These classes are supplemented by Advanced Hindi practice classes focussing on communicative skills.

The courses are intended primarily for undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. However, there are also limited places available for people from other faculties and beyond the university. If you intend to apply, please contact the course tutor on imre.bangha@ames.ox.ac.uk.