HindiLearner News

Give your CV the edge of a foreign language HT Correspondent , Hindustan Times Kolkata, June 18, 2013 First Published: 08:34 IST(18/6/2013) Last Updated: 08:41 IST(18/6/2013) Share  more .  comments    Email   print At a time when rapid technological advancement is making communication easier and the world is becoming ‘one nation’, the importance of learning multiple languages is being understood by one and all. With increased exchanges between major powers like China and Japan coming up, India is becoming one of the prime economic hubs in Asia. Therefore, plenty of job opportunities are unfurling for those who can master multiple foreign languages, including English. There are several institutes in the city where you can start learning one or more of these languages. Of these, the School of Linguistics and Language Technology of Jadavpur University (JU) has one of the best infrastructure and resources to impart foreign language. Apart [...]

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Dunwoody High School rising senior Madison Dill has been awarded one of approximately 625 National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) scholarships for 2013-2014. The NSLI-Y program, funded by the U.S. Department of State, provides merit-based scholarships for eligible high school students to learn less commonly-taught languages in summer and academic-year overseas immersion programs. NSLI-Y offers overseas study opportunities in Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Persian, Russian, and Turkish. Madison will study Hindi in India for the summer. The scholarship covers all program costs for participants including domestic and international travel; tuition and related academic preparation; language testing; educational and cultural activities focused on language learning; orientations; meals and accommodations, usually with a host family. Through her participation in the program, Madison will serve as a citizen diplomat while developing the skills necessary to be a leader in the global community. ••• Three recent Marist School graduates were awarded National [...]

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MILLBURN, NJ – Amanda Kam and Sylvia Levy of Millburn High School have been awarded National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) scholarships, which are sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and awarded to about 625 students across the US.  NSLI-Y offers overseas study opportunities in nations where the less commonly taught languages of Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Persian, Russian, and Turkish are spoken. On its website, NSLI-Y states, “The goals of the NSLI-Y program include sparking a life-long interest in foreign languages and cultures, and developing a corps of young Americans with the skills necessary to advance international dialogue in the private, academic or government sectors, and build upon the foundations developed through person-to-person relationships while abroad.” Amanda is currently taking AP French in the high school and has a passion for learning new languages and cultures. Sylvia Levy studies AP Chinese and is very excited for [...]

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In the world of Hindi literature, Upendranath Ashk (1910-1996) was a towering figure. By the time of his death, Ashk’s oeuvre spanned over a hundred volumes of writings across several genres. Although best known for his six-volume novel cycle Girti Divarein , Ashk’s dying wish was to have his previously translated short-stories, which he feared weren’t good enough, edited. Hats and Doctors (Penguin India) offers readers in English a taste of Ashk’s short fiction, in which complex themes like marriage, mortality and the colonial legacy are rendered with a lightness of touch. The stories have been selected, translated and introduced by Daisy Rockwell, an artist and writer, who has previously authored Upendranath Ashk: A Critical Biography and The Little Book of Terror , a book of essays and paintings on the global war on terror. In her introduction to Hats and Doctors , Daisy writes, “Perhaps a translator should [...]

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BRIC Language Systems, a one of a kind online language learning platform, announces its launch in January 2013. NEW YORK, NY, May 26, 2013 /24-7PressRelease/ — “BRIC Language systems has introduced a revolutionary new and effective method for learning languages!” BRIC Language Systems, a one of a kind online language learning platform, introduces its ‘Revolutionary Approach’ aimed at enabling America’s modern professional to learn the most beneficial languages for today’s economy, announces its launch in January 2013. BRIC, literally abbreviated for Brazil, Russia, India, and China, focuses on assisting people learn the languages spoken in these countries as well as Mexico and Latin America. BRIC has successfully launched it’s Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese, and Spanish programs with planned launch dates for Russian and Hindi in 2014. Brainchild of Ryan McMunn, the former Vice President of the Asian Operations of a United States manufacturing firm, the company was started out of [...]

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‘The Gillard government’s plan for Australia to navigate the ‘Asian Century’ calls for all students to have the opportunity to take a course in an Asian language.’ Photo: Tanya Lake Australians worry too much about language. Maybe the accent is to blame, the twang many foreigners confuse with a Kiwi or Afrikaans inflection. But our rendering of English isn’t the cause of most angst – it is the lack of proficiency in other languages, particularly those from Asia. Mandarin, Hindi, Indonesian, take your pick. True, Australians are more typically monolingual, especially when compared to Europeans. But the concern is overblown. A lot of well-meaning people who worry about relations with Australia’s neighbourhood seem to get taken by an almost evangelical zeal when it comes to language studies – a belief that if only more Australians spoke an Asian language, ties with the region would be smoother. It really amounts [...]

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Our perception of language, formulation of language policies and their implementation, and our attitudes to other languages are all almost invariably polluted by the myths about language that we effortlessly inherit, nourish and transmit to our subsequent generations; we make sure that the damage is irreparable and irreversible. As long ago as 1620, Francis Bacon in his celebrated Novum Organum warned us against the idols of the ‘Cave, Tribe, Theatre and the Market Place’ that impede any scientific enquiry. We persistently refuse to listen to him. Unless some major steps are taken at the school and college levels, and the study of language is brought out of the clutches of traditional prescriptive rote-learnt grammar to be replaced by a scientific study of language, the future will continue to be what the present is and the past has been. We will continue to neglect the languages of children and the [...]

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In the land of English Vinglish Debanjan Chakrabarti , Hindustan Times May 09, 2013 First Published: 21:13 IST(9/5/2013) Last Updated: 21:17 IST(9/5/2013) Share  more .  comments    Email   print In Ramachandra Guha’s recent book Patriots and Partisans, there is an interesting chapter titled ‘The Rise and Fall of the Bi-lingual Intellectual.’ It focuses on the differing positions taken by Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore on the question of modern education for a nationalist India, and the role of English within that. Guha frames his chapter with a personal anecdote about his own limited bi-lingualism and peppers it with his admiration for true bi or tri or multilinguals, able to express themselves in scholarly and academic contexts in more than one language. The role of English within India’s national curriculum continues to vex educationists, especially when it comes to its links with development. Recently, in Hyderabad, at the world’s [...]

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Of all the language courses I’ve completed, the Portuguese class I’m doing this semester is by far the greatest. Forget grammar, forget rules and annoying tables with declination endings and all that stuff. Just open your mouth and speak! That’s what learning a new language is all about. Every week our teacher gives us two assignments to work on: topic 1 and topic 2. A week later we’re then asked to speak for 5-10 minutes about that topic. Here are some things we’ve done so far: what’s your favorite book. talk about one of your favorite travel destinations. what’s your favorite short story, write a short summary and also mention a few things about the author. Where do you usually go shopping. “ Just talk. ” – the teacher would say. On the first session my mind went black, my lips paralyzed. I was barely able to say “ [...]

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