Hindi

Why do I Teach Hindi?

Bhavya Tiwari

As comparative literature scholar, I care about literary and linguistic traditions in the local as well as the global frameworks. For me, the world cannot exist in just one language. Hindi is one of the many languages spoken in the Indian subcontinent and beyond. Like many South Asian languages Hindi has a rich literary and cultural past that could be traced back to the 12th century.

I teach Hindi at the University of Houston because I love reading literature in Hindi and Urdu. As a native of Lucknow, India, I also want my students to recognize the artificial divide between Hindi and Urdu. Since no language training is complete without cultural immersion, my students in Hindi classes learn a lot about the politics of language in India.

Below you will read why some of my students are learning Hindi.

Congratulations!

Pranav Rao is the recipient of Boren Scholarship for Hindi in 2019

Pranav Rao is a sophomore, and he is minoring in India Studies. He is fascinated with Indian culture and history, and has taken two semesters of Hindi with Dr. Tiwari along with her course "Indian Cinema: Bollywood and Beyond." This summer, he will be traveling to Madison and Jaipur in India where he will be participating in the Boren South Asian Flagship Languages Initiative. The South Asian Flagship Languages Initiative (SAFLI) offers opportunity to American students for intensive language study of less commonly taught languages such as Hindi or Urdu, and cultural immersion through domestic and overseas language programs. SAFLI students participate in a full-time domestic summer program at the University of Wisconsin. The program is funded through the Boren Scholarship. SAFLI students then participate a full-time overseas program, administered by American Councils for International Education. This takes place at the American Institute of Indian Studies in Jaipur (Hindi) or Urdu (Lucknow). Pranav hopes that after spending time in India he will become more fluent in Hindi. As a Political Science major, who has keen interests in subjects of national security and international studies, Pranav believes that India will play a bigger role in the international community in the coming decades. Pranav hopes that his participation in the Boren SAFLI program will shine a spotlight on India Studies as well as the Hindi language courses offered at UH.

Why I Study Hindi at UH?

Pranav Rao

नमस्ते, मेरा नाम प्रणव है

Hello, my name is Pranav. I am one of the people taking Elementary Hindi this semester. One of the main reasons I chose to take Hindi is that I am a person of Indian origin, but I have never spoken Hindi. Taking Hindi is one way for me to reconnect with a culture that my parents speak very highly of. Apart from that, I feel like knowing Hindi would be a very useful skill to know since aspire to become a diplomat, and India is one of the major countries of the world. On a more academic level, Hindi is interesting to me because of its many influences; Farsi, Arabic, Sanskrit etc.

नमस्ते, प्रणव राव

Goodbye, Pranav Rao
Sureka Ratnasingam

नमसत॓, म॓र। न।म सरेक। है।. मैं श्री लंका स॓ हँ। और मैं त।मिल बे।लती हँ।. I took this Hindi course to learn a new South Asian language. Tamil is not a very common language spoken within South Asian communities in Houston, unlike Hindi. Growing up I had many friends who spoke Hindi and I found the language very fascinating and wanted to learn it. I also grew up watching and listening to a lot of Bollywood films and music, which I enjoyed very much despite not knowing the language. I am so glad that the University of Houston offers this course, and I am currently enjoying learning the Hindi language in this class very much. नमसत॓
Madison Troxler

नमस्ते, मेरा नाम मैडिसन है | (Hello, my name is Madison.) I have always been interested in other cultures and especially other languages. When I met my boyfriend, I was excited to find out that he was willing to teach me Gujarati. Then, I decided that I wanted to try learning Hindi as well since it has some similarities and it's more common. That way I could potentially find more speaking partners. और हिंदी बहुत सुन्द भाषा है | (Also, Hindi is a beautiful language.) I'm really excited to continue learning Hindi at University of Houston!
Shakira Patni

नमस्ते,

मेरा नाम शकीरा है, और मुझे हिन्दी क्लास बहुत पसंद है।

Translation: Namaste, my name is Shakira, and I really like Hindi class.

I am of Indian origin, but Hindi is not the spoken language in my home. However, having grown up watching Bollywood movies and listening to Bollywood songs, I have always had a deep desire to be able to speak, read, and write in Hindi. I hope to one day be able to visit India and be able to communicate with people when I’m there.

Namaste

नमस्ते