स्वागत – خوش آمدید
In recent years South Asia has assumed a growing influence internationally in such fields as politics, business, research, and arts. Many in the US are introduced to Hindi/Urdu through the vibrant world of Bollywood film and music. The study of Hindi/Urdu is an ideal choice for students who hope to take advantage of new opportunities emerging in South Asia, and for those who aspire to engage in the international exchange of where Hindi/Urdu plays a prominent role. Large businesses and government agencies are constantly seeking professionals with advanced language skills in Hindi and Urdu. These various incentives for Hindi-Urdu speakers can be grouped into four main categories: economic, culture, non-profit and political.
Hindi (हिंदी) and Urdu (اردو) are Indo-European languages and are therefore imprecisely interrelated to English. Both languages have a similar set of tenses and some associated vocabulary or cognates in words like dānt (too), nām (name) and do (two). They also have correlated linguistic features which are lost in English but still present in other European languages, like separate informal and formal terms for ‘you’ (aap آپ and تم tum) and gender.
Learning both Hindi and Urdu together ultimately gives students the ability to interact with close to 500 million people in South Asia as well as the opportunity to explore both secular and devotional literary traditions that go back to at least the sixteenth century, and even enjoy modern media such as Bollywood movies and television soap operas, which form an important part of the lives of many in contemporary India and Pakistan.
The Hindi-Urdu language program offers comprehensive instruction in Hindi and Urdu together from the beginner’s level. You will learn two languages in one course. Hindi, written in the Devanagari script, is the official language of the Republic of India. Urdu, written in a modified form of the Perso-Arabic script called Nastaliq, is the official language of Pakistan. In their most basic spoken form, Hindi and Urdu are mutually intelligible, particularly in urban centers in north India. Learning Hindi-Urdu could be a great source for those who are interested in South Asian Certificate or studying South Asian music, movies/cinema and media at Wesleyan.
There are many study-abroad, internship and scholarship opportunities in both languages which you can find here.