Hindi I
A.Y. 2020/2021
Learning objectives
At the end of the first year course, the students will be supposed to know devanagari alphabet, to read and pronounce properly simple and basic texts written in Hindi, to deal with simple oral conversations and dialogues and to translate, using a bilingual dictionary, simple texts from Hindi to Italian language. As far as oral expression and communication abilities are concerned, the students will be supposed to be able to introduce themselves, to talk about their family, their daily routine, as well as to describe the place they live in and the people they are related to (family members, friends, etc.). They should be able to express simple feelings, needs and ideas, they should also be able to talk about the things they like, their hobbies and their dislikes as far as food, clothes, daily activities and duties are concerned. Students will be also supposed to deal with some common experiences such as buying a train ticket in an Indian railway station, asking how to reach an address, ordering some food in a restaurant, doing some shopping in an market, asking informations about someone else's life, gathering informations related to a meant-to-do journey. Students will be also trained to understand native speakers talking about everyday topics: listening comprehension will be considered as much important as reading comprehension. At the end of the course students will have to master a basic vocabulary of at least 500 words.
Expected learning outcomes
The course means to promote students' abilities in three areas: reading, listening and talking. Students are expected to know the main structures of Hindi grammar and syntax and to master a range of Hindi basic vocabulary. Students will be expected to reach a basic, but fluent, knowledge of spoken as well as written Hindi.
Lesson period: year
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
year
In the first term of 2020-21, the course will be taught entirely online, as will language practice sessions ("esercitazioni"). For the second term, updates will be provided as soon as possible. Whether it will be possible to return to in-person lessons will depend on the evolution of the current health emergency.Online teaching will be delivered through the Teams platform, which is part of the Office 365 suite. The Office 365 package can be downloaded by UNIMI students from the university website free of charge. Teams has online interaction capabilities which will be fully exploited during classes. Students will be requested to fully participate in the suggested activities.
The main course classes will be primarily in lecture form and will be delivered live according to the timetable published on the MED website. Language practice sessions ("esercitazioni") will also be delivered live, at the appointed times. Updates on any issue concerning this course will be provided promptly and all updates and information will be published on the course website (Lingua Hindi 1 MED) on the Ariel platform. Students are strongly advised to check the course website regularly so as to be up to date will all information and instructions.
The main course classes will be primarily in lecture form and will be delivered live according to the timetable published on the MED website. Language practice sessions ("esercitazioni") will also be delivered live, at the appointed times. Updates on any issue concerning this course will be provided promptly and all updates and information will be published on the course website (Lingua Hindi 1 MED) on the Ariel platform. Students are strongly advised to check the course website regularly so as to be up to date will all information and instructions.
Course syllabus
The subjects the course will deal with are: the Hindi script and sound system (the Devanagari script: the two forms of vowels, the inherent vowel, the consonants (velar, palatal, retroflex, dental, labial, semi-vowels, sibilants, aspirate), Visarga, conjunct characters, Halant, Candra-bindu, Anusvara, peculiarities of the semi-vowel "ra", punctuation and other signs, pronunciation); personal pronouns and the verb "to be"; nouns; adjectives; the simple sentence; interrogative words; agreement of adjectives with mixed genders; simple pospositions; nouns with pospositions; adjectives in the oblique case; pronouns in the oblique case; the present tense; the past tense; comparison of adjectives; commands and requests; possession with "ka"; the possessive pronouns; compound pospositions; ordinal numbers; conjunct verbs; the continuous tenses; expressions for "to have"; the future tense; presumptive uses of the future; the infinitive as verbal noun; the subjunctive; the suffix "vala"; compound verbs; relative clauses; ways to express compulsion.
Depending on the students' reaction to the above-mentioned subjects, the course may further introduce the students to the relative clause and to the perfective tenses (intransitive and transitive verbs).
Depending on the students' reaction to the above-mentioned subjects, the course may further introduce the students to the relative clause and to the perfective tenses (intransitive and transitive verbs).
Prerequisites for admission
No previous knowledge of Hindi language is required: the course is designed to enable those with no previous knowledge of Hindi language to learn to read, write and converse in the language with confidence.
Teaching methods
Classroom-taught lesson; listening comprehension; oral exercises and large use of on-line and web resources in order to let the students become acquainted as much as possible with the sounds of Hindi language as well as with the cadence, intonation and rhythm of Hindi sentence and way of talking. The students will be encouraged to take part to the lessons through both oral exercises and small, basic dialogues and conversations in hindi with the teacher as well as with other students.
Teaching Resources
Ruper Snell, Complete Hindi, John Murray Learning, London, 2016. (UNITS: from 1 to 10, 12, 13a, 14.3, 14.4, 15.1 and 15.2).
Throughout the duration of the course the students will be given the notes of the subjects gradually introduced and explained and all the course material.
For the students who can read and understand Italian:
- M. Angelilllo, Introduzione alla lingua hindi. Corso base, Unicopli, MIlano, 2020.
Throughout the duration of the course the students will be given the notes of the subjects gradually introduced and explained and all the course material.
For the students who can read and understand Italian:
- M. Angelilllo, Introduzione alla lingua hindi. Corso base, Unicopli, MIlano, 2020.
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam consists of a written test and an oral one. Admission to the oral test is conditional on a minimum mark (18/30) on the written test. The written test consists of a first exercise of translation from Italian to Hindi of a long list of very short and basic sentences, while the second exercise requires the student to translate from Italian to Hindi longer and much more complex and articulate sentences. The student is then asked to write a short composition on one of the subject the course dealt with (family, daily routine, health, recipe/food preparation, etc.). As an alternative the student may be asked to translate a short story or a dialogue from Hindi to Italian and to answer in hindi to a few questions about it (reading comprehension). A further exercise will consist of the translation from Hindi to Italian of some sentences or an extract from one of the dialogues/texts previously read by the student. Consulting the dictionary is strictly forbidden during the written test.
During the oral test the student will be first of all asked to rectify, if any, the mistakes made in the written test. The student will have, then, to talk for a couple of minutes of a chosen subject. Finally, the student will be involved in a short dialogue in hindi with the teacher.
During the oral test the student will be first of all asked to rectify, if any, the mistakes made in the written test. The student will have, then, to talk for a couple of minutes of a chosen subject. Finally, the student will be involved in a short dialogue in hindi with the teacher.
L-OR/19 - MODERN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES OF THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT - University credits: 9
Lessons: 60 hours
Professors:
Angelillo Maria Del Carmelo, Staurengo Silvia
Professor(s)