Modern South Asian Languages and Literatures
Profile
The Department of Modern South Asian Languages and Literatures, formerly called "Modern Indology", is devoted to the study of South Asia. "South Asia" denotes the Indian subcontinent, i.e. the area that was historically known as "India", and is today home to over 1.5 billion people, i.e. one fifth of the world's population. India is by far the largest country in South Asia, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldive Islands. Afghanistan is also at times counted as a part of South Asia and has recently acknowledged its belonging to this region. South Asia comprises a great variety of different cultures, ethnic groups and religions, and one of its most remarkable characteristics is its diversity of languages. The several hundreds of spoken languages in South Asia are divided into four major groups: New Indoarian, Dravidian, Austroasian and Sinotibetic languages. Idioms that did not originate in South Asia (i.e. Persian, Portuguese, and of course, down to the present, English) are of great importance, too, be it as written languages, contact languages or supra-regional communication media. Several South Asian languages have brought forth a remarkable treasure of literature, and some of them are nowadays official state languages.
Intensive Courses in Spoken and Written Urdu
28th August - 16th September 2023
The South Asia Institute at Heidelberg University, Germany, will offer introductory and advanced courses in Urdu during the summer vacations 2023.
In the introductory course, students develop speaking, reading, listening and writing skills and acquire basic vocabulary as well as knowledge of the main grammatical structures and conversational etiquette of Urdu.
The advanced course is designed to develop communicative skills, grammatical accuracy and the ability to understand complex texts. Particular stress will also be laid on listening comprehension.
More information here.
Bangla Summer School in Warsaw
31 July - 14 August 2023
The South Asia Institute at Heidelberg University, Germany, in cooperation with the Chair of South Asian Studies at the University of Warsaw, Poland and Charles University, Prague invites you for an intensive language workshop in the Bengali language.
We offer you two intensive courses in spoken Bengali. Our experienced teachers from Prague, Heidelberg, and Warsaw will share their knowledge with you and help you to learn, speak and understand Bengali better.
In the introductory course, participants will develop speaking, reading, listening, and writing skills and acquire a basic vocabulary of Bengali.
The advanced course is aimed to develop a deeper understanding of grammar, communicative skills, and the ability to understand literary texts.
Participants are asked to acquire a basic knowledge of the Bengali script prior to the course. For this purpose, we recommend: 1. Teach Yourself Bengali by William Radice, published by Teach Yourself Books; 2. Bengali. A Comprehensive Grammar, Routledge Comprehensive Grammars.
More information here.
Hindi Intensiv Course in Jaipur
19 February - 18 March 2023
The South Asia Institute at Heidelberg University, in cooperation with Indo-German-Society in Jaipur, offers an intensive Hindi course during the winter break. The course is aimed at all students and interested parties who already have a good basic knowledge of Hindi. The intensive lessons with native-speaking teachers enable the participants to deepen their language skills, to automate grammar structures they have learned and to acquire new vocabulary. In addition, they are motivated in a lifelike setting to actively use Hindi.
You can find more information here.