Walsh School of Foreign Service
Asian Studies
Asian Studies

Hindi-Urdu

The Hindi-Urdu program at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service offers a sequence of six Hindi-Urdu courses at the novice, intermediate and advanced levels.

Each level is covered in two semesters. At the novice level, students develop speaking, reading, listening and writing skills that are vital to performing real-life communicative tasks successfully. At the intermediate level, students develop ease and confidence in handling routine tasks and narrating over major time frames. At the advanced level, we focus on international issues and foreign policy topics, as well as more specialized vocabulary and grammar appropriate to their interests and areas of professional competence.

Curricular enrichments include the use of authentic audio, video, and internet-based materials about Bollywood, food, culture, travel, and poetry, along with texts such as news headlines and articles, advertisements, folktales and classic short stories. Participation in intellectual and cultural events in the area’s vibrant and growing South Asian diasporic community is strongly encouraged.

Incorporating Two Languages

Hindi and Urdu share grammar and basic conversational vocabulary, but have different scripts and increasingly different vocabulary as the language level increases. Students may choose to learn either Hindi or Urdu in the first year. In the second year, students may choose to study both languages or focus exclusively on the language they are interested in.

Courses

Course Schedule

Fall Semester

  • Hindi-Urdu Novice
  • Hindi-Urdu Intermediate Low
  • Hindi-Urdu Advanced Low

Spring Semester

  • Hindi-Urdu Novice High
  • Hindi-Urdu Intermediate High
  • Hindi-Urdu Advanced Mid

Course Descriptions

Hindi-Urdu is the first in a six-course sequence. In this course, you will begin to develop your writing, reading, speaking, and listening skills in Hindi or Urdu. Students entering this course are expected to be beginners with no previous background in Hindi or Urdu. By the end of this class, you will be able to ask and answer questions on familiar topics with native speakers accustomed to foreigners and extract main ideas from very basic written materials.

Hindi-Urdu is the second in a six-course sequence. In this course, you will further develop your listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in Hindi or Urdu. By the end of this class, you will be able to more comfortably ask and answer questions on familiar topics with native speakers accustomed to foreigners and extract main ideas from basic written materials. Class activities will revolve around task-based objectives that are necessary for survival on the ground in the Hindi-Urdu-speaking regions of India and Pakistan. Students entering this course are expected to be at the Novice High level, having successfully completed Novice Hindi-Urdu or having placed in the level on the placement test. By the end of the course, you are expected to achieve the Intermediate Low level.

This is the third in a six-course sequence in the Georgetown University Hindi-Urdu Program. Students entering this course are expected to be at Intermediate Low, have completed the Novice High course or have placed in the level on the placement test. Course activities are organized into topical themes based on student research interests. By the end of this course, you will be able to engage in conversations on a wider variety of topics and extract important ideas with greater accuracy from simple aural and written media reports and other texts.

The Hindi-Urdu Intermediate High course is the fourth in a six-course sequence. By the end of the course, you will be able to engage in more complex conversations, have the ideas you express be understood even by native speakers who are unaccustomed to foreigners, and read and understand important points in more complex texts. The use of authentic materials taken from various sources (e.g., periodicals, video, and radio documentaries) is emphasized. The selection of the materials is based on the complexity of the tasks and the student’s professional and personal interests.

The Hindi-Urdu Advanced Low course is the fifth in a six-course sequence. By the end of the course, you will be able to handle a variety of communication tasks. You will be able to participate in most informal and formal conversations on topics related to employment, current events, the environment,  and public and community interest matters. You will be able to read, listen to, and comprehend some complex texts from online resources, such as BBC Hindi, BBC Urdu, or Bollywood.

The Hindi-Urdu Advanced Low course is the final course of a six-course sequence. By the end of the course, you will be able to handle a variety of communication tasks with ease and confidence. You will be able to participate actively in informal and formal exchanges on a variety of concrete topics related to current events, the environment, human rights, and public, personal, and professional interests. You will be able to use concrete language with much accuracy, clarity, and precision. Also, you will be able to read and comprehend some more complex texts from online resources, such as BBC Hindi or Urdu.

Proficiency Requirement

The Hindi-Urdu Language Proficiency Exam measures your ability in the language after four or six semesters of Hindi-Urdu instruction or equivalent and is used to meet the language graduation requirement.

Proficiency exams test what students are expected to know after four or six semesters of Georgetown University’s Hindi-Urdu language instruction. The exam may be given in either Hindi or Urdu. To satisfy the Georgetown University language requirement in Hindi or Urdu, students are expected to achieve the following level in Hindi or Urdu based on ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) standard.

Proficiency Levels

Students from different programs must achieve the following proficiency levels for reading, speaking and listening:

Placement Test

All students with a previous language background in Hindi or Urdu and are interested in enrolling in a Hindi or Urdu course at Georgetown University must take a placement exam before classes start. This test determines the most appropriate class for the student to enroll in. The test is broken into two parts: a one-hour written test and a 5–10-minute oral exam with the instructor. Please email Professor Husain (see contact information below) to schedule a time to take the test. It can be administered via Zoom.

Contact

Wafadar Husain, wh519@georgetown.edu