I have been studying Hindi and Urdu at the University of Texas for two years now. I'm extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to be a part of the Hindi Urdu Flagship, just one part of the national Language Flagship program. HUF's goal is to improve the way that critical languages (in our case, Hindi and Urdu) are taught in universities. The program aims to educate students to proficiency in both languages and allow them opportunities to travel to India to study the languages and get practical experience. I honestly never expected to study linguistics in college, and I definitely never expected to study Hindi and Urdu. But I am thankful every day that I found HUF.
In my opinion, Hindi (along with Urdu) is a fantastic and important language to study. Not only is it beautiful in its own right, it possesses a unique and rich poetic, literary, and historical tradition. It is also increasing in importance as one of the major languages of the world's second-most populous nation. India is a force to be reckoned with on a global scale, and this is becoming increasingly obvious. In our globalizing world, multilingualism is important, and Hindi is a perfect option for anyone to learn as a second (or third) language.
This summer will be the first of two trips I take to India as part of my Flagship education. I will be studying Hindi intensively in Jaipur for 9 weeks along with other students from around the United States. I'm incredibly nervous but also excited! I can't wait to improve my Hindi language skills and see what adventures await in India!
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