Welcome to the Hindi Program at Yale

The mission of the Yale Hindi program is to educate students of all levels in the Hindi language and to foster an appreciation of the culture of the Hindi-speaking world.

The Yale Hindi program currently offers courses at the elementary, intermediate, accelerated, and advanced levels. We believe language is a way of life, and students are asked from the very beginning to think and speak in Hindi.

True proficiency in any language can only be achieved through a deeper understanding of the cultures it comes from and interacts with. We teach through a combination of texts, written assignments, films and songs, and oral assignments. Our courses are geared toward improving comprehension in the language across listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

We believe in the joy of learning and are committed to making the Hindi classroom an inclusive, educational, and encouraging experience.

Please explore our site to learn more about the Hindi language, the courses we offer, and associated programs and events!

Hindi is one of India’s two official languages, alongside English, and is the most widely spoken language in the country. The language originated in North India, around the city of Delhi, and is used as an umbrella term for a variety of dialects spoken from the deserts of Rajasthan to the sacred city of Varanasi. Hindi as it is spoken in much of India also has a high degree of intelligibility with Urdu, Pakistan’s national language. The two are largely distinguished by different scripts and different levels of Persian and Sanskrit influence at higher levels.

Hindi

Hindi was first taught at Yale during the spring 1999 semester with the support and guidance of CLS - Center for Language Studies, and The Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale.