Language Resources
Learning Hindi in London
- SOAS: http://www.soas.ac.uk/languagecentre/languages/hindi/
- KCL: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/schools/humanities/depts/mlc/evening/timetable/language/Hindi
- Mary Ward Centre (These courses seem to be offered at a greater range of levels than SOAS)
- City Lit: http://www.citylit.ac.uk/courses/Languages/Hindi
- South Thames College: http://www.south-thames.ac.uk/CO456-12f-12/Hindi
- Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan: http://www.bhavan.net/11languages.html (Teaches to GCSE and A-Level, but quality unknown).
Learning Hindi in India:
- Landour Language School (Mussorie) http://landourlanguageschool.com/ [Diplo-types, missionaries, atheists, researchers...]
- Jaipur Hindi School: http://jaipurhindi.com/index.html [American summer school centre]
Hindi Resources Online:
- A Door into Hindi: http://taj.chass.ncsu.edu/
- Washington.edu: http://courses.washington.edu/hindi31x/resources.html
- NYU Virtual Hindi: http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/mideast/hindi/index.html
- BBC Hindi service (texts, video, audio): http://www.bbc.co.uk/hindi/
Plus many broadcasters, newspapers and magazines are online in Hindi too:
- Aaj Tak: http://aajtak.intoday.in/
- Tehelka Hindi: http://www.tehelkahindi.com/
- Jansatta: http://www.jansatta.com/
- Webdunia: http://www.webdunia.com/
- For vocab learning? http://www.memrise.com/welcome/
Dictionaries
Hindi Resources in London
- Foyles: http://www.foyles.co.uk/Public/Shop/Search.aspx?fFacetId=1014&searchBy=1&term=hindi&quick=true
- Star Book: http://www.starbooksuk.com/index.php?
Mary Ward Centre
I will be conducting fieldwork in the sub-discipline of Material Culture in India from June 2012 - May 2013 and need to improve my command of Hindi in order to communicate and conduct interviews in various parts of Northern India. The type of language course I required was a high level one and was not available at the other universities. The teacher whom I located at the Mary Ward Centre (and whom I would highly recommend) is Mrs. Kamlesh Arora. She has over 24 years of teaching experience and has tailored the course to my anthropological interests and my specific strengths and weaknesses.
Translation, Dictionaries and Resources
- Tamilcube: http://www.tamilcube.com/res/tamilpad.html
- http://www.dictionary.tamilcube.com/
- University of Chicago Digital Dictionaries of South Asia University of Madras Tamil Lexicon Search Engine: http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries//tamil-lex/
Online Language Learning
- Government of Tamil Nadu Department of School Education School Textbooks in Tamil Available in .pdf Format: http://www.textbooksonline.tn.nic.in/
- University of Pennsylvania Language Learning Center’s Web Assisted Learning and Teaching of Tamil (WALTT): http://plc.sas.upenn.edu/tamil
- Tamil Virtual Academy (TVA): http://www.tamilvu.org/
TVA offers a combination online and by post certificate course in Tamil language administered by university teachers but lesson plans are available for non-students. University-level degree programs in Tamilology are also offered and taught online with Tamilnadu-based examinations. University degrees are awarded by Tamil University, Thanjavur.
Jill Reese
Tamil Preservation and Advocacy Organizations
- Central Institute of Classical Tamil, Chennai: http://www.cict.in/
- World Classical Tamil Conference: http://ulakathamizhchemmozhi.org/
- Association of Tamil Computing: http://www.kanithamizh.in/
- International Forum for Information Technology in Tamil (IFITT)
India-Based Tamil Language Learning Institutions
- Tamil University, Thanjavur: http://www.tamiluniversity.ac.in/
- American Institute of Indian Studies: http://aiislanguageprograms.org/
- Institute for Asian Studies, Chennai (IAS): http://xlweb.com/heritage/asian/
I highly recommend the IAS for its quality in language teaching and affordability compared to UK and US-based Tamil language programs. Dr. John Samuel, the Director of IAS, designs a language learning program for each student with multiple intensive one-on-one classes each day with himself and at least two other instructors. The IAS staff is knowledgeable, patient and generous with their time, and the IAS library has a sizeable collection of Tamil-language books, rare print publications and ancient palmleaf manuscripts.
Jill Reese
US-Based Tamil Language Learning Institutions
- South Asia Summer Language Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison: http://sasli.wisc.edu/languages/tamil.html
- American Institute of Indian Studies: http://aiislanguageprograms.org/
- University of Pennsylvania: http://plc.sas.upenn.edu/tamil
- University of California, Berkeley: http://southasia.berkeley.edu/tamil
- Syracuse University: http://lang.syr.edu/
- Columbia University South Asia Institute: http://www.sai.columbia.edu/language_courses.html
Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Centre London
- Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Centre
Address 10 Maple Street London, W1T 5HA
Email: londra@yunusemrevakfi.com.tr
Tel: 020 7387 3036
They offer free courses of Turkish language and it is located very close from UCL, next to Warren Street Station.
UCL Anthropology, 14 Taviton Street, London, WC1H 0BW Tel: +44 (0)20 7679 8633
