- Ashok Ojha

For the past 13 years a silent revolution in the field of language education has been gaining strength in the USA. From New York to Texas a number of organizations conducted effective language learning programs for young students of Elementary, Middle and High schools. This free program called STARTALK, served as a vehicle for this formal education during the summer vacation. Trained as language teachers hundreds of native speakers taught thousands of Hindi learners using modern linguistic guidelines, best practices and the World Readiness Standards. Funded by the US, STARTALK programs were offered free. This year the Covid-19 pandemic brought a full stop to this revolution. STARTALK Hindi programs came to a complete halt.

Yuva Hindi Sansthan and Hindi Sangam Foundation, NJ based non-profit groups, have been part of this revolution offering language programs. This year we had to change our format from face to face to online. We needed to design our programs in order to take learning to the homes of Hindi learners. 

Online Summer Program 

Recently we conducted an online Summer Hindi program for K-12 learners. This ten day program was designed to teach Hindi in a deeply cultural context. It was based on the principles of teaching foreign languages in USA. One of the important aspects of these principles is to engage students in performance base activities. We reached out to students in real time using online tools such as Zoom.  

The program proved to be very effective for learners who were able to improve their speaking, reading and writing skills in Hindi. They were grouped according to the ACTFL proficiency guidelines. They practiced greetings in order to address people using appropriate registers, titles, courtesy expressions, and gestures; learned what to pack for their virtual tour of India. They learned about the geographical features, weather, food, customs, animals of India in culturally appropriate manners and shared with their friends and parents.  We have posted the details of the program including daily activities on the program site: https://21stcenturyhindi.com/hindi-online-program 

Online Semester Programs

Encouraged by the success of the summer online program we have developed a Semester based online program. This Fall program will be launched on September 20, 2020, It will take place for two hours every Sunday. The program is open to all Elementary, Middle and High School students around the world. It will end on December 6, 2020. The Spring 2021 program will begin in February and end in April 2021. 

Our online program, just like the face to face programs we conducted in the past, are designed to motivate learners learn and practice Hindi and the Indian culture and traditions. We have selected traditional Indian stories to teach at our program. We are integrating language with culture and content in our teaching material and our curricula is based on the Backward Design principles that follows the proficiency guidelines prescribed by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages and the World Readiness Standards. These programs  are accessible to all learners no matter where they live. 

I am confident that our program will motivate Hindi learners continue practicing Hindi speaking, reading, and writing the Devanagari script. More about our program may be viewed here: https://sites.google.com/view/yhs-hsf--online-hindi-program/home

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 (Ashok Ojha, president of Yuva Hindi Sansthan and Hindi Sangam Foundation, may be reached by phone on 732-318-9891 or by email at aojha2008@gmail.com)