Hindi Sangam Foundation (HSF)

Hindi Sangam Foundation is a non-profit educational and cultural organization with the goal of promoting Hindi learning and cultural practices in the Indian Diaspora.

Background

Hindi Sangam Foundation, a New Jersey based non-profit educational and cultural organization is promoted by Ashok Ojha, a journalist and teacher, to meet complementing goals of promoting Hindi learning and cultural practices in the Indian Diaspora. Ojha is the founder and president of the foundation, which was established in 2015.

It had an immediate objective of organizing International Hindi Conference in collaboration of universities, educational organizations as well as institutions that supported the idea of promoting Hindi language and culture globally.

Managed by a board of trustees Hindi Sangam Foundation was awarded its first federal grant to conduct STARTALK Hindi

Language and Culture Program in the summer of 2016 in association with Franklin Township Board of Education in New Jersey. Since then the organization has successfully conducted summer STARTALK programs every year. The program is directed by President Ashok Ojha who is involved in all aspects from planning to implementation of the program. Sangam-Franklin STARTALK program was invited to present its teaching methodology at STARTALK conferences in Portland, OR in 2017.

Hindi Sangam Foundation works as an advocacy group for promotion of teaching and development of Hindi as a Heritage language in the United States and other countries through conferences, workshops, exchange programs, cultural and educational and academic activities.

It is working to achieve its cherished goal to establish educational institutions, such as, schools, colleges and research organizations for grooming US citizens as the 21st Century World Citizens. The organization is moving forward with successfully increasing awareness for Hindi in communities in USA and beyond.

We organized international Hindi conferences in collaboration with Rutgers University, New Jersey in 2015 and also in Vishakhapatnam, India in 2017 where it was hosted by GITAM University. The Consulate General of India in New York hosted the 2016 conference. Below we provide descriptions of our activities:

Meet the Team >>>

2019 PROGRAM - NEW JERSEY

Sangam - Franklin STARTALK Hindi Language and Culture Program 2019

Overarching Theme: 'Storytelling'

Post Program Activities (online/onsite) :

Hindi Diwas Event : Sept 29th, 2019

PROGRAM FLYER

( Click here Hindi Diwas Flyer For SANGAM Franklin STARTALK Hindi Language Program 2019)

PROGRAM REPORTS

( Click here Hindi Diwas Reports For SANGAM Franklin STARTALK Hindi Language Program 2019)

HSF STARTALK Reunion : November 10, 2019

PROGRAM FLYER

( Click here Reunion Flyer For SANGAM Franklin STARTALK Hindi Language Program 2019)

PROGRAM REPORTS

( Click here Reunion Reports For SANGAM Franklin STARTALK Hindi Language Program 2019)

Republic Day event : January 26, 2020

Monthly online follow up lessons from September 2019 to March 2020

Introduction

Sangam-Franklin STARTALK HINDI 2019, a 3 week, 105 instructional hours immersion program, taught speaking, reading and writing Hindi to a diverse group of 48 heritage and non-heritage group of Middle and High School students at Franklin High School, Somerset, NJ from July 22nd to August 8th, 2019. Under the theme of 'Storytelling', students explored and investigated lives and accomplishments of common people in India, who were also presented as role models. Students worked collaboratively, using visuals and texts, to retell the stories and create their versions. Various forms of traditional storytelling, such as, puppetry and street performances, were used for rich learning experiences. The stories, such as, 'The Forest Man' and 'The Mountain Man', promoted universal values and character building traits, and allowed students think, pair and share information, ideas and insights in groups on local and global issues. Learners demonstrated their learning by creating skits, short videos and responding through exit cards. Students, grades six and up, took part in pre and post program AAPPL tests that reflected their proficiency gains. Students were taken to a day long field trip to a local nature park and a community center where they interacted with native speakers in Hindi. On the final day students showcased their learning to parents and invited guests at the school auditorium.

CLICK HERE FOR HSF STARTALK 2019 PROGRAM WEBSITE

Details about the Sangam - Franklin STARTALK HINDI PROGRAM 2019

Sangam - Franklin STARTALK Hindi Program 2019 is a federally funded program. There is no Tuition Fee. Free classroom materials, breakfast, lunch, and snacks daily; Field trip day: July 6, 2019 to experience community oriented real life activities; Technologically supported classroom sessions; Art and cultural activities including Indian cuisine, and thematically organized cultural activities; Morning Yoga; Valedictory event, Completion Certificates distribution and students performances to demonstrate their language and cultural skills.

Pre and Post Program Activities

STARTALK requires for all students to attend learning sessions (online and on-site) during pre and post program period, especially writing practice. Enrollment to program is subject to fulfilling the following requirements by all applicants:

1. Parents' consent letter permitting to participate in all activities, including photos and videos recorded for educational and promotional purposes. A template for the consent form will be provided.

2. Willingness to participate in all pre and post program activities - including responding to monthly online follow up lessons from September 2019 to March 2020; Post-Program- Hindi Diwas Event: Sept 29; Reunion and Diwali: November 10, 2019; Republic Day event: January 26, 2020.

For online Hindi learning, please visit: https://21stcenturyhindi.com/hindi-online-program

Storytelling Novice and intermediate students will present their story at a 'Story Festival' on the final day of the program.

The program is completely free:

A $100 donation to Hindi Sangam Foundation is voluntary and appreciated. Please make your check payable to Hindi Sangam Foundation and mail to: Hindi Sangam Foundation, 4 Melville Road, Edison, NJ 08817.

Contact

If you have any questions, please contact:
Ashok Ojha, Program Director, Sangam - Franklin STARTALK Hindi Program 2019
Email: aojha2008@gmail.com or Ph. 732-318-9891

Student Project Site Archive (HSF)

A series of Google Sites created by students showcasing their work in the past few years.

HSF 2016

https://sites.google.com/site/2016yhsstartalk2016/

HSF 2017

https://sites.google.com/site/sangamstartalkhindi2017/

HSF 2018

https://sites.google.com/site/sangamstartalkhindiprogram2018/

2018 PROGRAM

Sangam - Franklin Startalk
Hindi Language and Culture Program 2018

Overarching Theme: Storytelling

Introduction:

Hindi Sangam Foundation, in partnership with Franklin Township Board of Education, NJ, will conduct a three week intensive summer program from July 16 to August 2, 2018 (15 instructional days) at Franklin High School, Somerset, NJ 08873. We will recruit 40 Middle and High School students of rising six to ninth grades from a diverse Heritage and non-Heritage groups based in Central New Jersey.

Our overarching theme is, 'Storytelling', under which varieties of age and grade appropriate cultural, traditional and contemporary stories will be used to engage young learners in experiencing and exploring the world around them. Rich visuals based authentic material will engage learners in thinking, pairing and sharing ideas and performing activities and tasks in the three modes of communication leading to improve their speaking, reading and writing abilities.

The material will include various forms of story telling such as puppetry, street performances during festivals and events. We will develop two levels of curricula for Novice and Intermediate ranges of ACTFL proficiency guidelines under the overarching overarching theme, divided into three sub-themes, Personal and Family Stories, Cultural Stories about animals and birds, and contemporary stories about role models. The program goals and learning episodes will be outlined in the topic based Learning Plans built on the backward design principles of five Cs of the World Readiness Standards for 21st century learning. They will use multimedia tools for completing tasks.

Goals

By end of the units Novice level learners will be able to do basic tasks, such as, identifying characters and events and presenting in culturally appropriate manner. They will learn key words, phrases and expressions related with cultural and contemporary stories about people, places, animals and birds. They will exchange information with others, make comparisons with their US experiences. Intermediate students will explore ideas and construct their own meanings and purpose.

They will pair and share, compare and contrast information with their own experiences and ideas in USA. They will learn varieties of language functions and apply in real life situations. We have collaborated with The Ecole Mondiale World School, Mumbai, India, to allow our students converse with their Indian counterparts in culturally appropriate manner A day long field trip will connect students with the local community.

On the final day of the program Novice and Intermediate students will present their story at a 'Story Festival'. Formative, Summative and self assessment tools, exit cards and note taking will be used to collect learning evidences and stored in individual and Google Doc folders. A structured post-program follow up plan will be implemented to help students sustain and improve their skills.