We have been still working on the platform, following the schedule, and even running ahead of it sometimes.
Linguists and methodologists from AMU have already prepared initial scripts of 20 lessons and the material for the first three, both in Polish and in English. This is the place where students will learn all about vowels, consonants, and pronunciation, even in songs! What’s more, here they will find information on personal pronouns, adjectives, “to be” (होना) verb inflection, postpositions, and noun inflection.
At this stage, the first exercises occur, such as: listening and inserting a vowel, matching words and pictures, linking a Devanagari word to its transliteration, making a correct sentence out of a set of words given in a random order, and for very ambitious learners – a tongue twister.
Students will also learn here how to introduce themselves, describe a room, show the way or how to call some job positions. Please pay attention to words with many equivalents like “a director” that can be translated as nideśak (निदेशक -m.), but also as sancālak (संचालक -m.). Don’t worry, the glossaries will help you.
The didactic material is rich, so learners won’t be bored! Moreover, it is varied with some curiosities – one of them is a short historical overview of Devanagari. Besides its genesis we will find out more facts, such as this one that should gladden everybody who wants to learn – it’s not possible to make orthographic mistakes in Devanagari, since it is written and spoken the same.
The technical works on the platform also have been going on. The developers from Grupa AF are systematising the content, developing lesson mechanisms as well as creating, analysing, and refining the functionalities of the platform. Meanwhile, the graphic designers are drafting illustrations, constructing sample pages, and preparing visualisations.
The final view of the landing page is almost ready, as well as the first texts including articles concerning the language and culture of India. The first of them has already been written – please find some passages below:
“Every day the Indian subcontinent resonates with sounds of billion voices and hundreds of languages and dialects. The loudest of them is Hindi. Almost half of the Indian population speaks it. The term Hindi itself, like anything in India, is also not univocal. It refers both to the standardised language, so-called the contemporary standard Hindi language, and to its multiple dialects. …
However, the daily language is distant from pure Hindi. Borrowings from Arabic and Persian are not the only words “contaminating” it. One of the numerous souvenirs from the British reign in India is the English language that has stuck to Hindi for good, especially in the urban areas. Hindi is not only full of borrowings from English but also in everyday speech it interchanges with it and forms so-called hinglish. It is natural for a Hindi speaker to switch to English in mid-sentence or slip English words despite knowing Hindi equivalents.”
The full article will be available upon the platform activation – it is worth waiting for!