Hindi Language and Translation Ii

The goal of the course is to perfect students' language skills, enabling them to use Hindi in the diverse contexts where linguistic and cultural mediation is required. This involves refining oral and written production skills, gaining robust listening comprehension skills (with particular regard to the Hindi spoken by native speakers in various contexts), plus the ability to translate and produce complex texts, and to independently identify useful resources to navigate technical and subject-specific terms. The course will also provide students with the necessary tools to understand, analyse and foster effective communication with Hindi speakers in the most diverse settings, both in spoken and written form.

By the end of the course, students should have developed an advanced theoretical, practical and metalinguistic understanding of the Hindi language, combined with solid oral and written production skills, as well as the ability to reflect critically on translation issues. Their knowledge and understanding of the different contexts in which the Hindi language is used, as well as of the corresponding syntactic and lexical registers, should be accompanied by the ability to use Hindi effectively for descriptive and argumentative purposes. Moreover, students should be able to report the opinions of Hindi speakers — regarding different matters, from everyday topics to social and cultural experiences, including medical, legal, school-related and pedagogical issues — to people belonging to other cultures. Ultimately, students are expected to be able not only to navigate the social and cultural diversity of the multifaceted Hindi-speaking community, but also to translate its voices and social and cultural perspectives to non-Indian and non-Hindi speakers. Language proficiency will be assessed not only through the final written and oral exam, but also continuously throughout the year, as students will be invited to give individual or group presentations, participate in guided discussions on course topics, draft texts, complete listening exercises, and also perform sight translations. All these tasks are designed to help students monitor and evaluate their own progress.