STARTALK Project Supports Education in Less Commonly Taught Languages
STARTALK is part of a presidential initiative to enhance the nation’s capacity to develop proficiency in critical languages.
Visit the STARTALK Web site to learn more.
Modern Standard Hindi is an official language of India along with English, and Hindi and English function as lingua franca in most parts of the country. Hindi is an Indo-Aryan language, part of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. It is spoken by approximately 50% of the Indian population in India (which includes first- and second-generation Hindi speakers).
In the United States, Hindi has historically been taught formally in colleges and universities and informally in Indian cultural centers, temples, and community-based schools. With recent U.S. government initiatives promoting the learning of Hindi, and growing interest in the Indo-American community in preserving their language and culture, the number of community-based Hindi schools has increased, particularly in New Jersey, New York, Texas, and California. Hindi is also taught in some public schools in the United States, and the U.S. Department of Education plans to introduce Hindi in more schools in the coming years. The Alliance is working with leaders in the Hindi community to document these programs and to provide resources for practitioners working in them.
Search for Hindi language programs in the Heritage language program database.
The Alliance for the Advancement of Heritage Languages has developed the Heritage Voices Collection, an online series of documents designed to allow heritage language speakers and programs to share their unique voices with visitors to our Web site.
Our newest Heritage Voices offerings spotlight Hindi:
Read about the Hindi language. (503 KB)
Read a profile about Hindi USA, a language program in New Jersey offering Hindi classes. (1.51 MB)
Read a profile about the STARTALK Yuva Summer Hindi Camp 2010 (375 KB)
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Meet the Language Representative
Dr. Surendra Gambhir serves as the Alliance Language Representative for South Asian Languages. Learn more about Dr. Gambhir.