To Imbue the linguist in you
An insight into the flagship, week-long Hindi workshop of Paathshaala
By Shriram.R (B.E. Electrical and Electronics, 2017-2021)
Photographs by Jayantraj (B.E. Computer Science, 2015-2019) and Varsha Prada (B.E. Robotics and Automation, 2017-2021)
“Lion” said the teacher, “Sher!!!”, roared the students in unison, as they rightly translated the word to its Hindi equivalent.
Paathshala, the Hindi Club of PSG Tech had humble beginnings in the year 2008 and has been gradually spreading its wings ever since, and is now the go-to club on campus for all things Hindi. Contrary to popular thought, the club is not just for native speakers but also for those eager to learn the language. The 2017-edition of Paathshaala’s flagship event – ‘Pahel’ was received with immense enthusiasm. Upwards of 130 eager students enrolled themselves in the workshop with a zeal to learn a new language and each day witnessed more than 80 attendees.
Here is a quick day-by-day breakdown of the happenings of Pahel :
Day 1 (04/12/2017):
The event was kick-started with a brief introduction which gave the participants an insight into what the next four days of the workshop held for them. This was followed by the first session in which the students learnt the basics i.e the phonology – which includes the vowels, the consonants and their combinations. The learning was effective as the sounds were regularly related to their Tamil/English equivalent. The end of day one had the participants involved in a small but fun assignment which consisted of watching a Bollywood flick with English subtitles, which drastically elevated the attendees’ appreciation of their progress.
Day 2 (05/12/2017):
The second day of the Workshop saw the organizers steadily turn up the heat by inculcating the most commonly used words in Hindi- names of fruits, animals, birds, household articles, blood relations, common greetings and salutations. This was followed by an introduction to the construction of simple sentences in the language, which instilled ample confidence in the attendees to be able to build simple sentences of their own accord. The tutors for the respective sessions comprised of senior students and members of the club, rather than faculty which made the sessions much more comfortable. The end of the day saw the students leave being pretty content with themselves on account of their progress, for they were finally able to give compliments like ‘You look beautiful!’ or ‘I love you’ in Hindi.
Day 3 (06/12/217) and Day 4 (07/12/17):
The attendees delved into the intricacies of the language on the third day and were engrossed in the process of learning nouns, verbs and their conjugations. The transition from learning the basics to the relatively more complex concepts and grammar was seamless as their methods of teaching were filled with fun. The session also consisted of decoding the meaning of a famous Bollywood song – Arijit Singh’s Tum Hi Ho, which left the students extremely pleased. Day 4 was mostly packed with a recap of the previous sessions and saw the students brush up all the topics covered thus far, which left students and volunteers alike gratified.
Day 5 (08/12/2017):
The final day saw the students learning the final and essential topic required to get a basic understanding of any language – the tenses. With the students having learnt the construction of simple sentences already, the task of learning tenses was largely simplified and they found it a whole lot easier. The end of the day saw the students put their progress to the test, as they were assessed on the basics they had learnt.
With the workshop drawing to a close, the secretaries of Paathshala, Krithika Bohra (B.E. BME, 2014-2018) and Kuru Tayung (B.E. CSE, 2014-2018) expressed their gratitude to the pupils for their enthusiastic response, who in turn promised to keep learning and stay in touch with Hindi by means of movies and songs.
Pahel, a five-day certified beginner’s Hindi workshop, conducted every year by Paathshala, is open to all students, teaching and non-teaching staff. Given the enthusiasm of the members of Paathshala and the participants of this edition of Pahel, it is safe to say that the mission of the workshop – to ignite the spark of dormant curiosity in students – had been accomplished successfully.
SHRIRAM R.(B.E. ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS, 2017-2021) is an avid reader and when he isn’t reading a book, he can be found binge watching English series or listening to songs.
JAYANTRAJ (BE COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING 2015-2019) is a passionate photographer who likes covering live events. He also loves silhouette photography.
VARSHA PRADA S (B.E. ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION, 2017-2021) is an exuberant photographer and artist who loves travel and lifestyle vlogs. She wants to travel for the rest of her life.
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