HINDI ;
AN ACTIVE INTRODUCTION
This work wos compiled and publis bed
with the f the
D. N. SHARMA and JAMES W. STONE
FOREIGN SERVICE INSTITUTE
WASHINGTON, D.C.
1970
DEP ARTM™ENT OF STATEFOREIGN SERVICE TITUTE
BASIC COURSE SERIES
Edited by
AUGUSTUS A. KOSKI
For sale by the Superintendont of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Wasbington, D.C. 20402 Pri $1.80
cokPREFACE
An Active Introduction to Hindi follows the ‘microwave’ style of lesson organi-
zation originated by Earl W. Stevick of the Foreign Service Institute. A trial version
prepared by James W. Stone and Bonnie Graham MacDougall during the summer of
1966 was successful in several Peace Corps training programs, as well as at FSI.
Encouraged by the favorable reception, FSI and the Peace Corps decided to proceed
with a fuller development of Hindi materials on this model. Work began with the
arrival of D. N. Sharma in the summer of 1967 and culminated in the present publica-
tion,
The ‘microwave’ model was described by Dr. Stevick ina brief paper, ‘UHF and
Microwaves in Transmitting Language Skills’, which appeared in the International
Journal of American Linguistics, Volume 32.1, Part 2, 1966. It was used in his two
Swahili texts: An Active Introduction to Swahili: Geography, and An Active Intro-
duction to Swahili: General Conversation. The purpose and method are explained at
length in the introduction which follows (see pp v-xiii).
The American Embassy in New Delhi arranged to have the Hindi portions set in
type in India and printed, thus providing clear camera copy with the full range of
Devanagari symbols, not all of which are available on typewriters. The English por-
tions were typed by Mrs. Irma C. Ponce.
Unlike most FSI language textbooks, An Active Introduction to Hindi has no
related tape recordings since it is essentially a guidebook for conversational inter-
play between students and a native speaking instructor.
The debt which this publication owes to the Peace Corps could hardly be over-
stated. The project was undertaken at the encouragement of the language staff in
Washington; the preliminary materials were tried in Peace Corps training programs;
and much of the cost of development and publication was borne by the Peace Corps.
Without the cooperation and support of the Peace Corps An Active Introduction to
Hindi would not have been possible.
C7 James R. Frith, Dean
School of Language Studies
Foreign Service Institute
May 19, 1970 Department of State
iii