Modern Language Centre

Evening Language Courses

Course Description

Hindi False Beginners

How long does the course last?
3 x 10-week terms with 10 lessons per term. Lessons take place once a week and last 1.5 hours each. This gives
a total of 45 hours tuition.

Who is the course for?

The course is aimed at a wide range of students with a general interest in Hindi with the following:
one or two terms of Level 1 of the MLC Evening Language Courses or equivalent
a pass at GCSE/O level obtained more than four years ago
a recent GCSE/O level grade C or below

What are the objectives of the course?

To improve and consolidate knowledge of grammar and vocabulary acquired previously and to achieve the
equivalent of A1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), entry level
of the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF).
By the end of the course you will:
be able to communicate effectively in everyday life situations, including using greetings, talking about daily
activities, finding your way, telling the time and date, making purchases, ordering a meal, booking a hotel,
etc.
be able to understand simple oral passages and written texts and infer specific information from simple texts
have developed basic writing skills
have developed an insight into Hindi-speaking life, culture and society

How is the course taught?

A communicative approach is used. All four skills (speaking, reading, listening and writing) are practised,
with the main emphasis on speaking.
Students engage in interactive language activities, participating in group and pair work according to a
syllabus based on systematic grammatical progression.
Students will also be offered guidance in self-study and be set optional homework tasks.

What course can I do next?

After completing all three parts of False Beginners, students should be able to join a Level
2 or Level 3 class. Students should consult their tutor, who will be able to advise them on
the best level to proceed to.
Course outline
Part 1
Topics
Numbers 1-40
Parts of the body Directions and colours
Family and friends
Birds and animals

Functions
Greeting and responding to greetings
Formal and informal ways of addressing people
Socialising
Asking and answering questions
Describing colour (colour, size, location, possession, appearance)
Meeting people in a caf

Grammar
Yes no questions

Personal subject pronouns: use of this, that, he/she and it

Questioning words and sentences
Number and gender
Some common verbs
Present tense
Present continuous tense
Introduction to the Past tense
Introduction to Future tenses

Part 2
Topics
Currency and numbers up to 70
Shopping
At home or school or office
Rooms in a house, furniture and household things
Time, days and dates
Orders and requests
Likes and dislikes
Transport and directions
At the post office
At the bus station, rail station, airport
The weather

Functions
Describing people and things
Talking about yourself
Describing towns
Asking for and giving directions
Buying fruit and vegetables
Asking for and telling the time
Expressing likes and dislikes
Arranging a holyday tour
Speaking about daily life

Grammar
Personal, demonstrative pronouns
Interrogative sentences
Postpositions

Hindi False Beginners Page 2

Cases
Some useful verbs
Revision of tenses
Interrogative sentences
Negative sentences

Part 3
Topics
On the phone
Visiting India
Health and diet
Numbers 70-100

Functions
Answering the phone
Describing a place
Booking a hotel
Making comparisons
Asking and talking about health
Offering, accepting and refusing
Describing past events
Asking for things
Giving simple opinions
Talking to children
Writing a simple personal letter
Recalling childhood experiences

Grammar
Oblique case
Adjective
Adverbs
Conditional sentences
Relative pronouns
Comparatives
Conjunction

Learning resources
Textbook and exercise book:
Teach Yourself Complete Hindi, by Rupert Snell, 2003, ISBN-10: 0071420126

Students are expected to purchase their own textbook. An exercise book may also be recommended. The
teacher will supply additional material, both tailor-made and taken from other sources (textbooks, newspapers,
and new media).

Recommended additional material:

Hindi An Essential Grammar by Rama Kant Agnihotri, Routledge

For a list of bookshops where you may be able to purchase text books please see our web page:
www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/mlc/about/facilities/shops.aspx

Online language learning resources:

http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/mlc/lrc/language-resources/hindi.aspx

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Independent Study
Research indicates that successful language learners revise new material and review their progress on a regular
basis. The Language Resources Centre (LRC), situated in room K-1.072 in level minus one of the Strand
Campus, houses a wide collection of learning material including text and grammar books, magazines and
newspapers, CDs, DVDs, and self-access e-learning language programmes.

For details on LRC opening times, please see our website:

http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/mlc/lrc/LRCindex.aspx

Date of last revision: July 2016

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