Students in New Jersey present Hindi language skills

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Students of the Franklin Township School District, in association with the Hindi Sangam Foundation presented their written and oral Hindi skills to their parents and other invited guests at the auditorium of Bharat Sevashram Sangha in Kendall Park, New Jersey on Sunday, December 9.

“For the past three years we have been conducting Hindi classes free of charge for young learners who were born in the 21st Century in USA. Our program is very intensive in nature. It is organized at Franklin High School in Somerset every year during the Summer vacation,” Ashok Ojha, the program director of the Sangam-Franklin STARTALK Hindi Program, is quoted saying in a press release.

“Our teachers are well trained under National Foreign Language Center of the University of Maryland. Our teaching methods are based on the proficiency guidelines developed by the American Council on Teaching Foreign Languages,” he added.

The event began with a recital of inspirational songs by well known vocalist Pandit Ghanshyam Joshi, who was accompanied by Anil Malkani on Tabla and was followed by students’ presentations.

According to Pinky Bansal, a local realtor whose daughter Shirisha was a student at this year’s STARTALK program, “STARTALK programs run by Hindi Sangam Foundation not only helped our children speak, read and write Hindi better, it also exposed them to the authentic culture of India.”

“Our children are very good at learning languages. We speak many languages at home, grow up using English in our career, but lack a formal education in Hindi, which is a critical language designated by the United States Administration. Hindi Sangam Foundation meets the need to teach Hindi to young learners of our community,” former New Jersey Assemblyman and current Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Public Utilities, Upendra Chivukula, is quoted saying in a press release.