Singapore, Sep 13 (PTI) Hindi has always aimed to unify and connect people and it is impossible to fully understand the pulse of India without learning the language, a senior Indian bureaucrat said here on Friday.
Addressing the International Regional Hindi Conference, Ravindra Prasad Jaiswal, Joint Secretary (RBB, I&T), Ministry of External Affairs described Hindi as a great language whose aim has always been to connect.
National University of Singapore (NUS), DAV School Singapore and Sangam Singapore in collaboration with the Indian High Commission have organised the three-day conference, which will conclude on Sunday.
In his address, Jaiswal said today foreign citizens also want to learn yoga, classical music and dance along with having direct experience of Indian society and culture, but without learning Hindi, it is not possible to fully understand the pulse of India.
He said after Mandarin and English, Hindi is the most spoken language in the world because 60 to 70 crore people in the world speak and understand the language.
Jaiswal said languages like English, French and Spanish spread on the basis of imperialism, but the basis of the world language Hindi is the cultural love and affinity towards it.
Jaiswal said that Hindi always considered uniting as its main objective and accepted the challenges of divisive forces.
He said to realise the potential of Hindi as an international language there is a need for changes in the methods of teaching the language or inclusion of new systems.
“Personally, I feel that if foreign and Indian scholars involved in Hindi language teaching jointly create teaching material and syllabus, then it will be easy for foreign students to learn Hindi as a second language,” Jaiswal said.
He said the future of Hindi teaching in Singapore looks bright due to government recognition and grants. PTI GS SKS SCY SCY
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