U.of Pennsylvania Startalk Teacher Training Program for Hindi & Urdu Instructors

[sgambhir at SAS.UPENN.EDU]

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UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA STARTALK TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAM (2009) FOR HINDI &
URDU LANGUAGE INSTRUCTORS

The University of Pennsylvania will host during July 2009 a federally funded
STARTALK state-of-the-art Hindi and Urdu teacher-training program.  Existing or
prospective teachers in weekend schools run by community organizations, public
schools, private schools or colleges/universities can apply.

STARTALK is a federally funded program under the National Security Language
Initiative and is designed to strengthen foreign language education in U.S.
schools. It’s a multi-agency effort to expand learning of seven less commonly
taught languages of national importance, among which are Hindi and Urdu. The
national plan is to make these languages available to students of all ages from
kindergarten through university, just the way other European languages such as
Spanish, French, German have been available to students so far. Some schools in
New Jersey, New York and Houston have already introduced Hindi as a part of
their regular curriculum.

The STARTALK program at the University of Pennsylvania provides generous stipend
to participants and offers the participants an opportunity to partake of Penn’s
quality program. Interested participants will find further information and an
application form at
http://www.southasiacenter.upenn.edu/documents/Events08-09/STARTALK/STARTALK.html
or contact Dr. Gambhir at 856 435 2496.

The deadline for applications is May 30, 2009. However, the program will stop
accepting applications as soon as qualified applicants have been recruited.