Summer School
Every year SAI organizes compact language courses, which are open to everyone. In addition, we cooperate with other European universities and language centers worldwide in language courses and facilitate the participation of our students.
Hindi Intensive Language Course in Varanasi, India
The South Asia Institute, in collaboration with the University of Würzburg, offers an intensive Hindi language course in Varanasi, India. This program alternates between Würzburg in even-numbered years and the South Asia Institute in odd-numbered years.
The course emphasizes oral communication and includes excursions to Sarnath and Mahakumbh Mela, as well as visits to local educational and art institutions.
Dates: February 17 - March 1, 2025
Venue: Varanasi, India
Course fee: 980 €
Registration deadline: December 20, 2024
Intensive Courses in Spoken and Written Urdu
In the introductory course, students develop speaking, reading, listening and writing skills and acquire basic vocabulary as well as knowledge of the main grammatical structures and conversational etiquette of Urdu.
The advanced course is designed to develop communicative skills, grammatical accuracy and the ability to understand complex texts. Particular stress will also be laid on listening comprehension.
Classes are scheduled to take place from Monday to Friday, 9.30 am to 3.30 pm. Participants completing the full programme and passing the written tests will receive 7 ECTS or equivalent credits.
Dates: September 1-19, 2025
Venue: South Asia Institute - Heidelberg, Germany
Course fee: 350 €
Registration deadline: May 31, 2025
Contact: urdu-nsp@sai.uni-heidelberg.de.
Intensive Courses in Spoken and Written Bengali
The Chair of South Asian Studies at the University of Warsaw, Poland, in collaboration with the South Asia Institute at Heidelberg University, Germany, and the Institute of Asian Studies at Charles University in Prague, Czechia, invites you to an intensive language workshop in the Bengali language.
We offer you two intensive courses in spoken Bengali. Our experienced teachers from Prague, Heidelberg, and Warsaw will share their knowledge with you and help you to learn, speak and understand Bengali better.
In the introductory course, participants will develop speaking, reading, listening, and writing skills and acquire a basic vocabulary of Bengali.
The advanced course aims to develop a deeper understanding of grammar, communicative skills, and the ability to understand literary texts.
Participants are asked to acquire a basic knowledge of the Bengali script before the course. For this purpose, we recommend: 1. Teach Yourself Bengali by William Radice, published By Teach Yourself Books; 2. Bengali. A Comprehensive Grammar, by Hanne-Ruth Thompson, Routledge Comprehensive Grammars.
13 days, 36 classes, 90 min each.
Classes are scheduled to be held Mondays to Fridays from 9.30 am to 3.30 pm (3 classes/day) and Saturdays from 9.30 am to 1 pm (2 classes). Sundays are free! There will be a lot of opportunities to practice the script and to clarify any doubts and questions regarding the language and grammatical rules.
Accompanying program: movie evenings, lectures on the Bengali language and culture, meetings with native speakers, sightseeing Warsaw, cooking classes - of course Bengali cuisine :-)