Reply of de Bruijn to Zydenbos

[r.l.schmidt at easteur-orient.uio.no]

>One question to conclude with: who are the students that take the "cash-cow"
>classes in Hindi /Urdu, and what is their interest in this? Is it learning
>"the modern language of India" or are they extending their Indological
>curriculum? Perhaps some teachers can shed their light on this?

>Thomas de Bruijn

I ask my students to fill out a questionnaire, describing their purpose,
when they begin their study of Hindi-Urdu. The commonest replies are:
1. It is part of an academic study program (linguistics, anthropology,
oriental studies etc,)
2. I plan to travel to India or Pakistan
3. I need it in my work in Norway

As a purely subjective observation, for every roughly eight students who
complete the introductory course, I find only a few who are interested in
the "Indological curriculum" in its academic sense.

Shouldn't Hindi and Urdu lecturers be keeping track of this aspect of demand?

With best wishes,

Ruth Schmidt