Course meets July 9 - July 27. The course aims at developing an interactive speaking ability on everyday topics. At this stage there is less emphasis on developing reading and writing skills. The target language is presented in its sociocultural context including body language. For achieving a meaningful and operational control of the language, students acquire basic rules of the language and its use, and a basic vocabulary of about 1200 words. In addition, students learn two scripts: Devanagari script for Hindi in Fall and Nastaliq script for Urdu in Spring. Authentic and simulated video materials are used to bring the South Asian culture live to the classroom. Class activities include watching videos, singing, role-playing, language games and group work.