In-person classes or live-stream via Zoom
This course is offered on a one-on-one basis and is subject to instructor availability. You can begin your lessons at anytime of the year. Please contact us if you are interested (using the Contact menu bar item on our home page.)
This course is offered as either an in-person course at the EarthDiverse Centre in Hamilton, New Zealand or live-streamed via Zoom if you live elsewhere.
As this is an individual tutorial, our Urdu 1-on-1 sessions are tailored to your level and we can focus on whatever you are most interested in.
If you already speak Urdu or Hindi we can focus solely on Urdu literacy for new learners of the Urdu language, native Urdu speakers who wish to learn to read and write, and Hindi speakers who wish to learn the Urdu script.
We focus on learning the Nastaʿlīq script and basic reading and writing capabilities. As such, it is suitable for both new learners of Urdu, and for native Hindi speakers who may wish to familiarise themselves with the Urdu script. This tutorial can also introduce basic introductory grammar & vocabulary and gets students speaking with some basic conversational ability.
Native Hindi speakers can easily learn the Urdu script during these one-on-one sessions. Those who already understand and speak some Urdu, but who do not know how to read and write, may also chose to enrol.
Basically, you let us know what you need and we'll provide individually tailored sessions to your level. Once you are up-to-speed you can consider joining one of our Urdu group classes or continue with individual sessions.
8 January 2023
Dr Todd Nachowitz, PhD, is the Founder and Executive Director of EarthDiverse. Todd is a Hamilton-based lecturer, anthropologist, environmentalist and diversity educator. He previously taught in Religious Studies at the University of Waikato, teaching courses on Comparative Religion and Religious Fundamentalism & Extremism. Todd holds a Masters Degree in Development Anthropology from Syracuse University in upstate New York (1991) and a PhD from the University of Waikato (2015) in Political Science and Public Policy where he completed his thesis on diversity governance and the Indian diaspora in New Zealand.
Prior to settling in New Zealand in 1995, Todd lived and worked in the United States, India, Pakistan and Nepal. He spent 11 years in South Asia as the Academic Director for university study-abroad programmes in Varanasi, India (for the University of Wisconsin-Madison); Lahore, Pakistan (for the University of California-Berkeley); and Kathmandu, Nepal (for School for International Training, based in Brattleboro, Vermont, USA) focusing on language, culture and religion.
Todd speaks Hindi and Urdu, and is a specialist in comparative world religions and the history, religions, languages and cultures of South Asia. He also currently teaches our Hindi and Urdu language courses and the Religious Diversity courses at EarthDiverse.
Depending on your location, this class can consist of either in-person sessions at the EarthDiverse Centre in Hamilton, New Zealand or streamed live via Zoom.
This 1-on-1 tutorial course has distance-learning options for those unable to attend live classes in Hamilton, New Zealand. Students have three options for attending our courses once they have registered:
Attend in-person classes in our Hamilton classrooms at the regularly scheduled day and time.
Attend our live on-line classroom sessions via Zoom at the regular scheduled day and time.
Watch the live-recorded class sessions at your leisure, at a time, day and place more suited to your schedule.
Live Zoom sessions
In addition to our in-person classes in Hamilton, our courses offer distance learning options for those unable to attend classes in-person. Live-streamed Hamilton classes are available via free Zoom software for those living outside the Waikato. Live-streaming allows you to participate fully in your own learning, ask questions of the instructor and participate fully in the same way as if you were in the physical classroom.
Those unable to attend the scheduled date and time of the actual class sessions, or those who need to miss a class or two due to previous engagements or unexpected illness, can watch any or all of the live-recorded video sessions on their computers, laptops, tablets or mobile devices and study at their own pace and in their own time.
Detailed instructions on how to access our distance learning components will be sent after completing your registration. There are no additional fees for this service. However, distance learners will need access to a desktop or laptop computer with a good quality web-camera (tablet devices and mobile phones can also access our live-streamed classes), a built-in microphone (most modern laptops have built-in microphones) or a headset with a microphone. You will also need to download and install the free Zoom software on your computer or device. Those accessing the video recordings will be able to do so with a simple web browser on any device.
Week by week new material will be posted throughout the duration of the course. Video recordings of each weekly session will be posted here after 1-2 days after each class.
EarthDiverse Course Information
EarthDiverse Zoom instructions
2024 Term 1 EarthDiverse "Introductory Urdu" text by Todd Nachowitz, PhD
Link to access Quizlet EarthDiverse Urdu flashcard sets:
All materials are included in the course fees. These are developed by our instructors and distributed as PDF files on the course webpage.
An “Introductory Urdu” text, written by Dr Todd Nachowitz, is included in the course fees. These are currently being distributed as PDF files as the courses progress and will eventually comprise a completed Introductory Urdu textbook.
You will only require a pen or pencil, a notebook for taking your own class notes, and a loose-leaf binder. Any notes that our instructor writes on the class whiteboard will be emailed to you as a digital PDF file so that you can print these out at home and add them to your own notebook.
A keen desire to begin (or continue) your Urdu learning!
• There are no prerequisites for this course.
• Open to all learners aged 10 years and above.
