SIT Study Abroad: Nepal - Intensive Tibetan Language (Beginning, Intermediate & Advanced)

This course offers three weeks of online study and three weeks abroad. The online course is open to all applicants. The in-person J-term is open to college undergraduates who have completed the online term or who provide proof of completion (or the equivalent) of at least one semester of language study. Study Tibetan online for three weeks in July 2020 and/or in Nepal for three in January 2021. Tibetan language is the key tool of communication to study and understand the Tibetan diaspora and Tibetans in Tibet, as well as Himalayans along the Tibetan borderlands. In both the online and January terms, you will build language skills through daily formal instruction as well as in one-on-one sessions with a native Tibetan language partner. After an initial language proficiency assessment, you will be placed in a beginning, intermediate, or advanced class. During the online program, you will develop oral comprehension and basic literacy skills through regular assignments, quizzes, and intensive conversation practice. The in-country component will immerse you in the Tibetan language as you continue formal language instruction and live with a local homestay family in Kathmandu, Nepal. You will also have opportunities to practice your growing Tibetan language skills through conversations with members of the local community, including political refugees and Himalayans who have been educated in Tibetan-administered schools across the South Asian subcontinent. On excursions, you will visit some of the most important World Heritage sites of Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhism and civilization and learn about life in hillside villages. In recognition of your host country’s national culture, you will also take an essential Nepali language class and may participate in additional optional activities. HIGHLIGHTS Immerse yourself in conversational Tibetan with expert support. Expand your language skills by communicating with your Kathmandu homestay family in Tibetan. (J-term) Decipher critical Tibetan and Himalayan political and religious concepts. Explore urban World Heritage Sites and rural mountain settlements. (J-term)