Shillong, July 3 NNN:\u00a0\u00a0In the spirit of Public Private Partnership (PPP), a three week workshop on \u2018Teaching Khasi to Non-Khasi Speakers\u2019 got underway at the Don Bosco Centre for Indigenous Culture (DBCIC), Mawlai organized in collaboration with the Department of Linguistics, North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) and Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysore.
\nThe workshop was inaugurated on Tuesday by the Vice Chancellor of NEHU, Prof AN Rai.
\nIn his Inaugural address Prof. Rai said, \u201cWe need to enjoy and love the learning of language as this will help us to appreciate the culture of the people.\u201d
\nBasing on his life experiences he shared with the audience the importance of the learning of a language. He spoke of an unstructured formula that was needed in the learning of language.
\n\u201cThere is no structured formula to learn a language, unstructured way of conversation quickens our learning capacity of speaking and conversing a language,\u201d he said.Fr. Barnes Mawrie, an expert in the Khasi language and culture was the Guest of Honour for the inaugural session. In his speech he stressed on the importance of learning a language and Khasi in particular. He encouraged the participants to make use of the opportunity to learn Khasi.
\nHe said, \u201cThe learning of Khasi will help you in your day to day conversation.\u201d
\nDean School of Humanities, NEHU, Prof. Juanita War, in her observation of language learning said that language learning involves risk taking. By giving the anecdote of a child who imitates the teacher in the learning process, Prof. War was able to draw the attention of the participants on the need to be guided in the learning of a new language.
\nHOD, Linguistics, NEHU, Dr. Umarani Papuswamy, designed the classes with the help of the team of teachers. In her speech she underlined the importance of learning the language well.
\nShe encouraged the participants to make use of the opportunity given to them. With the help of qualified teachers from the university, Dr Umarani was full of confidence that the participants will enjoy and gain from the workshop. She encourages the participants the best in the learning of the Khasi language.
\nEarlier, Director of DBCIC, Rev Fr. Joseph Puthenpurakal, welcomed the gathering and said that the generous and hard working spirit seen in the planning of this workshop will lead every participant to gain from it.<\/p>\n\n