Rakesh Ranjan

Rakesh Ji is one of the sweetest and most accommodating professors that you will have ever. He makes every class engaging, and genuinely cares about his students. Even after finishing Heritage Hindi, he has made the effort to keep in touch!

Rakesh sir is an absolute joy, and easily my favourite professor in this university. He genuinely loves what he does, and treats his students like family. As for the coursework, it is extremely easy to secure an A (I haven't heard of anyone getting a B as long as they submit everything). Sir is always available to answer questions, and he gets so much joy from people staying afterward to clarify their doubts. Rakesh sir deserves all the good things in this world :) TAKE THIS CLASS!

Amazing professor who is invested in his students, taking Hindi with him will be the best decision you make with languages.

Make sure you are a heritage learner. If you grew up around people speaking Hindi, and have a sense of the language go for it! Prof. Ranjan is incredibly well organized, fair in exams and deeply invested in making you a better Hindi speaker. If that is what you want it is an amazing class, and amazing language learning experience in general 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Fall 2021 Course: MDESUN1608_001_2021_3-HINDIFORHERITAGESPEAKERSI : MDESUN1608_001_2021_3 - HINDI FOR HERITAGE SPEAKERS I Instructor: Rakesh Ranjan

Rakesh Ji is one of the best professors I've had at Columbia. He is extremely thoughtful, thorough, and takes the time to help his students and get to know them as well. I'm surprised he doesn't have a gold or silver nugget, but hope that one is on the way!

Just the best professor. Makes class very inclusive and makes sure speakers of all levels feel comfortable. We talked about a lot of modern issues in Hindi and he was always very considerate. Would highly recommend this or any other class with him.

Rakesh Ranjan is a veteran Hindi teacher who came to Columbia recently from Emory University. He is the head of the Hindi-Urdu program here. You might not be able to tell from looking at him, and he wouldn't brag, but he's a badass who is whipping the Hindi-Urdu program here into shape. He is a sweet and friendly man whose approach to teaching the language is excellent. The course itself is very challenging, and I would not recommend taking Hindi for your language requirement unless you are unusually interested in the language. For an easy-to-learn language for native English speakers, try Spanish, Persian, or German. If you are ready to dedicate five hours a week (an hour and fifteen minutes per day) and countless hours of homework to your study in addition to everything else in your course load, Rakesh ji is an excellent choice for instructor. He's slow, methodical, and he knows what he's doing. He's easily available outside of class. You will get out everything you put into this class, and he will meet you more than half way. If you have experience in Hindi or other Indian languages, his expectations will be higher than if you have no experience. My only gripe is that, as a native speaker, he sometimes has trouble understanding the questions students ask about grammar. Since a native speaker never has to learn grammatical rules in the same way, grammar questions aren't alwa…

Great class...Hindi for Heritage Speakers was a great a idea and definitely helped me solidify my speaking, reading, and writing skills...he is a very good teacher who knows exactly where you may have problems and can address those problems quickly...Rakesh ji is also extremely accessible... he makes himself available almost every single day to provide help to students and review concepts...generally easy but at the same time I felt like I was actually getting what I wanted and expected from the course. Take this class or take his elementary hindi if you dont have any previous experience with the language...

The Professor makes each class engaging and enriching, creating an immersive learning experience. In addition to language instruction, his approach introduces students to various cultural aspects of India, deepening our understanding of the context in which the language is used. This course has significantly enhanced my language skills for research and fieldwork, providing a solid foundation that will continue to support my future academic endeavours. 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Fall 2024 Course: MDESGU4624_001_2024_3-ADVANCEDHINDII : MDESGU4624_001_2024_3 - ADVANCED HINDI I Instructor: Rakesh Ranjan

The course works with all aspects of the language and make a student to improve their knowledge. 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Fall 2023 Course: MDESGU4624_001_2023_3-ADVANCEDHINDII : MDESGU4624_001_2023_3 - ADVANCED HINDI I Instructor: Rakesh Ranjan