Vidyashilp University

Hyphen Connects at Vidyashilp was yet another Bengaluru visit that made us reflect on just how many languages there are in a city like ours. Despite the group being largely composed of psychology, data science and management students, they participated in our activities with enthusiasm and energy. This was a small, intimate group that encouraged everyone to speak and share their thoughts. Most students could not write in their mother tongues but participated in the JAM activity since they were more comfortable speaking those languages.

A specific point that stood out to us was an Anglo-Indian student sharing her experience ‘translating’ a passage (as part of a translation activity) from formal English into the Anglo-Indian dialect. While words itself did not need to be translated, there was a tonal variance that she pointed out to. She felt that Anglo-Indian English was more ‘rough’ as opposed to the formal written English. During this session, a professor had also translated the passage into Khasi, a language that we had hitherto not encountered. In fact, she had also made various stylistic choices like evoking onomatopoeia that reflected in the translation too.

Encountering new languages, dialects and eager translators made our visit to Vidyashilp a wonderful addition to our student outreach programme.