Translations Repository

Anuvada Sampada

Translations Initiative

Our initiative to plug lacunae in the higher education domain with learning materials for users from different backgrounds

A very serious concern in the Indian higher education scenario is that there is a paucity of high quality learning material at the graduate and postgraduate levels in Indian languages. 

Millions of students do not have access to good material, losing out on learning opportunities. In our work with diverse students from different parts of the country, we decided to launch a large-scale translations initiative. 

To do our part to bridge this serious gap, we work on translating academic reading and pedagogic material into different languages. We create these translations for the use of teachers and educators in higher education programmes, with a focus on Kannada and Hindi for now.

We plug serious gaps in the higher education sector by translating learning materials into Indian languages. 

Translating academic readings at the Master’s Level

It is our work to build a movement to make available quality graduate, post graduate level texts and readings in Indian languages in different disciplines. A primary part of our work involves translating academic readings and book chapters for Master’s programmes in the fields of development and education.

Anuvada Sampada, a free, open-access online repository of academic resources in Indian languages, to support students and teachers to engage more deeply with concepts and ideas

Reading materials for higher education in Indian languages is a dire need felt by students, faculty, and institutions across the country. Non-availability of such reading materials in Indian languages that can help students engage with modern ideas in their own languages and are relevant to their contexts is a major constraint in expanding access to education and ensuring inclusion.

The availability of concepts and nuanced debates in regional languages would enable the exchange and development of ideas in diverse contexts. Access to foundational, conceptual materials that lay down the basic perspective and structure in regional languages, would also facilitate students to eventually contribute to the discourse in these and other languages.

The generation of knowledge that is useful to the community and which the community is a part of can only be accomplished when regional languages are the medium of higher education. Though this need for producing materials and offering courses in higher education in regional languages has always been felt, not much headway has been made towards it.

With this purpose in view, Azim Premji University initiated the translation of higher educational materials from English to regional languages, to make these openly and freely accessible to a larger set of students belonging to diverse socioeconomic backgrounds in India.

This one-of-its-kind initiative was begun with the belief that the availability of quality materials in Indian languages will support students to engage more deeply and thoroughly with content, concepts and ideas currently available only in English.

The translation efforts are currently being carried out in Hindi and Kannada with a view to build discourses in these Indian languages. The University is obtaining appropriate copyright permissions to increase the number of open access documents on the site.

Objectives

Anuvada Sampada, the Translations Repository, has been created with the following objectives:

  • Make high-quality academic material in sciences, social science, humanities and languages available and accessible in Hindi and Kannada to all.
  • Enable wider dissemination of academic materials in Hindi and Kannada.
  • Enable university/​college students, academics and practitioners to mine, use, and reuse academic materials in Hindi and Kannada.
  • Develop materials relevant for teacher-development efforts carried out by the Resource Persons of the Foundation, among others.
  • Promote original writing, reading, deliberation and discourse in Hindi and Kannada and build a sustainable ecosystem for the same.
Resources in Hindi and Kannada languages
  • Selected readings for postgraduate programmes in education and development, readings for undergraduate programmes in arts, sciences and diploma courses.
  • Selected texts, including readings from journals, extracts or complete chapters of books, and in some cases, entire books of disciplines in these programmes.
  • Articles from the publications of Azim Premji University that are focused on different aspects of school and teacher education. These include translated articles from Learning Curve, At Right Angles and iwonder. It also includes articles published in Pathshala Bheetar aur Baahar.
  • Research studies, seminar papers, readers, books, etc., published by the Azim Premji Foundation.
  • Podcasts, short films, panel discussions, brief lectures and materials in other formats for higher education programmes.
Use of the Repository

The materials in the Repository would be useful for a diverse set of users in multiple ways. Some of these are:

  • Students in colleges and universities across India who are proficient in Hindi or Kannada can access these materials that will widen their horizons of knowledge at no extra cost to them.
  • Teachers, teacher educators can make use of the materials for their own development as well as for sharing with their students to support their learning.
  • Members of non-governmental organisations working in education and development can access materials for use in their work.
  • Other higher education institutions may use these to develop their course content, etc.

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Collaborative and institutional work

We engage in a variety of projects in collaboration with several individuals and institutions, to bring high quality materials to anyone who seeks to make the classroom a meaningful environment for learners. We emphasise an institutional model for translations where academicians from different disciplines are involved in translating and reviewing course readings.

हिन्दी सेमिनार: विद्यालयी शिक्षा में कला व शारीरिक शिक्षा 

अज़ीम प्रेमजी विश्वविद्यालय देश के अलग-अलग विश्वविद्यालयों के साथ मिलकर विद्यालयी शिक्षा से सम्बन्धित विषयों पर शिक्षा के सरोकार’ श्रृंखला के तहत भारतीय भाषाओं में संगोष्ठी का आयोजन करता रहा है। अब तक हिन्दी, कन्नड़ और पंजाबी भाषाओं में विभिन्न मुद्दों पर संगोष्ठियाँ आयोजित की गई हैं। 

इस क्रम में अगली संगोष्ठी विद्यालयी शिक्षा में कला व शारीरिक शिक्षा : आवश्यकता, वर्तमान परिस्थितियाँ, सम्भावनाएँ व चुनौतियाँ’ विषय पर प्रस्तावित है। संगोष्‍ठी भोपाल में दिसम्बर, 2022 या जनवरी, 2023 में होगी। 

संगोष्ठी का आधार‑पत्र और संगोष्ठी में भाग लेने की प्रक्रिया तथा अन्य जानकारी के लिए निम्न आधार‑पत्र पर क्लिक करें।

आधार-पत्र

Bringing materials to our networks of educational institutions and organisations

We develop readers to help student-teachers, teachers, teacher-educators and educationalists in general. We create readers in Basics of Language, Language Learning and Teaching, and Reading and Writing. We strengthen networks in collaboration with Azim Premji Foundation and develop vibrant relationship with eminent higher education institutions and organisations. We are working to translate 50 lakh words of the entire MA in Education programme and undergraduate materials in science degrees.

We are among the largest translations initiatives that exist in the country at the moment. We have a network of 450 translators in 20 leading academic institutions and have conducted 50 capacity building workshops.

  • 30 collaborating institutes
  • 500 translators
  • 100 workshops
  • 10 seminars

Over 3 years, we have translated over 50 lakh words in subjects ranging from teachers and teaching, science education and language education.

Seminars and discussions

We organise Kannada and Hindi seminars and discussions to build an academic climate for discourse among stakeholders. This process is towards generating new materials in Hindi and Kannada. We conduct capacity building workshops for translators.

Collation of material in Kannada and Hindi

We identify, select, and ensure the collation of appropriate and good quality materials already available in Hindi and Kannada. We develop readers and academic books by identifying subject areas with gaps in content. We ensure that translated materials are written with exceptional clarity in the target language. We pay great attention to the cohesive narratives and syntax and structure of translations, to ensure that the cadence suits Hindi and Kannada.