I am a linguist who has experienced foreign/second language learning from both sides of the classroom. As a student I learnt Russian and Croatian, and as an educator I got the opportunity to teach Hindi and Hindi-Urdu. Learning foreign languages has given me opportunity to experience the process of foreign language learning from inside.

I received my Ph.D. in Comparative Linguistics from the University of Zagreb, Croatia and M.A. in Russian Language and Literature from Delhi University.

Apart from foreign/second language courses I also have experience of teaching courses on South Asian Languages and Literatures at the universities in Europe, North America and Asia.

My research interests lie primarily in the area of Linguistics. Apart from numerous articles on linguistic issues in international journals, I have also published a text-book to learn Hindi as a foreign language and edited several books and journal issues on foreign language education.

Check out the short video below to learn about the UBC Hindi-Urdu Language Program:

My Educational YouTube Channel

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Book:

• Kumar Bhatt, S. (2007).  Hindi – A Complete Course for Beginners. New York: Living Language, Random House

http://www.worldcat.org/title/hindi-a-complete-course-for-beginners/oclc/426068113

(This is a 15 lesson Hindi language instruction program in a text book format with audio material (6 CDs).  ISBN: 978-1-4000-2345-5)

Edited Books:

• Sharma, G., and Bhatt, S. (Eds.). (2024) Advances in Hindi language teaching: Historical and methodological dimensions. Munich: LINCOM

https://www.amazon.com/Advances-Hindi-language-teaching-methodological/dp/3969391997

• Chan, W.M., Kumar Bhatt, S., Masanori, .N., & Walker, I. (Eds.) (2015) Culture and Foreign Language Learning: Insights from Research and Implications for the Practice. Boston & Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.

http://www.degruyter.com/view/product/460415

• Chan, W.M., Chin, K.N., Kumar Bhatt, S., & Walker, I. (Eds.) (2012). Perspectives on individual characteristics and foreign language education. Boston & Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton

http://www.degruyter.com/view/product/185276?rskey=nh6Jjr&result=8&q=

On-line Book:

• Hong Sungok, Bhatt Sunil Kumar, Ranjan Rajiv, & Gusain Lakhan (2017), Hindi-Urdu. University of Minnesota

https://open.lib.umn.edu/hindiurdu/

(This is a 12-unit online instruction program in a textbook format for teaching Intermediate Hindi. This open-source material created under the grant from Midwest Knowledge Ecosystem (EMKE)).

Book Chapters:

• Bhatt, S. (2024). Colloquialisms in Hindi and Hindi as a Second/Foreign Language. In Sharma, G., and Bhatt, S. (Eds.). Advances in Hindi language teaching: Historical and methodological dimensions. (pp. xxx-xxx)

https://www.amazon.com/Advances-Hindi-language-teaching-methodological/dp/3969391997

• S. K. (2022). Punjabi: One language, two nations, three religions. In Sharma G., & Lowe, J. (Eds.) Advances in South Asian Linguistics, (pp. 415-432). Munich: LINCOM Europa.

https://lincom-shop.eu/epages/57709feb-b889-4707-b2ce-c666fc88085d.sf/en_GB/?ObjectID=53712133

• Bhatt, S. K. (2018). Bilingual situations in India: Power relations between languages analyzed through code-switching. In Sharma, G. (Ed.), Advances in Hindi Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics (pp. 237-256). Muenchen: LINCOM-EUROPA.

http://lincom-shop.eu/LSIEL-50-Advances-in-Hindi-Language-Teaching-and-Applied-Linguistics/en

• Bhatt, S. K. (2018). Garhwali, an endangered Himalayan language: people, policies and struggle for recognition. In Chan, K.G.D., Negga, D. & Szirmai, M. (Eds.), Language Policy, Ideology and Educational Practices in a Globalised World (pp. 87-98). Paris: Éditions des archives contemporaines.

https://www.amazon.ca/Language-Educational-Practices-Globalised-Conference/dp/2813002771

• Chan, W.M., Kumar Bhatt, S., Masanori, .N., & Walker, I. (2015) Culture and Foreign Language Learning: Insights from Research and Implications for the Practice: An introduction to the book. In Chan, W.M., Kumar Bhatt, S., Masanori, .N., & Walker, I. (Eds.), Culture and Foreign Language Learning: Insights from Research and Implications for the Practice (pp. 1-34). Boston & Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.

http://www.degruyter.com/view/product/460415

• Chan, W.M., Chin, K.N., Kumar Bhatt, S., & Walker, I. (2012). Individual characteristics in foreign language education: An introduction to the book. In W.M. Chan, K.N. Chin, S. Kumar Bhatt & I. Walker (Eds.), Perspectives on individual characteristics and foreign language education (pp. 1–24). Boston & Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.

http://www.degruyter.com/view/product/185276?rskey=nh6Jjr&result=8&q=

• Kumar, S. (2007). हिन्दी कालों की पारिभाषिक शब्दावली: एक झलक व एक प्रस्ताव [Linguistic Terminology for Hindi Tenses: An Overview and a Proposal]. In Imre Bangha (Ed.), मध्य और पूर्वी यूरोप में हिन्दी [Hindi in Central and Eastern Europe] (pp.69-87), New Delhi: Vani Prakashan

http://books.google.co.in/books?id=4mU_-J667EAC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Select Published Papers:

• Kumar Bhatt, S. (2020). “Heritage” learners of Hindi as a Foreign/Second Language: Motivation, Culture and Identity. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 17 (Supplement 2), 479-488.

https://e-flt.nus.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/kumarbhatt.pdf

• Kumar Bhatt, S. (2018). Teaching of Hindi and Urdu as Hindi-Urdu. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 15 (Supplement 1), 179-191.

http://e-flt.nus.edu.sg/v15s12018/bhatt.pdf

• Kumar Bhatt, S. (2015). Acquisition of Honorifics in Hindi: A Sociolinguistic Competence. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 12 (Supplement 1), 371-380.

http://e-flt.nus.edu.sg/v12s12015/bhatt.pdf

• Kumar Bhatt, S. (2013). The Popular Culture of Bollywood in Teaching HFL: Facilitator or Debilitator. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 10 (Supplement), 321-333.

http://e-flt.nus.edu.sg/v10s12013/bhatt.pdf

• Kumar Bhatt, S. (2012). Using Self-Study Material for Classroom Teaching. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 9 (Supplement), 347-365.

http://e-flt.nus.edu.sg/v9s12012/bhatt.pdf  

• Kumar Bhatt, S. (2012). Honorifics in Hindi: A Morphological, Semantic and Pragmatical Analyses. Linguistica Brunensia, 60 (1-2), 49-60.

http://digilib.phil.muni.cz/bitstream/handle/11222.digilib/118225/1_LinguisticaBrunensia_13-2012-1_5.pdf

• Kumar Bhatt, S. (2010). Aspectuality in Hindi: Two Pairs of Aspects. Linguistica Brunensia, 58 (1-2), 121-133.

http://digilib.phil.muni.cz/bitstream/handle/11222.digilib/115050/1_LinguisticaBrunensia_11-2010-1_6.pdf

• Kumar Bhatt, S. (2009). Morphemic and Semantic Analyses of Hindi Pronominals. Analele Universitatii Bucuresti, Limbi si Literaturi Straine (The Annals of the University of Bucharest, Foreign Languages and Literatures) – Partea I, 119-137.

http://www.unibuc.ro/anale_ub/limbi/docs/2012/sep/13_07_21_37AUB_Foreign_Languages_and_Literatures_2009_part_I.pdf

• Kumar Bhatt, S. (2007). Indefinite and Definite Tenses in Hindi: Morpho-Semantic Aspects. Linguistica ONLINE, 6, 37-52.

http://www.phil.muni.cz/linguistica/art/bhatt/bha-001.pdf

• Kumar Bhatt, S. (2004). Metrika u Hindskoj Poeziji [Metrics in Hindi Poetry]. Književna Smotra, 132&133, 123 -128

http://opak.crolib.hr/cgi-bin/unicat.cgi?form=D1451006132

• Kumar Bhatt, S. (2004). The Concept of Completivity (Perfectivity) in Croatian Verbal Tenses: Perfect vs. Non-Perfect Tenses. Suvremena Lingvistika 53-54, 45-55.

http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=24771

• Martinot, C., Andel, M. & Kumar, S. (2003). Acquisition of Aspect and Aktionsart by Children in Croatian and French. In D. Bittner  & N. Gagarina, N. (eds.), Acquisition of Aspect. ZAS Papers in Linguistics, 29, 133-148.

http://www.zas.gwz-berlin.de/fileadmin/material/ZASPiL_Volltexte/zp29/zaspil29-martinot-andel-kumar.pdf

• Kumar, S. (1994). Проблемы перевода русского художественного текста на какой-либо иностаный язик, в особенности на английскии, [The issues in translation of a Russian literary text into a foreign language in general and into English in particular] Suvremena Lingvistika,38, 49-57.

Editorial Work on International refereed Journal: 

• Chan, W M, T Suthiwan, S W CHI, K N Chin, M G DOPEL, P. G. Friedlander, J. H. Guo, K B SUNIL, H. Martinez, R M Niemann, E. S. Barnard, N M Thach, W Izumi and S ZHU, eds., Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching. 10, no. 1. (Singapore), 2013.1.

http://e-flt.nus.edu.sg/archive/v10n12013.htm

• Chan, W M, P. G. Friedlander, H. Funk and K B SUNIL, eds., Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching. 9, no. Suppl. 1 (Foreign Language Learning Materials Design and Development). (Singapore), 2012.

http://e-flt.nus.edu.sg/archive/v9s12012.htm

Other Publications:

• यूरोपीय छात्रों का भारत भ्रमण (Travelogue of Hindi Students from Europe), अक्षरम् संगोष्ठी, हिन्दी की अंतरराष्ट्रीय त्रैमासिक पत्रिका, जुलाई – सितंबर 2005
• क्रोएशिया में हिन्दी की परंपरा एवं वर्तमान स्थिति: एक झलक (The Tradition of Hindi in Croatia and its Present Situation: An Overview), Purwai 24, U. K. Hindi Samiti, London, July-September 2003.