Subject to FAS language tutorial guidelines; enrollment is by petition and statements of academic need are due by TBD.  For more information contact southasianstudies@fas.harvard.edu.

Nepali is the official language of Nepal. A long-established language dating back to the 1200s, it was previously known as Khas Kura and later Gorkha bhasa and also Parbate (‘the language of the mountain people’). It is spoken in Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal. It is often used as a lingua-franca among speakers of other Tibeto-Burman or Indo-Aryan languages.

Though learning Nepali will be easier for those who know Sanskrit or a North Indian language, beginners will find the more simplified grammatical structure allows for speedy acquisition of basic Nepali. Successive semesters include reading and writing in official and scholarly Nepali.


Nepali 101B Introductory Nepali
Instructors and Individual meeting times/semesters vary

South Asian Language Tutorials, Introductory Level

Individualized study of a South Asian language at the introductory level; emphasis on written expression, reading comprehension and oral fluency. This course introduces the basic grammatical structures of modern Nepali, enabling students to read and produce simple, standard prose as well as engage in basic conversation by the end of the first year. Nepali is taught with a concern for the cultural context in which this language is spoken and written. (Language Tutorials are not open to auditors.)

Nepali 102B Intermediate Nepali

Instructor: Netra Darai; Individual meeting times/semesters vary

South Asian Language Tutorials, Intermediate Level

Individualized study of a South Asian language at the intermediate level; emphasis on written expression, reading comprehension and oral fluency. This course is designed to provide students with a more sophisticated knowledge of Nepali grammar. Students will also have an opportunity to use Nepali language for communication purposes and will be able to analyze more complex sentence types than the ones taught in the introductory course. (Language Tutorials are not open to auditors.)

Nepali 103B Advanced Nepali

Instructors and Individual meeting times/semesters vary

South Asian Language Tutorials, Advanced Level

Individualized study of a South Asian language at the advanced level; emphasis on written expression, reading comprehension and oral fluency. A reading course in Modern Nepali Literature, suitable for students who have at least three years of Nepali learning. This course is designed to help students understand some of the complex literary materials composed in modern Nepali language. The students will have an opportunity to read a wide variety of selected texts, understand the linguistic systems operative in those writings, and come up with their own informed understanding of them. (Language Tutorials are not open to auditors.)

Nepali 104B Readings in Modern Nepali Literature

Instructors and Individual meeting times/semesters vary
South Asian Language Tutorials

Individualized study of a South Asian language; emphasis on written expression, reading comprehension and oral fluency. A reading course in Modern Nepali Literature, suitable for students who have at least three years of Nepali learning. This course is designed to help students understand some of the complex literary materials composed in modern Nepali language. The students will have an opportunity to read a wide variety of selected texts, understand the linguistic systems operative in those writings, and come up with their own informed understanding of them. (Language Tutorials are not open to auditors.)