Let me start off by saying after taking this course, I decided to not continue with hindi-urdu with Gyanam Mahajan as a part of my 4 year plan at the university of california, los angeles. As a moron myself, I failed to realize that the course name reflects the course. You learn two languages and 2 scripts. Though there is 99% overlap between these two lovely languages, it can be confusing to learn both scripts and remember each while being tested on both at the same time. It was hard to know what we were learning which through common sense made it hard to know what would be on the examination papers. Also having an unresponsive professor did not help. But, dont be alarmed, Gyanam Mahajan is cool human being. She is very nice and will probably help if you asked (unlike me). I personally believe I did not have the best of experiences taking this course due to its online nature. I feel that this would have been much better in person. Also, I dont know how we were graded, what our grades on the tests and assignments were, and what the overall grading scale was. Taking this class with Mahajan is like riding a rollercoaster, you can either fear for your life or enjoy the thrill.

Participate. Go to OH. Get to know Guruujii. She is very nice, a great person to know, very interesting, and very helpful. Participation is very important to this class and will affect your grade.

Learning a language can be hard, and this is no exception. However, I have found it very rewarding to know 2 more scripts (Devanagari script and the Urdu alphabet) despite the effort you will have to put in to memorize and learn to use it.

You will learn Hinurglish in this class, which is a cross between what are commonly known as Hindi, Urdu, and English, but is really what people mean when they refer to Hindi or Urdu. Don't be afraid to use English words when you need vocabulary, but it's also worth asking if there's a H-U word.

This class quickly becomes fun. Take it with a friend if you can. You will leave changed human beings, and you will love it.

This was an amazing, fun class and is honestly like no other class you'll ever take at UCLA. You literally get to vote when you want your midterms. The professor is extremely funny, and is quite engaging. I highly recommend taking this class. You will have no issues getting an A- or A. Seriously, the professor is super lenient and gives you a lot of chances to improve. She posts practice exams online, which are super super helpful for the real exams. Discussion is interesting, and most of your practice occurs in there. TAs are very nice and helpful.
First quarter you learn the scripts, grammar, and vocab. This is the busiest quarter. Winter Quarter you do more grammar stuff and also get to do some fun projects. Spring Quarter is very chill, and you mostly just read stories in Hindi/Urdu.
If you seem intimidated by this class, don't be. It is designed for students with ZERO experience in Hindi Urdu. She will teach you all the basics, and if you try even a little bit, you will get a good grade. This class is a fun way to fulfill your language requirement. Trust me, this class will be easier than Spanish, even if it doesn't seem that way.

Took the entire series during the 18-19 school year. The workload was a bit heavier during fall quarter as we were learning the basics of Hindi and Urdu script, but it lightened up towards the end of the year so there was hardly had any homework during winter and spring quarter. The TAs were really helpful regarding assignments and other course material. Lectures were often disorganized and Guruji would go off on tangents about South Asian politics and other world news, but this was actually pretty fun and I learned a lot from her discussions. Exams were straightforward and Guruji provided practice exams beforehand, which were very helpful. Recommend this course to anyone who needs to complete their foreign language requirement!

I took the entire intro series in 2015-16. Guruji is an excellent and hilarious professor who really cares about her students. If you want to learn, you will, and she'll do everything she can to help you. The class isn't terribly hard, and she makes sure to keep the exams reasonable. I'd highly reccomend taking the series, and I wish I could do intermediate if I had the time.