The Bhutan National Legal Institute and the Supreme Court are jointly conducting a six-day training on “Advanced Dzongkha Grammar” for the Bench Clerks from 9 – 14 August 2021 at the Language and Culture Institute (LCI), Thimphu under the Justice Sector Program with financial support from the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) through the Supreme Court. A total of 23 Bench Clerks from Chhukha, Dagana, Gasa, Paro, Punakha, Thimphu, Trongsa, Wangdue Phodrang and Zhemgang District Courts are attending the training in the first phase.
Dzongkha is the national language of Bhutan. It represents our national sovereignty, and the rich linguistic traditions of Bhutan. The national language of Bhutan is the holder of future of Bhutan; and reflects the rich repositories of Bhutanese usage of language as a means of communication as well as to communicate respect. Bench Clerks are well-positioned in the use of Dzongkha. However, they need to provide an avenue to update and enhance their Dzongkha with time. The Bench Clerks remain one of the important components of the courts, who use Dzongkha both as a written and spoken language. Therefore, such periodical trainings will help them to secure firm footing and update on various usage of Dzongkha and its terminologies in drafting judgments.
Grammar is the mechanic of the language which controls or regulates the way the words are formed, spelled, written and spoken with combination of different consonants, vowels and parts of speech. Therefore, this training will enhance the development of Dzongkha language; improve the writing techniques, including the appropriate use of words, terminologies and phrases thus ensuring a distinct training package. The course consists of information on cognitive and conceptual theories of use of grammar, sentences and language structures including the practical exercises on the experiential applications of the grammatical rules, semantic nuances and phonetics.
The training is facilitated by the Dzongkha experts from the Language and Culture Institute at Thimphu. The Language and Culture Institute is a private owned Institute specializing on Dzongkha language and cultural aspects of Bhutan, amongst others, thus reinforcing and proliferating national values and linguistic skills. The training will conclude on 14th August.