HindiLearner News

The experiences of Ms. Jie Deng (23, Erasmus Mundus student) -reproduced verbatim.

To explore in a foreign language is to explore in a new universe, whose basic elements are made of sounds and scripts.” When I first read the phrase in a book named “Travelers”, I was 20 years old. At that time, a “foreign” language only meant English—a chaotic universe of piles of grammar books and vocabulary pamphlets. Therefore, scarcely could a university student overwhelmed by heavy school works understand the metaphor hiding behind the phrase.

One year later, I started to learn French; hence to some extent the meaning of “foreign” language was expended. New sounds and scripts flooded into my mind; however, most of them are connected to the language that I had already acquainted. More precisely, the new language extended the existing chaotic universe rather than opening a door to the new universe. Similar situation happened again when I began to learn German. More connections were built between the new language and the former two, as if I was kiting a huge net, constructing a grand maze, or composing an endless puzzle.

Nevertheless, the process of wondering in net, maze or puzzle was stopped by the Hindi course in my life. When repeating the rhythmical sentences again and again after the first class, it occurred to me that the metaphor of “a new universe” is by no means meaningless. For me, The Hindi language splits a road to a mysterious place, a place that most of the people in the world might never have the chance to explore in their whole lives. Not only because the special scripts of this ancient language are totally alien to a learner who has concentrated in Latin-originated languages, but also because the cultures related to the language are full of myths and fancies. Hardly can I use the appropriate words to describe the fillings that I could read Hindi words at the first time: thrill, exciting, or fascinating.

Although the time for learning Hindi is the most limited compared with the time that I had for French and German, it is the most unforgettable. A journey to a new universe, finally I can testify the metaphor in “Travels”. The beginning of the journey was quite a happy set-out—the sentences written in rhyme which almost sound like a song. The study of a new language should begin with tunes and rhymes. For a 2 year old child acquiring mother tongue from parents, a piece of sweet lullaby or kid song might be the most impressive way to get the sense of his or her language. Though a beginner can not be 2 years old again, at least he or she can immerse in an original state full of wonderful sounds and tunes for language learning. Also, the recognition games provided in the textbook are very useful in helping the beginner to get approached to Hindi.

It is also worthy to leave some space for the cultural introduction in the textbook. Personally speaking, the most fascinating aspect of Hindi is the relationship between the language and the Hindu culture. Those beautiful sounds and scripts keep on reminding me of the time when I was indulging myself in Hindu mythology and roaming amongst the graceful sculptures of Hindu Gods in museums. Unfortunately, I have to connect those beautiful images to the language all by myself. Although learning time is very limited, I think it would not do any harm to take ten or fifteen minutes in one class to tell some stories about Hindi language or Hindu cultures.

Never have people witnessed any language totally independent from its cultural background. Languages, the same as fruits, grow from the branches and absorb nutritional ingredients from the roots through a very long process. Therefore, some basic introductions to the culture will help the beginners to comprehend the language in a better way. Even if the students are not really interested in cultures, this part can always be used as an alternative to ease the stress in class. On the other hand, pictures or stories about the cultures will equip the teacher with more advantages in terms of teaching methods. As have stated by some psychologists, visualized forms are easier to seize the attention of learners and help them to understand the contents better.

The most effective way to learn a foreign language is through the linguistic approach – training starts from sounds, from which words and phrases are formed, until eventual construction of sentences using these words are made.

In this light, I have prepared a comprehensive report to help you learn how to speak the Hindi language using linguistics … in just 12 days or even less!

The report comes with audio recordings of more than 3 hours in the voice of native speakers in popular .mp3 format which you can listen to even while on the move.

With pronunciation guides, accurate glosses, and ample examples, you will never have any problem understanding each Hindi word and sentence you come across, until you’re be able to create your own sentences as well.

The best thing is …

You don’t need one whole school year or even a semester to train yourself in a language that more than 900 million people speak. 12 days is all it takes to learn how to speak Hindi!

Click here for complete information.

Hindi Language Quickstart is particularly aimed at the growing number of people who want to grasp the basics of the Hindi language during weekend or short breaks, without having to master any complicated grammar or phrases.

Hindi Language Quickstart concentrates only on the essential Hindi required for brief conversation, breaking it down into short, relevant, easy to learn categories of words, phrases, sentence making and routine daily conversation in different situations. Each section allows you time to listen to, time to reflect with a step-by-step explanation in English language, time to kickstart which lets you practice your pronunciation in Hindi language and time to recap so you can listen again and see how much you have picked up.

Speaking Hindi Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated! You Can Quickstart Now!

Click here for more information

Take this Quick Quiz, a short questionnaire that requires no prior Hindi language experience to complete. You only have to be familiar with basic Hindi.

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Now, here are the questions to test your Hindi language skills. So, get started now.

Question 1. How will you answer in Hindi to the question “What is the date today?”
Question 2. How will you decide the gender of a noun word in Hindi?
Question 3.What is the meaning of word “so” in Hindi? Explain by using it in a sentence.
Question 4.What is plural form of Hindi word “meethaa aam” ?
Question 5.What is the meaning of Hindi phrase “sabse aage”?
Question 6.What is the causative verb form of “padhanaa-likhanaa”? (means reading-writing)
Question 7.Find out adverb used in the sentence “Boond-boond se saagar banataa hai” (water drops make the the ocean).
Question 8.What is the meaning of Hindi word “kaun saa”?
Question 9.Find out adjective used in the sentence “Manushhya ek saamaajik praanee hai” (Man is a social animal).
Question 10.Which punctuation mark in Hindi has a symbol different than one in English, and what is the symbol?
Question 11.In how many ways can you add word “bhi” in the Hindi sentence “gopaal ne gaanaa gaayaa” (Gopal has sung a song).
Question 12.How will you change the following Declarative sentence – “vah row rahaa hai” (He is crying) to Interrogative form without altering the sentence?
Question 13.How many Hindi alphabets have no equivalent/similar sound in English language?
Question 14.Write down five short Hindi sentences that you know.
Briefly, tell us about your efforts to learn Hindi How long you have been learning Hindi, rough estimate of time you have been able to use for learning it, and which learning resources you have utilised?

Hit back with your answers if you want it to be evaluated by us at Hindileaner.com

Language is perhaps the most important function of the human body – it allows us to get sustenance as a child, it allows us to get virtually anything we want as an adult, and it allows us many hours of entertainment through literature, radio, music, and films. This list (in order of least to most spoken) summarizes the most important languages in use today.

10. French

Number of speakers: 129 million

Often called the most romantic language in the world, French is spoken in tons of countries, including Belgium, Canada, Rwanda, Cameroon, and Haiti. Oh, and France too. We’re actually very lucky that French is so popular, because without it, we might have been stuck with Dutch Toast, Dutch Fries, and Dutch kissing (ew!).

To say “hello” in French, say “Bonjour” (bone-JOOR).

9 Malay-Indonesian

Number of speakers: 159 million

Malay-Indonesian is spoken – surprise – in Malaysia and Indonesia. Actually, we kinda fudged the numbers on this one because there are many dialects of Malay, the most popular of which is Indonesian. But they’re all pretty much based on the same root language, which makes it the ninth most-spoken in the world.

Indonesia is a fascinating place; a nation made up of over 13,000 islands it is the sixth most populated country in the world. Malaysia borders on two of the larger parts of Indonesia (including the island of Borneo), and is mostly known for its capital city of Kuala Lumpur.

To say “hello” in Indonesian, say “Selamat pagi” (se-LA-maht PA-gee).

8 Portuguese

Number of speakers: 191 million

Think of Portuguese as the little language that could. In the 12th Century, Portugal won its independence from Spain and expanded all over the world with the help of its famous explorers like Vasco da Gama and Prince Henry the Navigator. (Good thing Henry became a navigator . . . could you imagine if a guy named “Prince Henry the Navigator” became a florist?) Because Portugal got in so early on the exploring game, the language established itself all over the world, especially in Brazil (where it’s the national language), Macau, Angola, Venezuela, and Mozambique.

To say “hello” in Portuguese, say “Bom dia” (bohn DEE-ah).

7 Bengali

Number of speakers: 211 million

In Bangladesh, a country of 120+ million people, just about everybody speaks Bengali. And because Bangladesh is virtually surrounded by India
(where the population is growing so fast, just breathing the air can get you pregnant), the number of Bengali speakers in the world is much higher than most people would expect.

To say “hello” in Bengali, say “Ei Je” (EYE-jay).

6 Arabic

Number of speakers: 246 million

Arabic, one of the world’s oldest languages, is spoken in the Middle East, with speakers found in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt. Furthermore, because Arabic is the language of the Koran, millions of Moslems in other countries speak Arabic as well. So many people have a working knowledge of Arabic, in fact, that in 1974 it was made the sixth official language of the United Nations.

To say “hello” in Arabic, say “Al salaam a’alaykum” (Ahl sah-LAHM ah ah-LAY-koom).

5 Russian

Number of speakers: 277 million

Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, and Yakov Smirnoff are among the millions of Russian speakers out there. Sure, we used to think of them as our Commie enemies. Now we think of them as our Commie friends. One of the six languages in the UN, Russian is spoken not only in the Mother Country, but also in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and the U.S. (to name just a few places).

To say “hello” in Russian, say “Zdravstvuite” (ZDRAST-vet-yah).

4 Spanish

Number of speakers: 392 million

Aside from all of those kids who take it in high school, Spanish is spoken in just about every South American and Central American country, not to mention Spain, Cuba, and the U.S. There is a particular interest in Spanish in the U.S., as many English words are borrowed from the language, including: tornado, bonanza, patio, quesadilla, enchilada, and taco grande supreme.

To say “hello” in Spanish, say “Hola” (OH-la).

3 Hindustani

Number of speakers: 497 million

Hindustani is the primary language of India’s crowded population, and it encompasses a huge number of dialects (of which the most commonly spoken is Hindi). While many predict that the population of India will soon surpass that of China, the prominence of English in India prevents Hindustani from surpassing the most popular language in the world. If you’re interested in learning a little Hindi, there’s a very easy way: rent an Indian movie. The film industry in India is the most prolific in the world, making thousands of action/romance/musicals every year.

To say “hello” in Hindustani, say “Namaste” (Nah-MAH-stay).

2 English

Number of speakers: 508 million

While English doesn’t have the most speakers, it is the official language of more countries than any other language. Its speakers hail from all around the world, including New Zealand, the U.S., Australia, England, Zimbabwe, the Caribbean, Hong Kong, South Africa, and Canada. We’d tell you more about English, but you probably feel pretty comfortable with the language already. Let’s just move on to the most popular language in the world.

1Mandarin

Number of speakers: 1 billion+

Surprise, surprise, the most widely spoken language on the planet is based in the most populated country on the planet. Beating second-place English by a 2 to 1 ratio, but don’t let that lull you into thinking that Mandarin is easy to learn. Speaking Mandarin can be really tough, because each word can be pronounced in four ways (or “tones”), and a beginner will invariably have trouble distinguishing one tone from another. But if over a billion people could do it, so could you. Try saying hello!

To say “hello” in Mandarin, say “Ni hao” (Nee HaOW).

Source :http://www.bukisa.com/