Hindi is hard to learn!

[SagaLore]

I'm very slowly learning hindi... initially because I've been supporting an office in India since 2006, but now mainly because that is what my wife speaks.

I'm okay at learning 2, 3, 4 word phrases - 5 word phrases are very hard for me, and there are lots of words I can't properly pronounce even though I can hear the difference.

So today, I got myself a hindi/english VISUAL book! Pictures, woohoo!


Okay, word of the day (in phonetic english):

jananendrya

Yes, there are full pictures of this. :Q

 

[potato28]

And I thought French was hard

 

[secretanchitman]

i want to learn hindi as well...and gujurati!

 

[Shooks]

I know gujarati, but I can't read or write it. I can understand and speak it fluently though

I can't understand Hindi at all

 

[Crono]

Hindi sounds to me like it would easier to to learn than Malayalam. My parents speak both, I understand/speak neither

 

[RESmonkey]

I can understand Gujurati (if it's slow enough) and like a minor amount of hindi (if it's really slow and simple). I can't write any of it, though.


Shouldn't the world focus on a single unified language within the next 200 years?

 

[Taejin]

Originally posted by: RESmonkey
I can understand Gujurati (if it's slow enough) and like a minor amount of hindi (if it's really slow and simple). I can't write any of it, though.


Shouldn't the world focus on a single unified language within the next 200 years?

no. I think languages offer unique perspectives on how different cultures view life. destroying that would be detrimental to the breadth of views that we have today.

 

[TehMac]

One day, I want to learn English. English is spoken by some of the most powerful people on the planet; I think that's a good language to learn.

 

[zoiks]

One day I will be learning English as well.

 

[RESmonkey]

Originally posted by: Taejin

Originally posted by: RESmonkey
I can understand Gujurati (if it's slow enough) and like a minor amount of hindi (if it's really slow and simple). I can't write any of it, though.


Shouldn't the world focus on a single unified language within the next 200 years?

no. I think languages offer unique perspectives on how different cultures view life. destroying that would be detrimental to the breadth of views that we have today.

Language offers unique perspectives ...? :?

 

[CrazyLazy]

You know what else is hard...








Rocks.

 

[TehMac]

Originally posted by: zoiks
One day I will be learning English as well.

Are we in the same village???

 

[jai6638]

Good thing about Hindi is that its phonetic. So what you read is how say it is... kinda like spanish.. It'll also help you in places like the Middle East such as Dubai where 50% of the population is Indian.. THink of the long term benefits

 

[jai6638]

jananendrya

What does that mean? lol.. An "all-knowing" person? never heard that one before.. or is it Gyanendra?

 

[bluewall21]

Originally posted by: Shooks
I know gujarati, but I can't read or write it. I can understand and speak it fluently though

I can't understand Hindi at all

That's exactly me.

 

[IGBT]

..how do you say ATOT??

 

[ch33kym0use]

sure is, I hear people speaking foreign languages and not english where I am, although they restrict their English that way because I cannot be welcome to join in the conversation

 

[gsethi]

Originally posted by: jai6638

jananendrya

What does that mean? lol.. An "all-knowing" person? never heard that one before.. or is it Gyanendra?

exactly...i know Hindi (can speak, read and write - Grew up in Delhi, India and had to take Hindi till 8th grade and passed National Board exam for Hindi for 10th grade - did not take Hindi in 9th or 10th - took French instead) but never heard that word.

Are you sure you typed it correctly ?

 

[onlyCOpunk]

Doesn't India have like over 200 different languages? At least that's what my Indian friends tell me, hence why English is the official language of India. Screw the Hindi, just speak English.

 

[Descartes]

Yes, it can be tough. I'm still learning Hindi and Telugu (really tough, because there aren't a lot of resources for Telugu), but eventually it starts to come together. The hardest part for me was to try and stop thinking in the same manner I would for English, Spanish, German, etc. Sentence structure is more loose, less restricted.

Are you learning Devanagari as well? It will help considerably.

Watching a lot of Indian movies helps as well.

Originally posted by: Shooks
I know gujarati, but I can't read or write it. I can understand and speak it fluently though

I can't understand Hindi at all

Maja ma cho?

I can't spell it, but I know what it sounds like.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: onlyCOpunk
Doesn't India have like over 200 different languages? At least that's what my Indian friends tell me, hence why English is the official language of India. Screw the Hindi, just speak English.

Hindi is also an official language. Many speak English, but certainly not all. Often those that do aren't as proficient as they are in their own languages.

Most states have their own official language as well, and often from those languages there are many recognized dialects.

You can get by to some extent with English, but that's no reason to simply abandon learning languages that have supported the culture of a billion or so people.

 

[KB]

This video might help you learn it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA1NoOOoaNw

 

[ScottFern]

Originally posted by: secretanchitman
i want to learn hindi as well...and gujurati!

My gf is Gujarati and I kinda zone out when she is speaking to her parents at a group function.

Never thought about learning it tho.......

 

[Vonkhan]

hindi is pretty easy if you have Indian friends & watch bollywood movies

... but I suck at it. In fact, I still have nightmares about my class X hundi final exams

/shudder

 

[jai6638]

Actually, what works in your benefit is that Indians tend to speak Hinglish especially those in the cities. They tend to break into English every now and then so as long as you can hold a conversation, you're fine