34.
Some Fun Tricks to Understand Hindi (English) Nitya Narasimhan Sorry for the interruption. I’m about to
An entertaining way of learning Hindi is to
barge in with my Hindi language train onto your
watch Bollywood movies. If you know how to read
English language train, asI thought there was no
Hindi, then you can watch the movie with Hindi
better place at ANU than Woroni to show up.
Subtitles. Otherwise, simply watch the movie and
I have heard that some students are learning Hindi at ANU, and that there are also people who simply want to improve their Hindi speaking and writing skills. So I’ve decided to write about a few fun and easy tricks to learn Hindi to make your language learning journey easier. First of all, Hindi does not have any silent letters. The way you write Hindi is the way you speak the language, and the way you pronounce a word is exactly the way you write it. Hindi is a very phonetic language, so it’s easier if you say the words out loud while reading in Hindi. People often get confused between a few alphabets in Hindi, namely the ‘उ’ and ‘ऊ’, and ‘इ’ and ‘ई’. When using these similar alphabets, always pay attention to how you are pronouncing each alphabet. When pronouncing ‘उ’ (oo), if you stress on the word as in the case of the Hindi word for
try to understand the dialogue. If you are new to Hindi, you can watch movies traditionally made in the English Language (or the language you are most comfortable using), that you have already seen, but this time subtitled in Hindi. This is helpful because you are already aware of the context in which the actors are conversing, so it’s easier for you to understand what they’re saying. You can also listen to songs in Hindi, as some people find it easier to memorize or remember words if they are in the form of a song. In order to master any language, it’s important to keep practising it. Keep talking in Hindi to your peers or with other people at ANU who are familiar with the language. Apart from Google (Google translate is not always accurate), there are other apps which can help you learn Hindi, such as Duolingo. You can also watch videos in Hindi that are made for kids on YouTube
‘up’ (‘ऊपर’), you are using the larger form (‘ऊ’). If
to familiarise yourself with the basics of the
you don’t stress on the alphabet, you use the
language.
smaller form (‘उ’), as in the case with the Hindi word for ‘owl’, (‘उल्लू’). The same goes for the letter ‘इ’ – for example when pronouncing the Hindi words ‘इमारत’and ‘ईदगाह’ (where the bigger form ‘ई’
These are the only tricks up my sleeve to learn Hindi but you definitely shouldn’t stop here. Keep conversing in Hindi, read Hindi books, watch Hindi movies and listen to Hindi songs. Learning a
is used), meaning a building and the festival Eid
new language does not only make it easier to
respectively. In Hindi, a lot of people are also
make new friends but it builds your self-
confused when using the Hindi term for that and
confidence and it’s a good feeling to know a
when saying someone’s, as both are pronounced
language previously foreign to you. That’s all from
as Ki in Hindi. When it comes to writing, ‘िक’ means
me, I hope you keep learning and I hope to see
‘that’ while ‘की’ is used to say Nitya ki Kitab (Nitya’s book) – an act of possession (someone’s book).
you soon!
