How to Learn Hindi by Yourself in 13 Simple Steps
Hindi language, member of the Indo-Aryan group within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the preferred official language of India, although much national business is also done in English and the other languages recognized in the Indian constitution. In India, Hindi is spoken as a first language by nearly 425 million people and as a second language by some 120 million more. The name Hindi is of Persian origin. The Persians used it to refer to the Indian people and to the languages they spoke.
Hindi, written in the Devanagari script, is one of the two official languages of the Government of India, along with the English language. It is an official language in 9 States and 3 Union Territories and an additional official language in 3 other States. Hindi is also one of the 22 scheduled languages of the Republic of India. Hindi is the fourth most-spoken first language in the world, after Mandarin, Spanish and English. Hindi alongside Urdu as Hindustani is the third most-spoken language in the world, after Mandarin and English. Knowing even basic Hindi, whether for heritage, business, or pure curiosity, will allow you to communicate with over 1 billion people on this planet and become immersed in a rich language and culture.
In this blog, we'll discuss 13 ways that can help you learn hindi on your own:
Become familiar with Devanagari Script – Devanagari is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal and is the main script used to write Hindi, Marathi, and Nepali. It is written from left to right, lacks distinct letter cases, and is recognizable by a distinctive horizontal line running along the tops of the letters that links them together.
Watch Hindi television – Hindi news sites such as Aajtak or Khabar will often have clips and videos. Some Hindi TV channels are available via satellite, such as DD International, the worldwide version of DD India. You can watch Hindi news and series in the original language and learn vocabulary through Hindi dialogue spoken by actors with Hindi as a first language.
Listen to a recording of the Hindi alphabet and then try to mimic the recording – The Hindi alphabet may look a little alien to you, especially if you are a native English speaker, but with some practice, you’ll be able to understand how to make all the Hindi letter sounds yourself.
Study the Hindi vowels – Hindi has 11 vowels, some of which are indicated by the use of diacritic marks, or symbols added to the letters of an alphabet in order to show different pronunciations. Vowels in Hindi have two forms: one form for when they are used by themselves, and one form for when the vowel is joined to a consonant in a word.
Spend an hour a day on grammar exercises from a textbook – Once you become familiar with the basics of Hindi vocabulary and grammar, you’ll need a more in-depth source to learn the more complicated elements of the language. Try to find a textbook that includes audio elements if possible.
Read as much as you can in Hindi – Fortunately, there is a wealth of online resources available in Hindi, including newspapers, blogs, and social media. There is also a tradition of Hindi literature dating back to the 760s CE, full of poets, philosophers, and religious writers.
Become familiar with Hindi nouns – Nouns are words for objects, places, emotions, animals, and people. In Hindi, all nouns have a gender: masculine (M) or feminine (F). The gender of Hindi nouns is essential for proper grammar and communication, so when learning Hindi nouns, you must also learn their genders so you can use the nouns correctly.
Watch Hindi television – Hindi news sites such as Aajtak or Khabar will often have clips and videos. Some Hindi TV channels are available via satellite, such as DD International, the worldwide version of DD India (which also has programmes in other languages of India such as Punjabi and Tamil). You can watch Hindi news and series in the original language and learn vocabulary through Hindi dialogue spoken by actors with Hindi as a first language.
Get a private Hindi teacher – When you think of private tutors, you mostly think of a teacher at home who makes you recite the declension of verbs and has you writing out sentence structure exercises. But a private tutor can also help you with your conversational Hindi. Instead of teaching grammatical rules, a Hindi language coach can talk with you in Hindi about current events, or you could discuss a book you just read. Unlike language partners, private tutors are paid a set rate.
How to Learn Written Hindi – Knowing Hindi words and vocabulary is one thing, but while learning a second language, you also need to practice grammar and learn to understand whole sentences and hone your language skills in understanding words in context. You will also need to practice reading and writing the Hindi alphabet. And the best way to do that is to read.
Continue to practice your conversational Hindi with longer phrases and sentences – Once you become more comfortable with Hindi nouns, pronouns, and verbs, you can move on to studying other elements of Hindi.
Learn the days of the week – Start with basic words that will help you become familiar with how Hindi vowels and consonants work together to create a word or phrase. Focus on recognizing the Hindi words and the Devanagari script.
Purchase a good Hindi dictionary – Oxford University Press publishes the gold standard of dictionaries, the Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary. While smaller pocket dictionaries are fine if you just need to look up a word or two, invest in a more substantial academic dictionary if you are serious about more formal study.
Finally,
So, here are some basic ways through which you can start learning Hindi all by yourself. Hindi is an amazing language to learn and believe us you’ll only enjoy learning it!
Just go for it!