Introduction 

Hindi is the third most spoken language in the world (after English and Chinese), with over 615 million speakers. To put it in context, that’s close to 10% of the global population, and around 44% of the Indian population, making it India’s most popular language.  

Hindi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in India. Hindi has been described as a standardized and Sanskritised register of the Hindustani language, which itself is based primarily on the Khariboli dialect of Delhi and neighboring areas of Northern India. 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.

1.Start practicing some basic sentences in Hindi right away!

Learning a new set of alphabets/script is going to take time. Most of the foreigners or Hindi learners that I know had started with memorizing and understanding basic sentences in Hindi – such as Mera naam Anay hai. Mai Mumbai me rehta hoon. (My name is Anay. I stay in Mumbai). Since you don’t know the Hindi script yet, write down the pronunciation of sentences in your mother tongue or the Roman script.

2.Learn phrases that are in practical and daily use first

Multibhashi has an online course for learning Hindi using phrases that you must know for practical use of Hindi during the conversation.

3.Learn Basic Grammar

Till this point, you should be comfortable having a conversation in basic Hindi. It’s a good time to move towards grammar and correct your conceptions about sentence construction. You can use any good Hindi learning book for this or if you can find a tutor that will be great.

4.Vocabulary and flash-cards

Without vocabulary, your speaking will remain limited. Learning new words will enrich your language skill. Find and note down new words. If possible use a flash card or an app that has a flash card feature to remember new words.

5..Transliteration

Practice writing things in the new alphabet then transliterating them into your own native language alphabet. Keep a letter-pronunciation table next to you. Then try transliterating them back into the new alphabet. Also try writing your own language in the new alphabet. Read through the special rules of Hindi available online. 

6.Read aloud

Practice reading texts written in the new alphabet as often as possible to initiate instant recognition of the alphabets. Even if you don’t know all the letters or symbols, you will be able to make some sense out of the whole thing. Don’t underestimate your powerful apophenic brain! You may also have trouble reading initially – and may find yourself reading each alphabet in a word slowly, (you’re not just reading but also recognizing each alphabet) to speak the entire word. But this would improve with time when you can actually just run past those and speak the complete word. We all have learnt our native tongue when we were very young, in the very same manner! 

7.Recognizing the alphabets

Label things around your home or office in the new alphabet with translations in your own language. This will increase your exposure to the new alphabet and help you to recognise key words and phrases.

8.Test yourself 

Try reading aloud whatever material you get hold of. There are online newspapers and articles.This will reinforce your alphabet learning via recognition.  

9.Playing a game with the conversation partner 

If you know of a native speaker who is willing to help, ask him or her to read things aloud, to converse with you and you can write the alphabets to check with him and ensure you heard them right! Then you try to do the same and ask your friend to correct your mistakes.

10. Write it

 After having conversations, jot down the things you remembered hearing but didn’t quite understand. After having conversations, jot down the things you remembered hearing but didn’t quite understand.  Then go back and use your dictionary. Look up the words, piece the conversation back together in your mind. Then, next time you have a conversation, use what you learned. Besides helping me focus, they also became handy reference guides

11.Local TV, music, movies 

Watch movies, listen to music, sing songs, and browse newspapers and magazines. It’s fun and helps improve your pronunciation and comprehension. I often stumble when trying to read Hindi script.But by watching Hindi music videos and following the lyrics, I learned many new characters and also began pronouncing words more accurately.