What language shall I try to learn?

Nick-H

Oh dear; I've just realised the multi-racial nature of Bradford, and that my silly joke was untactful. It was meant to be a light-hearted reference to English regional dialects, and certainly not to have any racial connotations.

Maybe I'm just paranoid and didn't need to say that --- but I'd hate to upset anyone!

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Ali-Monbeam

It is certainly a multi racial place and I took no offence, although many people assume that due my location and screen name Ali (or Alisha in some forums) that I am an Asian ~ I dont care what they think as I am very well known where I live and like to be annonymous so I dont use my real name....who does??

I am having fun with this learning thing....

How can "ham sandwich" sound like ham sandwich but look lke squiggles???

Is hindi written under the line like we write on the line or is that line along the top of all the letters part of each letter or a joined - up version?

and I have found a letter that sounds like 'G' but in the word its sounds like 'M' it has a dot on the line before it but cant find how that would alter the letter?

phir milenge - raam raam.....tee hee

kullukid

Hi Ali, try getting hold of a copy of the rupert Snells Beginners Hindi by Hodder & Stoughton, it's a book & CD, you should be able to get a copy from your local library. I originally got a copy from a library in Leeds, but when i was in Rishikesh this Jan i managed to find a shop doing "cheap copies" so i bought one, i've also met an Indian girl from Almora who is studying at Leeds Uni, so i'm also taking lessons from her at the mo' I could ask her if she wants any new students if you are interested??

P.S. learning the Hindi script & sounds of the vowels & consonants definitely makes things a lot easier.

Ali-Monbeam

I have down loaded "Before you know it" learning course
http://www.shoptransparent.com/store...2121 43680159

I have got the 'delux' version which has script and transliterated plus you can check your pronunciation too with a voice recorder thingy. It looks and seems so far quite good.
But I would love to have a person to sound off near me but so far I have only found Urdu speaking shop keepers.

grikoo

I'd also highly recommend rupert snells books. They're very well thought out.

A note for americans though- the pronunciation guide refers to the british pronunciation of the letters, so some of the vowels are actually a little different. If you get the 'teach yourself hindi' book (also by snell), it comes with some cds that make fairly good reference. Best though is a native speaker, as some of the letters use sounds that don't exactly occur in normal english.

The script is not as hard as you might think at first and being able to read is incredibly useful. I think I have a link here somewhere for printable flashcards. Let me see......Hmmmmm....ok, there it is. http://courses.washington.edu/hindi3...Flashcards.pdf but bear in mind that this is based on american english (if I'm remembering correctly) so again, the vowels may be slightly different. There are also widespread regional differences in the way the vowels are spoken throughout India. Easy to pick up though.

Concerning Hindi/Urdu, you would do better to learn Hindi as some words in Urdu have distinctly muslim meanings. Islam not being as widespread in India, Hindi is the better choice, even though the languages are essentially the same. And if you plan to be in the south much, you might instead consider Tamil.

Another good resource are movies. Sometimes you'll find Indian movies subtitled in transliterated hindi, which is useful for learning to seperate out the words in a sentence. It's impossible to keep up with a different script at that speed, but the transliteration makes it possible to learn the words quickly, understand the grammar, etc.

vireya

If you learn the Hindi script, and learn to speak Hindi you will be able to practice speaking with all your Urdu-speaking neighbours, because the basics are the same. I've learnt Hindi, but have several times been asked where I learnt Urdu.

Cardamom

In addition to the Snell books, if you want to work more on the script I highly recommend this booklet called "A Crash Course to Learn the Devanagari Script" (Link: http://www.amazon.com/Course-Devanag...2211093&sr=1-1)
The booklet is really short, but it make so much sense the way the script is explained and how to identify the characters.

C

federica

The biggest difference is the script... Unfortunately Urdu srcipt looks unlearnable for me Devanagari script looks easier...

The difference of spoken Hindi/Urdu is like the difference of dialects of the same language. Of course - like dialects - every language has its very own words, but you can exchange them depending on community.

Ali-Monbeam

Thanks for all this help and encouragement, its much apreciated.

I had one person yesterday say why bother they all seak English. I am enjoying it so much I dont care if they do or not, its not like I am going to be fluent ha ha

The_Londoner

Hey Ali, App kaise ho? Ok, that was my poor Hinglish.

That's very much our English mentality. We are very poor learning another language, even another European language compare to our other European counterpart. Personally, I feel we should learn language of visiting country, be it little may be. I have just started to learn German. I would have loved to learn Swedish, but was told that being Indian in origin, I would pick up German pronunciations easier.

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Nick-H

Mrs N is away meditating, and the milk didn't come, so I had to walk accross the road to the shop (Shock, horror! ).

I quite proudly asked for 'renda packet paal' (Tamil, renda is 2, paal is milk, you know what packet means; there's quite a lot of English sprinkled in Chennai Tamil). Had the wind taken out out of my sails when he replied, "Two packets tea?"

Still, if one doesn't ever try!

grikoo

It makes a big difference if you just try. Often the conversation will end up in english anyway, but it means alot that you try.

And it's nice to be able to understand a little of what's being said around you.

mr_rush

I think hindustani is probably the most useful language to learn for north india. its basically the hindi urdu mix that is spoken by everyone.

Ali-Monbeam

I think its nice to try but the good thing is if they think you may be able to understand what they are saying they might be less able to try and rip you off too.

Or you can understand if they say something rude and then answer them so they know you heard, I had this is Paris once and ended up getting a free coffee with an appology.
But mostly I learn languages coz I love the challenge and love languages. Some people spend ages playing PC games...........

Haylo

I agree, frankly the English abroad can be downright embarrassing in their expecations. It is common to hear people complaining about hotel or restaurant staff speaking poor English, even in resorts where the majority of tourists are from other European countries and the staff speak five or six languages!

Languages interest me, wherever I've been, I have tried to learn the language with varying degrees of success. I speak tolerable French and German, a little Spanish and Welsh, and can order beer in about twenty languages - on the basis that whatever is happening, a beer cannot help but improve it!

Right now I'm looking in faint horror at the Devanagari script, but being able to read even a few simple signs will give me such a buzz, I'm going to give it a good shot

Viel Glück with your German!