How have you organized your self-directed learning plan, and what have you learned so far?
I organized my learning plan in a way that focuses on the practical uses of Hindi. I intend to use Hindi in conversational speaking and text messaging contexts, therefore I am focusing my studies on improving my speaking and being able to write in the Latin script. I worked with my language partner to develop activities that involve both writing and speaking and that are not solely learning about grammar. I included activities such as watching Hindi movies, going to a local grocery store, and going through song lyrics to help me learn the language. So far, I have learned the basic alphabet and the pronunciation of each character as well as how to form basic sentences using verbs I already knew. Our first two weeks focused on sentence structure and verb conjugations and we will continue to learn 10 new verbs each week.
After receiving feedback from your classmates and Dr. Marsh-Soloway, what changes do you anticipate making?
After receiving feedback, I learned that I need to include more speaking activities in my learning plan and I need to reorganize the plan so it is in chronological order. I will make those changes and repost my learning plan.
How will your studies allow you investigate your target language and culture more deeply?
As I am learning new verbs each week, I learn more about the contexts and situations they typically used. I also learn a lot about the culture by watching Hindi movies and listening to Hindi music. Sometimes while learning new verbs and working on pronunciation, my language partner explains how people from different parts of India pronounce certain words differently. As I learn more about the language I can also incorporate learning more about geography and try making sentences about places I have visited in India and talk about what I have done there.
What first prompted your interest, and motivated you to start learning?
I have grown up watching Hindi movies and TV shows and listening to Hindi music with my family but I never really understood exactly what was being said. As I got older I started to understand conversational Hindi and the general context of the conversation. I took a few Hindi classes here and there when I was younger but I never stuck with it for a long period of time. I always wished I could refine my Hindi and be able to have a conversation with someone because aside from English, Hindi is a universal language in most parts of India so it would make communication easier. Similarly, many of my parents friends and my friends here at UR always speak in Hindi and though I can understand what they are saying, I wish I could respond back.
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