Having just returned from a trip to India and being in a long term relationship with an Indian native, I finally decided to sit down and actually learn Hindi. I have spent upwards of 2 years listening to conversations in Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi when I spend time with my boyfriend, his family and his friends. Thus I have spent hours and hours not knowing what anyone is saying and feeling very left out of the conversation.
Starting off Hindi this week I came to the conclusion that I knew no grammar. As a matter of fact all I knew was a collection of random words that aren't typically used in conversation (ie bunder means monkey, pyaz means onions). I was excited to streamline my learning in a way that would help me hold at least brief conversations. To start off, I downloaded MangoLanguages onto my phone. In the past week I have learned more Hindi than I have in the past 2 years. The app has taught me how to say basic things like "My name is Carly" (mira nam Carly hoon) and "Where is the bus station?" (bus udda kahuhn hey). Through learning these simple phrases I have learned the bizarre (to me) way that Hindi and I assume most other Sanskriti languages go about grammar. Their word order is very different with the conjugated form of to be usually coming at the end of the sentence. For instance mira nam Carly hey literally translates to my name Carly is. Through the app I have also learned directions such as left, right, in front of, and behind and basic greetings and goodbyes.
Working with Bishan (my official language partner) is very helpful but I have also been trying to speak Hindi as much as possible. Whenever I talk to my boyfriend or his brother I always try and show them what I have learned so I can gain their input. I have found that many of the things that the app has taught me are very formal ways of speaking (obviously) and speaking with native speakers I have learned some slang ways of saying words that will be helpful in real conversation.
Over the next week I plan on continuing with the app to get basic phrases and grammar down before expanding onto more specific topics.
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