syllabus

Hindi

Introduction

1Introduction

Learning a new language is an incredible experience, and a very long-term one. That being said, if you are passionate you are going to learn it a lot faster than [insert language you barely know after a decade of schooling].

The great part about Hindi, is that there is sooo much material to help you learn. They even have an entire movie industry you’ll read about later.

Prerequisites

3Prerequisites

None! This is a beginner course. Just make sure you have two things: patience and consistency.

Expect to spend months getting good at Hindi, and years to get fluent. You can lose your knowledge of a new language pretty fast – so make sure you do stay consistent. Think of it like working out! After a month of no practice, you’re going to lose a lot of your GAiNz.

No Resources

Check the other sections in this syllabus to find more resources!

Alphabet

4Alphabet

As you’ve probably noticed, Hindi uses an entirely different script than English. English uses Latin script (which is commonly used in European languages), while Hindi uses Devanagari script (used by Nepali, Marathi, and more).

Devanagari Script is surprisingly easy to learn, and shouldn’t take the average learner more than a week. Luckily, if you know the english alphabet (latin script), most letters have a hindi equivalent (with a few minor differences).

Grammar

3Grammar

Grammar is something you will continually improve on throughout your entire journey of learning Hindi. It’s VERY different compared to English. Not only are the words different, but so is their placement. In English, most sentences are Subject Verb Object, where Hindi is usually Subject Object Verb.

Grammar is essentially 90% of language learning in my opinion. It’s hard to break down without having dozens of different sections, so I’m going to make this one section filled with a ton of different resources, so shop around! Whenever you’ve used up a resource, or just want a change of perspective, come back here and move on to a new resource.

Conversational

6Conversational

Sometimes the best way to practice is to take your head out of the books and start talking (or texting). It sounds like it may be impossible if you have no Hindi speakers around you, but there’s actually a lot of resources to talk to Hindi speakers (click the resources button below)!

It can always feel scary practicing pronunciation with people – but it’s okay! Everyone knows that you’re learning. You can laugh at yourself too when you’re totally off on the pronunciation of a word. It’s a very important part of language learning that a lot of people don’t think about – so get listening and get talking!

Bollywood

4Bollywood

I hope you like romance (joking… not really). Bollywood is the huge movie industry based in Mumbai, India. You’ll notice in most Hindi films, a lot of English is spoken as well. This is because India is the second largest English speaking country, it’s one of the official languages. This makes it great for learning because you can often hear dialogue between characters in both English and Hindi, making it a lot easier to mentally understand.

If you’re the type of person who has only watched say, American film, or only one type of film, this may really open up your perspective of the world!

Reading

3Reading

As you can assume, there’s a bunch of different forms of reading. You can read children’s books, text conversations, indian news sources, MEMES. Honestly if you’re a heavy internet user, you can set yourself up pretty well so you have Hindi popping up everywhere. Even if you don’t know the translations of every word, seeing Hindi everywhere definitely helps you with the alphabet and grammar.

More Practice & Immersion

4More Practice & Immersion

Kids learn their native language so fast because it is constantly forced through their ears and eyes. The more you immerse yourself in the language and the culture, the quicker you’ll master the language.

It’s all about staying consistent. If you’re a busy person in general, set up some small goals like “5 new vocab words a day” or “30 minutes a day dedicated to learning Hindi”. Find a routine that works best for you and stick with it.

Going to India

4Going to India

This is why you’re learning isn’t it? Time to book the trip! Okay maybe this isn’t realistic for you, so this is more of an ending section.

BUT if it is realistic, you should go to…

No Resources

Check the other sections in this syllabus to find more resources!

Bradley Mitchell
MENTOR
Founder at NoviceDock. Student at Rutgers University studying Computer Science. I like tacos and working out, even though I'm very skinny. BMC logoBuy me a coffee