Hindi textbooks and learning resources - elementary to advanced

[absint]

I've looked at about five courses and eventually bought TYH too - it surely looks like the best!

To broaden my vocab a bit I also bought a Lonely Planet Phrasebook - I am expecting to land in Bollywood-country in my dreams soon, so I needed some quick and dirty conversational skills too.

[daven1986]

if you want a quick reference guide kind of thing. may i recommend this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lets-Learn-Hindi-English-Hindi-Dictionary/dp/190491098X/ref=sr_1_2/202-1317665-6875067?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184281773&sr=8-2

it is a very nicely laid out book. and it helps a lot if you just need a quick reminder of something or if you want to learn some rules.

daven

[NewLaura]

Sam, the "Teach Yourself" series has a little book called "Teach Yourself Beginner's Hindi Script" that I worked through in about a week before beginning the main book.  It's worth the extra investment of time and a few bucks, as the description in the pre-first-chapter in the main TYH book is a little breezy and will seem intimidating, as if you have to grasp the whole thing at once.  The website ber mentioned is good too, but to me there's no substitute for sitting with a book in one hand and a pencil in the other and just getting the feel for the characters.

Carla, I've been meaning to post and tell you that I followed your advice earlier in the thread about starting with the Snell Hindi Script book.  Thank you, it was great advice!  I worked through that book and just started TYH recently, and I am so glad I learned the script first.

[absint]

@daven1986: thanks!

[daven1986]

@daven1986: thanks!

no worries, hope you find it as useful as i do.

[Bollywood Fanatic]

Has anyone tried this course yet? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Learn-Speak-HINDI-PERFECT-RECALL/dp/B000MTEFXM/ref=sr_1_21/026-2889824-6384429?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184533610&sr=1-21 If so what is it like?

[daven1986]

Has anyone tried this course yet? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Learn-Speak-HINDI-PERFECT-RECALL/dp/B000MTEFXM/ref=sr_1_21/026-2889824-6384429?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184533610&sr=1-21 If so what is it like?

i have it somewhere. not the best tbh.

[Jeffers]

Found two sources of free video clips, news and other programs.

Doordarshan.  Click on the links under "Live News" to the left.
http://www.ddinews.gov.in/Programme%20Schedule/DD%20News/

Sifymax.  News and shows. 
http://www.sifymax.com/#

Unfortunately, both are streamed, and so the sound quality is rather iffy.  Probably not much use except for the advanced practitioner.... Sigh.  Maybe they will improve over time...

[Jeffers]

Has anyone ever seen or used the Hindi Newspaper Reader, by James Stone and Roshna Kapadia?  Amazon only seems to have it used, but the publisher has it available:
http://www.dunwoodypress.com/products/-/48
They also have cassettes to go with it.  (Click the link to the left which says "Audios").  I emailed, and they have no plans to bring out CD's. 

Looks like just the thing for when you've finished (or nearly finished) Snell's TYH.  But I would like to get some opinions before I invest.  Anyway, it will be some time before I finish Snell!   

[Savera]

I just discovered this nifty free software called 'BYKI' -- Before You Know It. The 'lite' version is free to download. You can then buy the 'deluxe' version if interested. They have many languages to choose from including Hindi & Urdu. It's a flashcard system with sound.

http://www.byki.com/

[latishya]

I just discovered this nifty free software called 'BYKI' -- Before You Know It. The 'lite' version is free to download. You can then buy the 'deluxe' version if interested. They have many languages to choose from including Hindi & Urdu. It's a flashcard system with sound.

http://www.byki.com/

As with the Rosetta Stone there are a few spelling mistakes in the Hindi BYKI and the native speaker they use does not differentiate between ज़ and ज its not bad at the price though and the flash card system is a good learning tool.

[Jeffers]

Just bought a new Hindi Grammar:  "Hindi, an Essential Grammar" by Rama Kant Agnihotri.  It is more like a reference grammar than books like the Teach Yourself series.  I had a good flip through it in the shop before I bought it, and it looks like it will be a useful supplement to my learning. 

It claims to be good for independent learners as well as classes.  I don't think it would be very good to use on its own.  It is not really a learning grammar, in that it does not have exercises and such.  Instead, like a reference grammar, it goes through the language bit by bit.  Want to know everything about adjectives?  Look in the appropriate chapter. 

The book looks at the language first from the point of view of sentences, as sentences are really the basic unit of language.  More than the "sum of the parts".  So, he examines at all the types of sentences (basic sentence, imperatives, questions, exclamations, etc).  Then, the next section begins to look at the constituent parts (verbs, nouns, etc). 

There is an appendix of "Grammar in Context" which takes some actual examples of Hindi and explains how the grammar works in them.  This is potentially the most useful section, for learning purposes.  It is a pity it only deals with seven sentences.  It does deal with them in detail, but it would have been better if it had done more of the same.  For example, take a paragraph or two, discuss each sentence in detail, then discuss the paragraph as a whole.  This would have greatly increased the utility of the book.

Should be useful in conjunction with TYH, but only if you don't mind technical grammatical terms (e.g. "verbal morphology", "invariant adjectives", and the like).

Has anybody else gotten it?  Any opinions from someone who's used it?

[Jeffers]

I've just seen a new book + CD set on Amazon.com, (not on co.uk, unfortunately). 
It is Hindi: A Complete Course for Beginners (Book & 6 Audio CDs) from Living Language.  The reviews on Amazon are quite positive.  Anyone here seen it?

What appeals to me is the number of CD's.  Some are for use with the book, and some are for use independently (on the go).  I have used Living Language for German, and found it to be good.

[AfgJasmine16]

I've read that the Rosetta Stone software is good.

http://www.rosettastone.com/home/catalog?language=hin

Has anyone personally tried it?  I was thinking about using it.

I have rossetta stone for hindi and its pretty good. But it wont teach you basic phareses, It will teach you sentaces like, "the boy is walking" etc.  There are no translations. It works in understanding Hindi, because I can understand alot of hindi from it but I can't speak. But it is good and I would recommend it. Just make sure you buy a pharsebook or something to go along with it

[Sema]

I bought the Agnihotri book, also in addition to the 'Teach Yourself Hindi' series. I found it to be well worth the money, it helps me understanding the grammar system of Hindi which TYH sometimes introduces a bit too sketchy for my liking.

I unfortunately stopped learning Hindi a year back due to private reasons, time to get started again. I still haven't found a native speaker willing to help me with the pronounciation though. Which makes me hesitate, because I know I have problems hearing the difference between some of the consonants.

Gruß,
Sema

[Dil Bert]

I still haven't found a native speaker willing to help me with the pronounciation though. Which makes me hesitate, because I know I have problems hearing the difference between some of the consonants.

On chinese-forums.com people will post links to an example of their pronounciation and ask others to evaluate them.  Also, is there not a site with sound files for Hindi with sound files and descriptions of how to position your mouth/tongue to make them?

[Sema]

Yes, I think there is, I can remember having worked with that page. It's a difference though if you have to check your own pronounciation, or if you know someone who speaks the language, who can guide you at least for the first few crucial steps till you have an idea of what to listen for it and which sounds need special attention.

For example, a lot of English-language pages discuss the pronounciation of the vowels in depth. Very nice, but since my native tongue is German (and most especially clear German, not any kind of dialect), I do not need much help for speaking Hindi vowels, we speak them as clear anyway.

Well, this does not have to do with discussing learning material, and besides, eventually I will find someone. Maybe I should just find the courage to advertise at the uni or someplace to find a native Hindi speaker willing to spend an evening or two with me and my friend.

Gruß,
Sema

[Dil Bert]

Maybe I should just find the courage to advertise at the uni or someplace to find a native Hindi speaker willing to spend an evening or two with me and my friend.

Others have used Skype to communicate with remote language partners.

[spellstone]

I recently stumbled upon livemocha.com and tried their hindi 101 course.  while the lessons are questionable (i'm still puzzled with that 'aap ho' teaching of theirs), it's good in terms of connecting to native speakers and receiving feedback on your writing/speaking skills. there's also a chat/voice chat feature in case you dont want to give out your skype id too fast 

[Sema]

Seems I have to enter the 21st century and buy myself a headphone... *sigh*
I don't even have a skype id, so there's no fear of giving it out.
Thanks for all those hints, anyway.

Gruß,
Sema

[miss lisel]

Just wanted to share this link.  It's a program of University of Texas, Austin and Rupert Snell is part of this program!  I haven't done too much exploring of the website but it looks like they have some good resources.  Enjoy!

http://www.hindiurduflagship.com/

[James]

Through the Digital South Asia Library, one finds this gem, a Premchand reader.  It is a collection of short stories by the famous Hindi novelist, each story followed by a glossary of difficult terms.  A very useful tool for the intermediate reader!

[NewLaura]

Through the Digital South Asia Library, one finds this gem, a Premchand reader.  It is a collection of short stories by the famous Hindi novelist, each story followed by a glossary of difficult terms.  A very useful tool for the intermediate reader!

Wow, that's great, James!  I'm so excited.  Thanks so much for sharing.

[omlick]

Wow, that's great, James!  I'm so excited.  Thanks so much for sharing.

Not so fast!  I don't mean to be  a wet blanket here but feel like saying a couple of things from my experience with reading Hindi.

Premchand's writing  is old fashioned (and usually downright depressing.)  it is like telling a new English learner to go read Charles Dickens.  Plus his stories are emeshed in the  rural village culture and so there are a lot of things that are not explanied and don't make sense.  I found this in one of the short stories I was reading.  Without help from someone in the Hindu Hindi speaking community, a lot was lost on me and I did not even realize it.  Premchand's stories I believe mostly revolve around the backwards life of the rural village, and they are just not goiing to be very helpful to the newer learner.  Intermediate learners are still new learners.  It takes a few years before you are an "advanced learner."

What I would do is read some translations of English books like "Harry Potter" in Hindi.  You will learn a lot of cool phrases and improve your understanding. 

[James]

Fair points, Omlick, but I do think that any literary reading would require some input from someone who speaks the language in order to understand what's going on, be it a native speaker or a professor, particularly for people who come from a European cultural background and are not as familiar with Indian culture.  With that caveat, this is an excellent resource.