Much of the “educated class” in India grew up multilingual, speaking one or more Indian languages in addition to English. The best schools, colleges, and universities in India teach in English. The educated class’ fluency in English is one of the larger factors deterring non-Indians from learning Hindi, even if they live in India. However, the reality is that less than 10% of the population of India speaks semi-fluent English. If you want to communicate with the masses – or if you simply want to watch Bollywood movies – then you’re going to have to learn another Indian language. If you plan to visit or live in the north of India, then Hindi is the language to learn. With Rupert Snell and Simon Weightman’s book, Teach Yourself Hindi you can learn without the help of a tutor.
"If you want to communicate with the masses – or if you simply want to watch Bollywood movies – then you’re going to have to learn another Indian language. If you plan to visit or live in the north of India, then Hindi is the language to learn."
Part of the “Teach Yourself” series by McGraw-Hill, Complete Hindi: A Teach Yourself Guide is pretty standard in format. It presents you with some dialogues, vocabulary practice exercises, reading and writing activities, and so on. All of the content is presented in a thematic way, covering your standard beginner’s topics, yet with a slight twist. The third chapter, for example, teaches about the various rooms in the house. However, the main dialogue is actually a conversation between Pratap and his mother who is phoning from home. Though it may not seem like much, this slight variation from the typical beginner’s language dialogue practice makes the whole language learning experience a lot more fun.
One of the most entertaining chapters is Chapter 4, titled, “Who was that handsome man?” In this chapter, two female characters discuss a man whom one of the two was seen with – was he “just a friend”? This chapter is great for so many reasons. Not only is it light-hearted reading that will make you smile, but it also shows a bit of Indian culture. After spending a bit of time in India, you’ll quickly realise that the gossip is immense and in many cities, particularly outside of the most urban “Tier 1” cities (Mumbai and New Delhi), when a guy and girl roam around together it causes much speculation.
The most difficult part of the book is learning to read Devanagari, the script in which Hindi is written. In the beginning of the book, all of the dialogues and lessons are presented in both Devanagari and Romanized Hindi. However, by the latter portion of the book, the student is expected to read Devanagari, as the Romanized Hindi is no longer used. This is good in a way, but may not make perfect sense. Many Hindi speakers rely on Romanized Hindi in day to day life. Facebook statuses, advertisements, some subtitles, and so on, are written in Romanized Hindi. This makes it equally important for a student of Hindi to learn both written forms of the language. Of course, in theory a student should be able to read Romanized Hindi if he/she can read Devanagari, but they may not be able to write it accurately.
Overall, Complete Hindi: A Teach Yourself Guide is a good way to start learning how to speak, read, and write Hindi. If you have trouble with pronunciation, you may need to meet a Hindi tutor at least once a month or so. But even without a tutor, this book should help you get a good handle on Hindi.
