To learn Hindi is to learn one of the most widely spoken languages of the world. Also called Hindustani, it is essentially the same language as Urdu. Hindi is spoken in India, and is an official language along
with English, while Urdu is spoken in Pakistan. Together they are spoken by 600 million people in South Asia and in pockets of South Asian communities in cities around the world.
Hindustani is written in the Devanagari script and is written from left to right, and in this differs from Urdu which uses the Arabic script. Hindi is a descendant of the great literary and religious language
Sanskrit. It is distantly related to Greek, Latin and most of the European languages. As such, it has some characteristics of European languages which may be familiar to native English speakers, or those who have studied a European language.
This is where the similarities end, however. The pronunciation and sounds of the Hindi language are very different from European languages. Combined with the different writing system, it makes for an interesting challenge to learn Hindi. And unlike the major European languages, or the other major languages of Asia, there are relatively few resources for learning Hindi.
Internet/FreeUkindia Learn to Read Hindi
Free basic tutorial to learn to read Hindi, which is also downloadable. Elsewhere on the site are basic tutorials for reading other South Asian languages as well as news and other information.
Internet/FreeLearn Hindi Resources
An abundance of links and resources to help you learn Hindi or other South Asian languages. Grammars, dialogues, vocabulary and word lists, fonts and other tools, news and other resources.
Internet/FreeHindi/Urdu Lessons
Basic Hindi lessons. Alphabet, vocabulary and dialogues with sound files.
Internet/FreeLanguagesHome.com This page has basic vocabulary and model sentences in Hindi, but look around the site to find similar pages in 20 different languages of India, including Gujarati, Kashmiri and Tamil. There is also a page with links to some languages with very few resources.
Internet/Free Transparent Language offers a free vocabulary trainer to get started learning Hindi - Free Before You Know It™
download
Book/Audio Combo/Inexpensive
The longstanding Teach Yourself series has always had a wide variety of languages. This coursebook and audio cd introduces the beginner to the sounds, basic grammar and beginning dialogues of Hindi. The Teach Yourself line also includes a few other titles to learn Hindi conversation and writing.
Audio Only
Pimsleur Hindi Comprehensive
As far as ease of use and quality of the material and method, Pimsleur is the best. You learn Hindi in a natural and comfortable way. It's the same for all Pimsleur language programs, but some go further than others.
Pimsleur Hindi Basic makes a very good introduction to Hindi or a good audio supplement to accompany a written course for its conversation and pronunciation work. But Pimsleur publisher Simon and Schuster have recently taken it a step further by adding a Comprehensive Level 1 course. This 30 lesson course goes much further than the Basic course and gives the student of Hindi a much stronger foundation in spoken Hindi. Read my more indepth
Review of Pimsleur Products
or listen to the first lesson of Pimsleur Hindi free below!
Software
Rosetta Stone Hindi Level 1
Rosetta Stone's multi-media software is only available for Hindi for level 1, unlike the other more widely spoken languages which go to level 2. Despite this, Rosetta Stone's program is probably one of the most comprehensive products for self-learners. They use an immersion approach, and bombard the learner with text, audio and pictures. They also offer an online version of the software for a more affordable price. Read my
review of Rosetta Stone
or see for yourself how Rosetta Stone Hindi works for you and try out the free demo -
"When a language creates - as it does - a community within the present, it does so only by courtesy of a community between the present and the past."
