Learn the top five reasons you should be learning to speak Hindi right now
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Maya: Namaste! Maya here and welcome to hindipod101.com, All About lesson 1. Top 5 reasons to study Hindi. |
| Manasi: Namaste dosto. |
| Maya: I will be your fellow native English speaker to guide you through learning Hindi. |
| Manasi: And I am Manasi here as the Hindi native to help you along the way. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Maya: That’s right. This lesson is all about India and the Hindi language. |
| Manasi: Yes Hindi is a really unique language in a lot of ways from the writing system to the pronunciation to the grammar, everything. |
| Maya: Yes I think those listeners out there who’ve studied a western language and are approaching Hindi for the first time will be amazed at just how different it is. |
| Manasi: It is truly a beautiful language with a rich history and intriguing culture to match. |
| Maya: What is it about this language anyway, what language family does Hindi belong to? |
| Manasi: Now Maya, that’s actually a really good question. Hindi is part of the Indo-European language family. |
| Maya: Yes. Hindi shares with English and most other European languages the same ancestral roots which I find very interesting. |
| Manasi: They evolved from a language thought to have been spoken in central Asia around 5000 B.C. called by linguists the Indo-European parent language or proto-Indo-European. |
| Maya: And though there is no consensus for as to when Hindi emerged, the language is believed to have originated as local dialects of other languages such as Brij, Awadhi and finally Khariboli. Experts usually place this after the turn of the 10th century. |
| Manasi: That’s right. These days, there are around 294.4 million speakers of Hindi. |
| Maya: Wow, that’s a huge number but only about 182 million speak it natively. So that means that there are about 113 million speakers who have learned Hindi as a second language. That’s still amazing, wouldn’t you say? |
| Manasi: Yeah that’s true Maya. It’s really amazing. |
| Maya: How about the written language? Can you tell us more about that? |
| Manasi: Sure. Our written language is based on Sanskrit. We write horizontally placed from left to right. |
| Maya: That’s the same as English. |
| Manasi: Yes. Now let’s talk about the scripts. |
| Maya: Ah yes the Devanagari script. |
| Manasi: Yes. Like Sanskrit, Hindi is written in the Devanagari script which is common to several other Indian languages as well. |
| Maya: Okay so you have to tell us more about that in later lessons but what about grammar? |
| Manasi: Well Hindi grammar is similar to that of Sanskrit and Urdu. Much of the vocabulary of Hindi comes from Sanskrit though Hindi also has a special relationship with Urdu. |
| Maya: Okay. Next on this Birdseye view of Hindi, let’s talk about pronunciation for a moment. |
| Manasi: Ah yes pronunciation. I will tell you right now that Hindi pronunciation is actually quite simple and the Hindi vowels are really simple too. Not like in English where you have so many different ways to say one vowel. |
| Maya: Sounds pretty simple to me. |
| Manasi: Yes actually we have a separate series for Hindi pronunciation lessons. In those lessons, listeners, you will learn more about Hindi pronunciation. |
| Maya: So how about going over a bit more about India itself. India and the Hindi language have a long history behind them. |
| Manasi: Yes Hindi has thousands of years of history. India has diverse cultures, religions and communities. |
| Maya: Exactly but despite this diversity, it has remained unified. That’s why foreigners often refer to the unity and diversity found in India. |
| Manasi: Indian tourist attractions are not only cultural and historical sites but they also include many nice beaches and natural sites. |
| Maya: Wow! I really want to go. |
| Manasi: You should someday Maya. |
| Maya: Okay so now for a top five list. |
| Manasi: The top five reasons to learn Hindi. |
| Maya: We will start with #5. Hindi is influential. Some of its vocabulary has become an integral part of the English language like Pajamas and…. |
| Manasi: Pajamas? Let’s not forget about yoga, swastik, kaki and sari. These are essentially Indian but other words like guru, dharma, karma and pundit that have universal application. Okay so what’s #4 on our list? |
| Maya: #4 is to communicate with Indian people whether it’s with Hindi friends, family members, people you meet when traveling. It doesn’t matter. |
| Manasi: Yes. Even though English is a mandatory subject in school, the number of fluent speakers is comparatively low especially outside the cities. |
| Maya: Moreover Indian people are very kind especially if you can’t speak Hindi. |
| Manasi: Okay. So Maya, what’s our #3? |
| Maya: #3 is if you are retired and want to live modestly or just want an inexpensive vacation, welcome to India. |
| Manasi: Yes and for young travelers, you can spend some time in India teaching or volunteering for the experience. |
| Maya: Okay. On to reason #2. You learn more than just a language. Learning Hindi will give you great insight into the world of Indian culture that you just can’t get any other way. By learning how the language works, you learn more about how the culture works. |
| Manasi: That’s right. There is just so much of culture embedded in language that you will miss out on just so much if you don’t take the time to learn. |
| Maya: I think Indian culture can be quite spiritual too. India is the birthplace after all of Dharmic religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. |
| Manasi: Yes I think knowing the language really unlocks certain aspects of studying a spiritual path. |
| Maya: And finally, the #1 reason you should learn Hindi is |
| Manasi: Hindi is fun. |
| Maya: Okay I think that one speaks for itself. It’s fun. |
Outro |
| Manasi: Okay everybody. Are you ready? Get your pen and notebook, grab your iPod, fire up your computer, whatever you used to study and get ready for some Hindi lessons. And that’s all for this lesson. |
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| Manasi: Then like our Facebook page too. |
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| Manasi: Just search for hindipod101.com and like our fan page. |
| Maya: And if you like a lesson or series on hindipod101.com |
| Manasi: Just let us know. |
| Maya: By clicking the like button next to the lesson or series |
| Manasi: Phir milenge, goodbye! |
| Maya: Goodbye. |
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