Hindi is perhaps one of the easiest languages to learn in the world. There are, actually, a lot of words that the English language borrows from Hindi! Some of these are ‘guru’, ‘karma’, ‘bungalow’, ‘jungle’, and ‘yoga’. Due to this borrowing of vocabulary, if you’re an English speaker, you’ve already got some very basic Hindi words in your vocabulary. With the addition of Hindi grammar and some familiarization with the sentence formation, you are all set to go on your journey of becoming a Hindi speaker!
Learning a new language
Language learning is a vital part of our cognitive development. It allows us to understand our surroundings, whether it is signs and posters or the words spoken by other people. Other than developing our linguistic skills, language learning is also essential in making sense of our own thoughts. Language gives us the ability to express what we are thinking or what we may feel, whether it is for ourselves to understand or for someone else.
An estimated 6500 languages are spoken in the world today. Each of these languages carries its own legacy and literature waiting to be explored. One of these languages, coming from a country that finds its essence in its diversity, is Hindi. It is the 3rd most spoken language in the world, spoken by around 615 million people around the globe.
Some studies have suggested ways in which learning a new language can benefit your brain. For example, it can help improve your memory, listening and hearing skills, as well as the ability to multitask! Being multilingual can not only allow you to have an even more enriched life, but a similar kind of cognitive development as well.
Hindi as a link language
Speaking Hindi will be more than useful if the opportunity to travel to India presents itself. Being able to speak in Hindi will be your key to easily communicating with the people, picking up on some of the most common slang in everyday talks, and being able to participate more actively during your time there.
An additional advantage arises from the similarity shared by Hindi with languages such as Urdu. Although Urdu is the official language of Pakistan, knowing Hindi opens up the opportunity to be able to understand Urdu rather easily. Moreover, it can also help you learn languages such as Marathi and Punjabi, to name a few, which are widely spoken in India.
While it does add to your traveling experience, it can also help you add to your work experience! Since India is slowly becoming a favorite spot among expanding businesses, learning Hindi could count as a bonus skill to be considered by employers.
Another advantage of knowing how to speak in and understand the Hindi language is the ability to explore Indian literature and the Indian culture. It is commonly known that translation often results in the loss of the essence of a written piece of work. Being able to read and understand Hindi would mean understanding the various meanings of the numerous parts of Indian literature that there are to explore, which brings with it a completely new learning experience.
Learning Hindi as subject in Schools
In schools especially in north-east and southern India, Hindi is taught as additional language apart from English and the regional language. For the children in these regions, learning Hindi is quite difficult as their exposure to the language is limited. Often the teacher has to resort to explaining in regional language, only then the children can understand.
Some children can read and write Hindi but cannot speak fluently. Even though they spend approximately 150 hours over the year learning Hindi language, their understanding and command does not greatly improve due to lack of exposure. There are also other factors such as Hindi is seen merely academic subject rather than a valuable communication tool.
In order to overcome these predicaments, children need better exposure to the language, be able to use it to communicate with others, learn Hindi on Hindi. Not only Hindi, learning any language, needs an immersive approach.
We, at Saswath Academy, teach Hindi in a holistic manner, including teaching Hindi on Hindi, spoken Hindi, and having a lot of interesting worksheets etc. at different levels. We focus more on vocabulary building which helps to get mastery over the language.