Week 2: Days 8-15 of Trip
So, I’ve trade
d in my English ABCs for Hindi अ,आ,इ’s. It’s hard to believe that a little over a week ago I knew no Hindi whatsoever and now I am slowly but surely learning to read. Recognizing and reading script is really cool – I silently jump for joy when I pronounce new words correctly in class during our reading aloud exercises and the teacher says शाबाश (shabash → good job:-)). It reminds me of how my Sunday School kids got so excited when they would read the memory verse out loud all by themselves and I would smile and tell them that they did a great job! It never gets old – adults and children alike enjoy the feeling of grasping new things and the ability to showcase their newfound knowledge/talents.
I must admit that these T and D letters/sounds are the bane of my existence at the current moment. (See: http://www.learning-hindi.com/post/821127618/lesson-13-consonants-part-3-ta-tha-da-dha & http://www.learning-hindi.com/post/842512665/lesson-14-consonants-part-4-ta-tha-da-dha) I made a really cool chart to show you all of the letters at the same time, but it won't upload :-( As you can see, each of the letters look different and they do in fact have unique sounds. But this is what I hear in class “tuh, tuh, tuh, tuh, duh, duh, duh, duh” – luckily the teacher varies her facial expression while saying each consonant so I know that there is a difference between them. Unfortunatelty, my ears have not caught up to my eyes and I am still quite lost during oral dication exercises. Oh, the oral dictations we do in our 4th period class each day are cause for much laughter as the teacher says a word to us and we are to dicepher the correct letters and also write the word in Devangari script. All I can say is: Big Fun, oh yeah :-)
Learning a new language has been a challenge to say the least. It’s not that Hindi is hard; it’s just that I have to almost completely empty my mind of English in order to learn it. The teacher often says “stop thinking in English” and she’s right – especially when it comes to sentence structure and word order. For instance, instead of saying “the book is on the table,” in Hindi I say “mez par kitab hai (मेज़ पर किताब है)” which translates into “table on book is.” Sounds crazy, but we’re getting the hang of it.
Knowing that foreigners come from all around to attd the Landour Language School, the local people of Moussorie are sweet enough to allow us to practice with them as we go into shops and walk around. Everytime I say “Mai achchhi hai (I is good),” they smile and say “Mai achchhi hun (I am good).” :-) Even the kids help me out and they are great teachers!
All in all, this is a very humbling experience. It reminds me that there is always more for me to learn. Now that I am learning a new language and able to put sentences together, a bit of Hindi will now be included in each of my posts (with translations of course). Enjoy! :-D
So, I’ve trade
d in my English ABCs for Hindi अ,आ,इ’s. It’s hard to believe that a little over a week ago I knew no Hindi whatsoever and now I am slowly but surely learning to read. Recognizing and reading script is really cool – I silently jump for joy when I pronounce new words correctly in class during our reading aloud exercises and the teacher says शाबाश (shabash → good job:-)). It reminds me of how my Sunday School kids got so excited when they would read the memory verse out loud all by themselves and I would smile and tell them that they did a great job! It never gets old – adults and children alike enjoy the feeling of grasping new things and the ability to showcase their newfound knowledge/talents.I must admit that these T and D letters/sounds are the bane of my existence at the current moment. (See: http://www.learning-hindi.com/post/821127618/lesson-13-consonants-part-3-ta-tha-da-dha & http://www.learning-hindi.com/post/842512665/lesson-14-consonants-part-4-ta-tha-da-dha) I made a really cool chart to show you all of the letters at the same time, but it won't upload :-( As you can see, each of the letters look different and they do in fact have unique sounds. But this is what I hear in class “tuh, tuh, tuh, tuh, duh, duh, duh, duh” – luckily the teacher varies her facial expression while saying each consonant so I know that there is a difference between them. Unfortunatelty, my ears have not caught up to my eyes and I am still quite lost during oral dication exercises. Oh, the oral dictations we do in our 4th period class each day are cause for much laughter as the teacher says a word to us and we are to dicepher the correct letters and also write the word in Devangari script. All I can say is: Big Fun, oh yeah :-)
Learning a new language has been a challenge to say the least. It’s not that Hindi is hard; it’s just that I have to almost completely empty my mind of English in order to learn it. The teacher often says “stop thinking in English” and she’s right – especially when it comes to sentence structure and word order. For instance, instead of saying “the book is on the table,” in Hindi I say “mez par kitab hai (मेज़ पर किताब है)” which translates into “table on book is.” Sounds crazy, but we’re getting the hang of it.
Knowing that foreigners come from all around to attd the Landour Language School, the local people of Moussorie are sweet enough to allow us to practice with them as we go into shops and walk around. Everytime I say “Mai achchhi hai (I is good),” they smile and say “Mai achchhi hun (I am good).” :-) Even the kids help me out and they are great teachers!
All in all, this is a very humbling experience. It reminds me that there is always more for me to learn. Now that I am learning a new language and able to put sentences together, a bit of Hindi will now be included in each of my posts (with translations of course). Enjoy! :-D
Humility is a good thing! Everyone can use a good dose every so often--this is yours. Most other languages use words in the order you describe with Hindi, which is why English is considered the hardest language to learn! What do you miss the most right now?
ReplyDeleteHi Prof. Bawa :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, Hindi is very different. As far as what I miss most, I'd have to say sidewalks/pedestrian crossings and bathtubs :-) I'm sure the list will get longer as time goes on.
love the Hindi English translation... I'm over here saying it, not sure if I'm saying it right lol... if you can... upload a word a post and teach us all some phrase :-) (might be too much work since your chart didn't upload but I'm sure we would all love to learn Hindi with you (and hear ur voice cause we miss u -especially me!))
ReplyDelete