Hindi for Christmas

This blog has morphed into the story of me learning and teaching languages. I teach refugees and online for VIPKid. I LOVE to study languages! I post in the middle of the night while sleep deprived in a foreign country, and though I can’t always promise that entries will be error and sarcasm free. Thanks for looking past the mess and enjoy. I also believe and hope that through my journal you will find some beauty in cross-cultural dialog, education, and friendship. Felicia Follum on IG, YT, FB.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Hindi Phrases: Speak Hindi Phrase App

My first phrase list has been your favorite blog post of mine so far, so I figured you would enjoy a round two with some more phrases that I learned from a phrase app on my phone. It is called "Speak Hindi."

I give this app at 4 out of 5 starts. It has both spoken and text for each of the phrases and is organized well into categories that make sense. I couldn't give it 5 stars because a few spoken phrases do not match with the text.

If you are using the language learning strategies of memorizing phrases to begin learning a language, the mismatch is confusing. Another common purpose of using a phrase app is for those who have no knowledge of the language. The inconsistency is confusing for this people group as well.

But there are only a few of these inconsistencies and it really didn't bother me that much. I would certainly recommend the app.

I will share the text below (and share any corrections Hindi speakers share with me in the future).

Basics

A photo from our trip...I will share more photo stories soon.

Kya aap dohrane ki kripya karenge?
Can you please repeat that?

Bhagwaan aapka acha kare
Good luck

Woh kya hai?
What is that?

Business

Jitnee jaldi ho sake
As soon as possible

Acha kaam kiya
Good job

Yeh raha mera business card
Here is my business card

Hum bharat mein kaam karna chahtein hain
We want to work in India

Emergency

Doctor/Police ko bulayo
Call the doctor/police

Yahan par aspatal kahan par hai
Where is a hospital

Kya aap angrezi boltein hain?
Do you speak English?

Main kho gaya hun
I am lost

Main bimar hoon
I am sick

Mujhe madad ki jaroorat hai
I need help

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Lost in Translation: But Oooh So Cool

I absolutely love (and am utterly frustrated by) the challenges of trying to understand Hindi.

Needing to translate while a conversation is taking place is sometimes nearly impossible. I know that it takes tons and tons of times hearing a new word in a given language to actually know it.

I am also learning that Hindi is taking more effort than Spanish did. However there are several factors that I am sure are contributing to this. I will discuss them in a future post.

Every conversation I pick up a bit more…with the exception of days when I can’t understand a single word. I think trying to teach myself a language has been one of the most challenging and frustrating tasks I have ever taken on….

Well, maybe being an artist is the most challenging…Cool thing, I suppose, is that these challenges may be two of the most rewarding obstacles to overcome…so far, though I suppose neither has actually been overcome...

Friday, February 21, 2014

Our Love Story Hindi Mai

This is my first actual Hindi writing attempt. Any Hindi speakers out there who are willing to make corrections or give me better/alternative ways to say things, would be greatly appreciated. Dhanyavaad Doston!

To aaj rat main meri pati ke liye “what should I write about**” boli gaya. Aur veh bole, “Write about me!!”
Last night I asked my husband “What should I write about.” He said “write about me.”

"Thik hai boo. Yeh main karungi."
ok love (boo is not Hindi haha its African American Vernacular English). I will.

Main abhi "kya mai likoongi?" soch rahi hoon.
Now I'm thinking "what will I write?"

Mere pati ke naam Jim hai. Veh chatra ke Electrical Engineering hai aur veh bahut bahut smart hai. Usake Ajad samaya mai, Mere pati video game khelna chahate hain aur movies dhekte hain.
or
Usake ajad samaya mai, meri pati ke video game khel rahe aur movie dhek rahe pasand hai
My husband’s name is Jim. He is an Electrical Engineering student and very smart. In his free time, my huband likes/wants to play video games and watch movies.

Meri pati bhi ankhien aur baal ke bura. Veh bhi lamba aur patala hain. Mujhe veh bahut bahut sundara hain.
My husband has brown hair and eyes. He is also tall and thin. I find him very handsome.

Magar khabi khabi bhi mere pati mere sath nasamajhe hain.
But sometimes my husband is goofy with me.

Hum eka satha maza karte hain.
We have fun together.

Hum dono khel ke taash khelte hain aur sangeet sunte hain.
We both like to play card games and listen to music.
Hum satth saal puva ryatra mai mil gaye. Veh bahut dost tha main bahut dost tha.
we met eachother on a road trip. His good friend was my good friend

Jim aur main bahut donsten jaldi banate hain?
We quickly became good friends.

Do saal ke bad veh mujhe puchthe the “kya tu mujhse shadi shuda karogi.” Aur main bolti thi “haan, bilkul.”
After two year, he asked “will you marry me” and I said “yes, of course.”

Jim meri pyari aur main bahut accha dost aur main use/usake such pyar karti hoon.
Jim is my true love and best friend and I love him.

Lol main samajti hook ke meri kahani bahut bahut sappy thi magar veh maza tha aur adhikatara sach hai.
Lol I know that my story was very very sappy, but it was fun and it's mostly true.

phir, veh meri kahani ke meri pyari aur main.
Well, that's the story of my love and I

Words I looked up using Google translate.

Ke bad – after
Ajad – free
Samaya – time
Usake lie - for him
Puva – ago
sundara - handsome
nasamajhe - goofy
adhikatara - mostly

My questions
How would I say "best friend" and "good friend"? I used "bahut dost" for both.
smart - ?

**Hehe this is what happens when you joke with me, Jim.

Alright, someone ask me a question or give me a topic to write on for my next Hindi writing practice blog post.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Bolna: Tense Practice

In the Faebook group Learn Hindi, we have been going through several verbs and making sentences in different tenses for them. Here is my first attempt with the verb bolna, to speak.

I hope my writing and verb practices only get better from here on, as this one was a bit rough.
You can see the original corrections here.

Snapshot from Qutb Minar - More snapshots on FB

Bolna - To speak

1. I speak quickly (f) - Main jaldi bolti hoon
2. I spoke quickly (f) - Main ne jaldi boli
    I used to speak quickly (f) - Main jaldi bolti thi
3. I will speak quickly (f) - main jaldi boloongi
4. I speak quickly (m) - Main jaldi bolta hoon
5. I spoke quickly (m) - Main ne jaldi bola
    I used to speak quickly (m) - Main jaldi bolta tha
6. I will speak quickly (m) - Main jaldi boloonga
7. We speak quickly - hum jaldi bolte hain
8. We spoke quickly - Hum ne jaldi bole
    We used to speak quickly - Hum jaldi bolta tha
9. We will speak quickly - hum jaldi bolenge
10. Girl speaks quickly - lardki jaldi bolti hai
11. Girl spoke quickly - ladki ne jaldi boli
12. Girl will speak quickly - lardki jaldi boledi
13. Boy speaks quickly - lardka jaldi bolta hai
14. Boy spoke quickly - lardka ne jaldi bola
15. Boy will go home - Lardka jaldi bolega
16. Girls speak quickly - ~~Lardkiyon~~ Ladkiyan jaldi ~~bolte~~ bolti hain
17. Girls spoke quickly - Lardkiyon ne jaldi ~~bolte the~~ boli
18. Girls will speak quickly - ~~Lardkiyon~~ Ladkiyan jaldi bolengi
19. Boys speak quickly - Lardke jaldi bolte hain
20. Boys spoke quickly - ~~Lardke~~ Ladko ne jaldi bole
21. Boys will speak quickly - Lardke jaldi bolenge
22. I may speak quickly - Main jaldi boloon
23. We may speak quickly - Hum jaldi bolen
24. You may speak quickly - Tu jaldi bole
25. You may speak quickly - Tum jaldi bolo

Thursday, February 13, 2014

A Spicy Lil' Valentine

Me cooking Pakora

~~I realize that since this is technically a Christmas post I should have written it a while back but..~~

My Dad Posing with His Christmas Gift

I am sure you will ~~still~~ enjoy and this gift idea. This post is in celebration of Valentines Day and sharing gifts with those we love.

My parents absolutely loves food, flavors and the art behind cooking. Over ~~Thanksgiving~~ the Holidays I took the ingredients for pakora/pakoda as well as some achar, or Indian pickled mango, and prepared it all for my parents.

They both loved it. Even my grandma enjoyed.

~~For Christmas~~ Later, I decided that I would get my dad achar, or Indian Pickle, and Indian ketchup, and I gave my mom the ingredients for pakora which I then made.

We used the ketchup with our breakfast in the morning and my dad used the pickle on absolutely everything he could. (check back for my Desi Breakfast recipe). If you know my dad you know how he loves his sauces...He is a saucy man, personality too.

What creative food themed gift baskets could you give as gifts to your loved ones this Valentines Day?

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

Repeating something over and over and over

may not be the best way to learn, but it works for

memorizing and sometimes I get desperate and

am ok with memorizing with the hope that I vl

someday learn. Check out my Texting in Hindi
post to read about vl.

But really did you know it takes 40 times repeating,
hearing, and speaking a new vocab word to learn it?
That number came from my high school Spanish
classes, so please don't make me explain the details.
main kuch nahin janti hoon
I don't know much...(about the stat)

You can aslo see my India inspired artwork on my
art blog at FeliciaFollum.Blogspot.com or on my
Facebook page.

Friday, February 7, 2014

Call for Hindi Writing Topics

Dhokra Clay Base...West Bengal, India. More on my Art Blog.

What do you want me to practice writing about in Hindi?

Pehele, please send me some easy topics so I can practice (vocab, tenses, verbs etc). My goal is to write about a page every week this month (though I'm not making any promises to post them to this blog in a timely manner, magar main khoshish karongi). If it goes well I will continue through March.

Dusra, I would also be up for suggestions for online kids books in Hindi to read.

Tesra, anyone willing to proofread, let me know...

haha they might be rough but I'll include the English of what I'm trying to say which should make it a bit easier.

Phir se dhanyavaad doston!

You can find me on Facebook or Twitter. If you want to read more about my India inspired artwork check out my other Art Blog.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Dubbed Hindi Mai

Yesterday a coworker said that when she was learning French she watched The Nightmare Before Christmas in French with subtitles 10 times and then once without subtitles to prepare for her listening exam.

This idea sounds absolutely genius to me. In the beginning of my Hindi learning I watched Aladdin dubbed in Hindi. I couldn’t understand the words but it was enjoyable and I’m sure it was still good for learning.

Why Aladdin?

That’s simple. It’s my favorite movie and there was a time in my life where I could quote every word from begging to end including songs (on my own, the movie didn't even need to be playing).

I have heard, though I don't strictly follow this rule, that you should not watch movies with subtitles to learn a language. Instead you should only watch movies that you can understand without the subtitles as it trains your brain differently. Left vs right brain language learning business.

Whether this is true or not, I am not sure.

I am sure, however, that watching my favorite kid movie in Hindi will not hurt anything and will be a great opportunity to invite friends over and have a movie party. Two part of course. one in English and the other in Hindi.

Oh, by-the-way I bookmark everything on Pinterest so here is the link to the movie. Just click the image and it will take you to the site where I found my Aladdin dubbed in Hindi. I would absolutely love to track down the actual DVD. If anyone finds it for sale online for a reasonable price, please let me know...