Chineasy: How I'm Studying

I'm not.

But, my fantasticly perfectly amazing husband gave Chineasy to me for Christmas! This is a book I have been wanting for, for some time now...

Not only is it a lovely approach to a language that quite honestly I was just scared to even begin to attempt but the book is so beautifully and brilliantly designed that it looks like I will be at least learning a bit about the Chinese language and culture.

Sooo, my plan 

My plan with Chineasy is to simply read the book and enjoy it for the beautiful work of art that it is. Ooh the beautiful illustrations just make me feel warm inside.

It's possible and likely that I will want to learn more of and about this language. Our local library has a Chinese children's section and there are a lot of Chinese people in our community. There is even a Chinese church. 

So my contingency plan (if I do decide to study the language) is to read the book a second time and focus on learning the characters.

Then get the flashcards and learn pronunciation, so I can read with semi accurate sounds in my head...to get the sounds I will probably ask one of the many native speakers in the community.

I currently have no time line for Chinese. Since its not really a part of my 5 year plan (which keeps growing).

But for now my plan really is to just let it happen if it's going to happen. As they say in Urdu and Arabic, Insha'Allah.  

Long Term Language Goals

By 2020 in addition to reading and writing, I would like to be able to have an intellectual conversation in Portuguese, Spanish, Hindi/Urdu, and American Sign Language. By intellectual conversation, i suppose I mean that I would like to make it to and pass the checkpoints where you can stumble through basic gramar, understand and eventually think in the language, as well as be able to discuss politics, religion, and philosophy.

In addition, I would like to begin to read Italian and French. I sometimes already can read both but don't know what language it is, it just happens to make sense or once I discover the English I realize the vocab is similar to Portuguese or Spanish, just spelled different.

I would like to have a basic understanding of Norwegian and Lakota in this time frame as well. I think this means different things in the two languages. In Norwegian it means a few bible verses and The Lord's Prayer and in Lakota, it means some listening skills, some more vocabulary, and more cultural understanding.

I would also like to begin looking at vocabulary for Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic mostly for Bible study purposes.

My most important goal is to have fun and just keep learning, while remembering that plateaus happen. It is also ok if I don't achieve all of these goals as long as I keep improving.

I will soon write a post sharing where I am currently at with these language goals.

Describe Your Day in Your Weakest Language

One of people in one of the groups for language nerds that I am in on Facebook posted a challenge. The challenge was to talk about your day in the language that is your weakest. I chose Hindi, which I suppose, if you know Hindi you can see why. So here goes...

मेरे दिन अछा था। पहली मेरी अज art gallery में काम किया। अगली मैं घर   लौट आया और  Christmas के लिए सज (decorate?) कीया। तेसर मैं कुछ खाना बनाया और मेरे पति के साथ खाया। के  बाद हम YoungLife के लिए चल गाये और घर में लोताया (?)। अबी/अबहीं/अभी मैं हिंदी practice कर रही हूं। 

Meri din acchi tha. peheli meri aaj art gallery men kaam kiya. Agli/baad main ghar lout aaya aur Christmas ke liye decorate kiya. Tesra, main kuch khaana banaya (i) aur meri pati ke sath khaaya. Ke Bad, hum YoungLife ke liye chal gaye aur ghar men aaya/loutaya. Abhi main hindi practice kar rahi hoon.

I will gladly accept corrections and questions :)

Mere hindusthani doston corrected it for me...

Mera din achcha tha. Pehle maine art gallery mein kaam kiya. Uske baad main ghar laut aayi air Christmas ke liye sajavat ki. Phir maine khana banaya aur apne pati ke saath khaya. Uske baad hum young life ke liye gaye aur waapis ghar laut aaye. Abhi main Hindi    abhyaas kar rahi hoon.

Henna print making doodles :)

Separation: Tips For Studying Multiple Languages at Once

My tips to avoid language confusion when studying multiple new languages.

Greeting cards inspired by henna designs and Indian culture by Felicia Follum Art+. They will be up on ETSY soon.

1. Stagger languages - practice one language for a few months then add another one in.

For me I confused Hindi with Spanish because neither language was at a good enough level to add more. I also confused Spanish and Portuguese at first. Once my Portuguese became stronger it began to hold its own.

2. Separate place, time, people, activity, etc so your brain will associate these things with that language.

For example practice Hindi in the evenings through texting and Portuguese in the mornings. Watch movies in Hindi and use Duolingo for Portuguese. I've also told friends that I can only practice one language with them at a time.

More of my art inspired by language learning and Indian culture.

3. Don't practice mixing both new languages.

Ex don't try to speak in a mix of Hindi and Spanish at first. It will hurt you in the long run. Form a sentence in one and force yourself to  use only that language. Resist the urge to have conversations in a mix of two incomplete languages even when you find others who mix the same to unrelated languages.

4. Learn Languages that are different from one another.

This will help keep language confusion to a minimum. Some people will argue that working on similar languages is helpful because the work off one another. Though helpful, I found that my precious knowledge of Spanish was more of a hindrance than it was helpful. However learning only Urdu or Hindi would be a challenge.

5. Learn one difficult and one easy language.

I realize this is subjective. One strategy is to pick a language similar to one you already know and one that is very different. One strategy would be to focus maybe 60% or 70% of your time on the more difficult language and the rest on the easy language. I typically prefer to practice the language that I am excited about at a given time.

These are just the things that helped and are helping me the most. I am aware that there are more ideas and would love to hear some of yours. What tips have helped you? Did mine work for you? Do you struggle with mixing languages?

Let me know below...

5 People 4 Languages 1 Meal Together

We never thought that cooking Indian food in brazil would be such a challenge. At least not for the reasons it was going to be challenging.

Our group at the Klien Hosten in Foz do Iguassu was a bit of a hodge podge mix of people...

But first let me explain the environment. Out of the entire 6 days I was there I was the only American. It was during the World Cup so there were people from all over the world. I was there by myself so every morning I woke up I never knew if anybody else spoke English. If I wanted to talk to people I usually started off by asking what languages they spoke and sometimes I had to stumble through asking in more than oone language.

There was a group of us one night. We consisted of a French girl who had been living in Brazil, her boyfriend who was visiting her from France, a Brazilian, an Indian who had been living in Canada but was really just traveling the world, and myself.

We decided to cook Indian food one night. So we walked to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients. 

Little did I know this was going to be the most complicated shopping trip I have ever taken part in...We had to somehow get from Hinglish (though our Hindusthani friend spoke English) to Portuguese.

Since I was familiar with the ingredients and my brain was still in Hindi mode, the Indian man told me the ingredients he couldn't find. So I explained them in English to the boyfriend. He translated from English to French. France, the girl from France translated from French to Portuguese and the Brazilian asked the man at the register.

We were not able to track down all of the spices is this small grocery store, but we did get a whole bunch of a couple.

After this we went back to the hostel and cooked the hindusthani meal.

I must say cooking in foreign languages was a blast and it is a great wat to learn language and new cooking skills

...so is joining a dance group...but that's another story. 

1 Year 4 Months: November Hindi Goals

Ok my goals for November (and possibly December if I don't change them) are

1. To practice speaking when ever I get a chance,

2. And to think in Hindi as much as possible (when I'm not thinking in Portuguese),

To achieve the first part I will use Hindi when I am around Hindi speakers, which is not really planned too often as I don't know many.

And to achieve the second one I will continue to watch Hindi movies...i would ideally like to pause them and summarize what I just saw Hindi men.

When I work I will listen to Hindi music, and maybe Pimsleur if I can find them again.

Jan update: so these didn't happen :p

Henna drawing
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Enjoy the Journey

Relax and enjoy the ride...

Seriously this is one of the most significant factors I've noticed making a positive impact on my ability to recall words and think in a language.

When I get tired and really begin to relax is when foreign languages really flow. I remember late nights playing Uno and between 1pm and 4 I understood wayyy more Hindi than normal.

In Brazil mornings were rough but by the time i sat down to dinner with the families I was able to converse quite nicely.

Enjoying the process has helped me to relax. I'm not perfect or even good, but I am much farther than I was a year ago and in 5 years I will be significantly farther than I am now.

I am where I am and that is a beautiful spot to be.

Who What When Where and Why Hindi?

Felicia Follum
At The Well 2
Watercolor

Writing Practice - corrections in comments welcome :)

Main hindi gramar padh rahi hoon kyunki mujhe hindi ek sundar bhasha hai. Mujhe hindusthani culture aur log bahut shundar bhi hain. Aur main meri kala men istamal karne/karna chahiye. 

Main yahan meri/mera ghar men pardh rahi hoon.

Main internet men aur hindusthani, nepali aur pakistani doston sath pardh rahi hoon. Bahut text kar rahi hoon bhi.

Main ek saal padh rahi hoon.

To see more of my art, check out my blog or website, feliciafollum.com.

2 Language Study Plan

I think my two language learning strategy for the next month is to practice português in the morming and hindi at night. I want to keep the languages as separate as possible in my brain. We will see how this works....

Hindi - I will watch hindi movies and review vocab. I would like to find a group to practice speaking with. I think there is one where we moved. I will of course chat with my Indian friends at night.

Português - I will text with my Brazilian feiends in the morning. I would also like to study grammar a bit.

Any tips? Thoughts?

This photo from Casa Frida may seem incredibly random but there is both Sanskrit and Portuguese graffiti in the background...

How did I study Hindi? Months 12 - 15ish

The Wyoming Cricket Team!!! 

Well I am taking a short sabbatical from my Hindi learning. June - August.

I will spend this time refreshing Spanish and studying Portuguese.

I plan to use the same first 3 month process that I did for Hindi except will be in Brazil and possibly Argentina :) and I will be much farther ahead when I start and I will have a better grasp on how I learn best...

The first 15 days will be review of Spanish as well as studying Portuguese basics.

The 3rd week will mostly be Portuguese as will the next month and 3 weeks. There is a good chance I will come out of this with decent Portunol. Which is basically a mix of the two (and arguably not a real language, just the reality of what happens when you speak Spanish and end up in Brazil.

 

Going into this I can read, write and speak Spanish (at about B1/B2 level, which is certainly higher than my Hindi) I can't understand Spanish much anymore, but I think this will come back fast. I can also read Portuguese.

I am still debating about whether I want to refresh my Hindi a bit while traveling just so I don't loose all my Hindi or if I should just go 100% into Portuguese...I'm leaning towards taking an actual break and giving my brain a rest and just focusing on easier languages (No matter what Indians tell me Hindi is hard for me and Spanish and Portuguese are much easier for me).

By the time you are reading this I will have already been in Brazil for a month (Be sure to check out my new blog FeliciaFollumSharingLife.blogspo.com, where I will post everything from Brazil) :p See you when I return :) and I will hopefully have some answers to all the questions below (and more likely on FB and YT)...

How did I study Hindi? Months 8ish - 12

After my frustrating spell of not being able to understand anything that was going on around me to the extent that I wanted, which actually didn't bother me for a long time. You can read more about that initial phase in my post, Do You Mind Not Knowing What is Going On?

Henna
See more of my India Inspired Art

I began to focus on general ideas and let go a bit. I used Hindi a bit more and often times could follow conversations depending on topic. 

My comprehension varied (and still does) based on many things including but not limited to time of day (the loopy exhausted phase right before I should go to bed actually is by far the best), a glass of wine often helps as well, and topic (I understand making food plans, playing cricket, and surprisingly I catch more in political conversations than expected but not pro cricket conversations) etc....

There are several types of people currently in my Hindi learning journey...

People I speak nearly entirely in Urdu with

People I randomly speak Hindi phrases with and they randomly throw in easy to understand phrases. This is where a couple of my closer girl friends are.

People who think I know nothing and over explain everything.

People who are always curious if I know what's going on. I especially have fun when I get to say yes to these people.

People who encourage others to speak in Hindi to me

People who are critical and correct me a lot or tell me just to speak English because it is easier

People who make me speak Hindi

People who simplify their words and speak slowly and make me speak only in Hindi

And people who forget I don't really speak Hindi and just speak it anyways (which are my favorite) and then are shocked when I understand or reply...

I think that having all of these people groups is an excellent way to learn and I would like to thank you all!

Bahut dhanyavaad dosten!!! 

How Emersed Was I?

I knew that I was pretty well immersed in Indian culture after returning from India. Though it is difficult to immerse yourself in a country/language when you are not there I am pretty sure that I succeeded.

I did not quite realize how much Indian culture I had been around for the past year. It is pretty cool being here in Brazil. Interestingly, I am looking at many things not only from an American perspective but also an Indian perspective.

One of the biggest shocks about being here is that I am around mostly English. The first week here I had to use Portuñol everyday. But the 2nd through the 5th weaks here I am using English because we are teaching English and I am mostly with Americans.

Though annoying, the English is not a bad thing as it is a part of the program. And I don't think it would bother me as much had I not been so surrounded by Indian culture and the Hindi language for the last year. It is a bit shocking to me (and it may be the closest thing to culture shock I have ever experienced) to be around this much English in another country. I was thinking about it the other day and it feels like I am around more English now I had been over the past year. I also know this will change very soon and I'm not sure I will be ready as I will be living with a family that doesn't speak English for three weeks...I am very excited

So the answer my original question how immersed in Indian culture was I? Let's take a look.

Weekends
Saturday 5-6 hours cricket
Sunday dance practice (maybe 10-20 weeks out of the year) 2-4 hours
Dinner/Day Trip/Cooking 2-5 hours

Tuesdays/Thursdays 2 - hours (I thaught a Yoga class, Indian Culture/Hindi class and later a Global Studies class)

Monday/Wednesday 1-4 hours listening to music and Pimsleur while painting

Movies at night 0-2 hours

Bible reading - 1 - 3 hour

Total 13-21 hours/week

That was a lot of Hindi and Indian culture...and I loved every minute of it!

How did I study Hindi? Moths 6 - 8 ish plateau

With some friends celebrating Holi!!!
Holi hai!! Holi hai!!

Well, I spent most of these months being frustrated that I couldn't understand as much as I wanted, 

while simultaneously trying too hard to pick up on every individual word, 

having to ask everyone to repeat what they had said or explain, 

meanwhile I awkwardly and honestly didn't know if I had understood what had been said previously (and I still don't always know if I'm actually understanding or not)
but I had to respond every time someone asked if I had understood...

UGH this was a frustrating time in the process.

Part of me feels this time was wasted but I know it wasn't I just don't know what I learned yet...Maybe patience or maybe how to not spend time when learning a language. Either way I made some great friends and I enjoyed nearly every moment of it.

How did I study Hindi? Months 4 - 6

Henna
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More of my India Inspired Art

For the 4th - 6th month I kept to my daily schedule with more focus on the script...since by the end of 6 months I wanted to be reading.

I used TenguGo a lot for 2 weeks then continued to review and work on conjuncts, which I still need to keep working on.

This time period was less rigid and I spent time making basic sentences in my head.

I also used the audio bible to attempt to follow along. Which I learned was really difficult. It is much harder to follow along than actually read. I have since learned that this is because you actually learn a picture of a word and see the picture rather than the letters. Now there are a few words I can do this with in Hindi but not many. This is why we can R3AD TH1S. We have a general picture of the words "READ" and "THIS" and our brain doesn't really check each letter. Anyways...you can read more about my journey learning to read in "I Can Read Hindi!"

How did I study Hindi? Months 1-4

Henna
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Check out My Art Blog for More

How did I study?

For the first 3 - 4 months I had a strict schedule where I checked off my daily assignments. My goal was to become familiar with 30 words a day and learn 10 vocab vocab words and 5 phrases.

I had a flashcard each day.

When I had a rigid language learning schedule I had a you tube culture day or a movie day worked into every week ;) just to switch things up and keep it fun.

You can see my Never Ending Hindi Resource List to see more of the details.
 

InshAllah

Pakistani Dinner Night

Mere pati, meri dost, aur main

InshAllah 


Several months ago when I was just beginning to learn Hindi I was messaging one of my friends in Pakistan and she told me 'InshAllah' referring to learning Urdu. I asked her what it meant and she said that

"InshAllah means if God wants you to then you will do this easily"

And though I would not say that this past year of learning Hindi was easy (and I honestly wouldn't say that I have learned it yet). It was full of challenges and stepping outside of my comfort zone but it is certainly seeming clear that God does want me to learn and practice this beautiful language.

Read more about InshAllah. 

They All Speak a Different Language

Felicia Follum
Washed in Blood – Henna
Mixed Media

I have friends from all over India here in the us. One night I was hanging out with about 10 Hindi speaking friends. They were all speaking different dialects, had different accents, and some may have even been speaking Urdu and i would have never known. 

This to me is absolutely fascinating. ugh though I am not quite sure how it will impact my learning. Maybe it will make me more diverse or just confuse...but In reality, I will just accept it as a lot of fun.

I guess my current plan is to keep learning all that I can (and at times filter out what is the most important and the general idea). 

My current tip (to myself) in regard to spelling is to learn from one good resource mainly and take everything else with a grain of salt.  sticking with one source will also help me learn the alphabet and transliterations better... Shyad, I will add more sources/spellings as I become more comfortable.

Since I began this post I have encountered one big problem with the one source strategy but will get to that in a future blog post.

Tricky English: There, to, one,

Here are some tricky English words for my friends learning English.

These are just a few of the tricky words in the English language. Even native speakers have a difficult time with these three sets of similar words.

There is one person over here.
Their team won the game.
They’ve two games to go.
They’re too crazy.

Dry Bones, Felicia Follum, $165, Watercolor + Ink

There – place. Ex. (example) over there
Their – shows owner ship. Refers to people (remember “he and I are both people” tHEIr)
*They’re – they are
*They’ve – they have

One – number
won – past of to win
Two – number
Too – excessive (remember “too has too many oo’s”)
To – part of a the infinitive verb form “to run, to dance, to kiss, etc” some would refer to it as a preposition but I'm pretty sure it's not.

Please comment or ask questions below, and I will try my best to answer. But hopefully someone will have my back** and help me out if I don't know.

haha and as a side note, I am not an English scholar, just a native speaker. Please feel free to add to this post or make suggestions (in the comments). I will update anything that needs to be changed (from the comments below).

*Note that contractions should not be used in formal writing but should be used in speech.
 **To have my back slang for "to help me out"

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

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...

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.

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

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?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

What is the best way to memorize new vocab?

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.

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.

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...

What Does English Sound Like to Non-English Speakers?

I found this video many years ago and thought it was really fascinating.

Over the past few months I have been around many languages. Many of these languages I don' t understand a word of. Others I can pick up one or two words, or even a phrase.

Stumbling upon this video after being exposed to all these languages was certainly a new experience. It almost feels normal to listen to as I am, in a way, used to hearing sounds and even associating meaning with the sounds, but when strung together these sounds become gibberish.

What do you think? Do you like the sound of English? Is this an accurate depiction of the language?

My First Hindi Phrases - A Great Starting Place

I went to India knowing how to say, How are you? What is your name? and how to count to 10 in Hindi. While there I picked up a few more words and phrases. English was spoken almost everywhere and I was not trying to learn Hindi at the time so language learning was not a major goal of the trip. The trip was actually an art class through the University of Wyoming, if you would like to my artwork in response to my India travels, be sure to check out my art blog.
see more about

Even though this trip did not focus on the language, here is a list of the words and phrases Ilearned while in India.

Found this little guy crawling around the Bishnapur Temples
in West Bengal, India

Chalo
let’s go!

Thik hai
ok

Aap Kaise Hain?
how are you

Main Thik Hoon, shukriya*
I am fine, thanks

Mujhe aapka desh bahut pasand hai.
I like your country very much.

*Chinto
Chinta mat karo
Don’t Worry

Alvida
Goodbye

Shubh Rhatree
Good night (literally, I’m going to bed)

Nahin…bus
stop…enough

Ek, do, teen, char, panch, sath, aath, nou, dus
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Kahan hai…?
Where is…?

Aap ka naam kya hai?
What is your name?

Mera naam Felicia hia
my name is Felicia

For those of you interested in learning a language, Hindi or any ohter, I would suggest starting with this or a similar list of phrases. Memorize these phrases. Once you get them move on to some more. Eventually you will find more vocabulary and be able to start having basic conversations with people.

*While in India I quickly learned that shukriya is not Hindi but Urdu. I have since learned more about Urdu…But I will post on Urdu later

The Last Night Meme from Sunday Stealing

I found this meme* at SundayStealing.blogspot.com and thought that last night would be fun for me to write about especially since it surely applies to my Hindi learning.

Dancing at Diwali night with some of the guys from cricket.

Haan, mujhe memes bahut pasand hai kyunki main thoda thoda nerd hoon.

Did anyone call you last night? Naa, but I did have a couple Hindi text conversations with friends.

How late were you on the computer last night? Shayad, midnight…I was actually on three super nerdy and great Hindi facebook pages. 1) Learn Hindi 2) Learn Hindi with Bharti  and 3) Learn Urdu

...aur Urdu kya hai?! I suppose the only people who can read the question already know the answer...mugar chalta hai...

If you are curious to know more about Urdu I will be posting more on the language here soon as it is looking like it will be the next language I tackle...

What did you have to eat last night? Main ek scone flavor ka pumpkin spice khati thi aur ek Hot Snow piti thi. Do bahut swad the. A Hot Snow is a white chocolate drink with almond milk.

Did you watch any good TV shows or movies last night? Haan, Main meri pati sath Dexter dhekte hain

Did any news items stand out to you last night? Kuch nahin…

Any regrets from last night? Haan, I didn't speak one of the specific Hindi sentences I had perfectly constructed in my head...lol I was kinda being hassled a little bit (but not much compared to the guys) and I was teasing one of the guys...Teasing is something that the guys do a lot. I think Indians just like to tease new people (old people and girls). It's some sort of bonding... Anyways, I wanted to tell my friend Rajeesh**, who is known for speaking very fast that he was speaking too fast. "Raj, Raj, sach batao, tum bahut jalde bolta ho. pata nahin kyu tum bol. Hum samajte nahin hain."

I constructed the sentences in my head just a bit too late and missed the chance...Chalta hai...next time.

Did you go out last night? After playing cricket, I went out for chai with the guys. Yesterday, both while playing cricket and at the coffee shop I was able to pick up more of the Hindi conversations than ever before. It was pretty cool.

Oh, and I actually played decent cricket, not great but better than usual, except I couldn't field for anything...I think I will write another post on my cricket learning.

What was the weather like last night? It was surprisingly nice. Maybe 30 F and only light wind.

What was the last thing you said last night? Goodnight, I love you.

What time did you go to bed last night? Shayad ek (1) ya do (2) baje

Phir se dhanyavaad doston!! Thanks again for joining me on my blog all about learning Hindi. 

* I did edit the questions just a bit.

** Raj is not the real name but if you figure out who you are and want your real name or would prefer a different pseudonym let me know yaar...

 

Common Hindi Verbs Thought of on the Fly

Here are the first verbs that came to mind when I began my list. And here is a practice sentence where you can fill in the black with the appropriate verb.

Main ______ chahati/a hoon

Main - I
Chahana - to want
Chahati/a - I want (i-feminine, a-masculine)
Hoon - am

Main khaana chahati hoon - I want to eat (said by a female)
 

Campaign Posters in Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh, India

Chahana              To want                      

Khaana                To eat

Hasna                  To laugh

Pina                     To drink

Karna                  To do

Pyar karna           To love

Banana                To do/to make

Khelna                 To play

Likhna                 To Write

Pardna                 To read/to study

Natchna               To dance

Sona                    To sleep

Bolna                  To speak

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

Please feel free to practice in the comments.

Listening Practice Playlist

I am not going to go into detail in this post about the importance of listening practice as I am sure you are aware of why any language learner needs this specific practice.

Great Playlist with Hindi-Urdu speakers

Some other great listening resources include Bollywood songs and movies as well as spending time with native Hindi speakers.

What are your favorite listening resources?