Hindi Resource List for Teachers

I also have a never ending resource list with more thoughts, resources, and updates. These are simply the ones I think would work well for teaching the Hindi language (I teach English to adult learners)

Conversational
Pimsleur helps a lot with sentence order but only for a small portion of sentences 
Chatting and texting are my favorite methods!! 

Grammar
Learning-Hindi.com
Anil Mahato on YouTube 

Vocabularay
I would encourage sentence mining and use vocab from other lessons.

Speaking 
Spending time with Hindi speaking friends
Creating YouTube videos in Hindi

listening 
Hindi U on YouTube  
Bollywood Movies and Songs
Guli Guli Sim Sim - Sesamie Street
Shaka Laka Boom Boom - Kids show

Writing 
Flashcards

Reading 
TenguGo Hindi
Hindi Bible
Learning-Hindi.com has some great reading lessons
Beelingual - this app allows you to select texts and has some great tools for studying a variety of reading topics

Thinking 
Pimsleur Lessons
HindiPod101 helps with all areas
Doulingo it's out!! I just finished the tree and am writing a review!

I hope this list is helpful and I do encourage you to check out my "Never Ending Resource List" for more and future updates

Duolingo Hindi

I finished!!!

I am excited to announce that I just finished the Hindi tree on Duolingo.

Overall, I love Duolingo and think it's a great app for supplemental language study. I have been very out of language practice so this was really good to go back to.

How did it go?

The tree is very short. I tested out of the alphabet but a lot of my basic vocab skills were lacking, so I didn't make it very far passed the first checkpoint (the awful alphabet section that I will discuss later on). I use Hinglish (along with the Indians I know in the US). So my vocabulary for American foods and numbers and family was severely lacking.

But I was able to test out of moat levels individually, because the context and topic helped me remember and it was fairly easy to tell when I didn't know one or two vocab words in context.

I did have to complete one or two lessons from about 5 levels and then was typically able to test out. The biggest exception was the last two. I really struggled with those grammar concepts and even gave up a couple times because I was making so many mistakes.

But I made it and I am excited for the content to get more challenging and I think I will do several review lessons (the dumbbell in the bottom right corner).

My thoughts on the course.

Though it is officially out of Beta , I noticed a handful of errors or frustrating things.

'ne' is lacking an explanation.

It over and over expects uses to use Indian English, rather than American, which was quite frustrating for me. "You people do that thing," and leaving off articles were common. I've heard similar frustrations about other trees from bilingual speakers living in the US as well. Either way, the Hindi tree does feel like it was designed for Indian Hindi learners, which in the long run is great and I hope it will help with communication issues between states and help unify North and South Indians. So though frustrating, it could actually be good.

I also wish that there were grammar explanations for the more challenging concepts and more complete explanations for others. This will come.

A huge frustration is the Alphabet levels. They seem to be terrible. I have only passed one or two. I don't think I could have stuck with it if I had not tested out. I don't understand how they work or what is going on. I would highly recommend an app such as TenuguGo Hindi or even just making flashcards and memorizing before trying to use Duolingo before you know the alphabet. It took me two weeks (if I remember correctly) on TenguGo.

But my biggest complaint is that it's too short!!! I want more!!!

Conclusion

Overall, this is has been a great course and I will continue to use it. Being on my phone makes it so much more accessible than the other resources out there. Ans most of my frustrations will work themselves out, I'm sure...And if not, chalta hai, na?

Thanks to the volunteers! And good enjoy your studies!!!

What Happens When a 5 on The Enneagram Studies A Language?

Lol so what does the secret stash of a 5 look like?

They say that those people who are a 5 on the Enneagram have many interests that only people who share those interests are really aware of how deep these hobbies go.

You guys tend to share my love of languages so you know all about it...But did you know that most of my friends have no idea how much I love languages, or that I can even speak multiple languages? 

Funny, I know. That is because I'm a 5, I guess. I have other secret hobbies too, but they are secrets for now.

As you may also know the first semi-secret language I studied obsessively was Hindi. 

So how did I study early on? What made my Hindi study obsessive? 

I created worksheets* from videos and a couple websites, basically making textbooks to study from and then I began (but we moved here and I never finished) filling in the Hindi script by hand. 

In one series I had 137 lessons that I summarized typed up and took notes (from Learning Hindi) and in another series maybe 20 (from a YouTube Series by Anil Mahato). I had a system where I did one lesson in the morning and a couple after Jim went to bed. 

I had created 30+ flashcards (before I began studying). One for each day and I created more as needed and repeated cards as well. 

I ended up being one of maybe 4 moderators for a Hindi learning group on Facebook (also ran by Anil Mahato). The group over 10,000 people and has grown to over 13,000 people. 

Let's not forget that I was very active in the Indian Student Association at the University of Wyoming. I was nominated for officer by the Indian student organization at UW (but we were moving so I never ran). I play(ed) cricket and was part of the Bollywood dance group. You can tell that I did not grow up with this style of dance and, I think it's fair to say that choreography is not my thing. I still had an amazing time and all the others spoke Hindi so I learned a ton! I have danced since then.

I also "analyzed" "translated" nearly 20 songs into English. This was simply a way to practice. I'm sure that I could have found the translations online but it was much more beneficial to go through the lyrics myself and see how words were used (knowing that Hindi, like the notorious Arabic, does not use proper grammar in songs).

At this time taught at an art center for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and taught Indian Culture and Art and then a Hindi class. So my work was also studying **Hindi.

So though people assume that I am a 4 because I am an artist and I am pretty sure that I do have a decent 4 wing, I have no doubt that I am a 5. I could offer more examples if you like...but if you dig online you may also find my other secret (or not so secret blogs and videos...trust me. I'm a 5).

*I'm attempting a similar worksheet series but will be much shorter (closer to 10 lessons) for Somali (there just are not many resources) and I'm not as dedicated to Somali so I don't know if it will happen. I have a video with all the languages that I've studied here.  

**I was actually hired to teach Spanish and Sign language (and later art). Keep in mind my average student was at a 3rd grade English level, I didn't need to be fluent. Since learning Portuguese, my Spanish is pretty awful. It tends to annoy native Spanish speakers and I can't understand Mexican Spanish at all so I just say I don't speak it. Here is a blog post from when I realized I didn't speak Spanish anymore.

Dhanyavaad Doston: Saudades pt. 2

Interestingly while in Brazil I didn't find myself missing American culture or dealing with culture shock becuase Brazil was so different from the US.

See Dhanyavaad Doston Pt 1. Here

My culture shock for the first few weeks was that I was around too many Americans, in a mall several times per week, surrounded by people flaunting their money, around too much English (haha yeah, I was around more Hindi with you guys than I was portuguese for a couple weeks), couldn't really take my shoes off indoors and couldn't eat with my hands. The food was not spicy which I craved...one night I added several teaspoons of hot sauce to Arabian food...and I was saying things like "bahut obrigada" and "muito dhanyavaad." And I'm still not convinced that I know how to convey the meaning of "thik hai" with the head bob in Brazilian culture.

The second part of my trip, however,  was a very different experience. I was able to experience many of the challenges I crave with travel. I was around no english for most of it. Some days I had a translator for workshops and seminars and such but evenings and mornings there was typically no english. After 5 days of no English, my brain could actually think in Portuguese which was incredible...I really did and still do love Brazil. The food may not have been spicy, but it was delicious and flavorful. And I know y'all like to claim to like sweets...but y'all ain't got nothin' on Brazilian sweets.

But anyways this post isn't about Brazil. It's about being homesick from you all...

I knew I was a bit crazy about and may have been excessively-fascinated with Indian culture. But I didn't quite realize how much the last year was impacted by you guys. I didn't expect being away from your culture to be as challenging as it was. I am so thankful you let me genuinely experience life with you all....I will miss you all and always have a space in my heart for you and your culture. One day I hope to really experience Indian culture again and really gain a grasp on Hindi...

Português has a word, saudade, it's used to describe the emptiness when something or someone has gone away. It is certain that I am having this experience for you all...

Eu tenho saudades pra vocês...beijos e abraços!

Brasília

Originally posted August 2014 on my Travel Art Blog.

Dhanyavaad Doston - I had a great year with you all!

I typed a thank you in Hindi that I planned to read at the going away party when we left Laramie but forgot it :( and I'm pretty sure it actually made no sense...as I shared it online to have it proofread and was told it didn't make sense (when I get back to the US I will share it anyways. Ok well, when I find my computer)

This letter was for the many Indian friends that we made over the years but especially in that last little bit in Laramie, Wyoming.

I wanted to thank you all for welcoming Jim and I into your community. It was really special to be a part of your family. I've heard missionaries, and less often but other travelers as well, talk about going somewhere and being welcomed into the culture.

I now have a better understanding of how special that really is. There is a difference between hanging out and getting to know people and really being a part of it all and I feel like you guys blessed us with the opportunity to really be a part of your lives and culture.

It's funny becuase after returning to Wyoming I was seriously considering grad school at Khala Bhavan. But when we realized it was a longer program than I had originally thought we decided against it. This past year, though in Wyoming (possibly the place on earth that is the least like India), I really was able to experience a mini-India and it was beautiful. I learned so much about food, culture, religion, languages, social norms, cricket, and fell even more in love with your culture and people.

I began by wanting to learn Hindi. I honestly belive my goals desires changed to simply being friends and sharing life which was so beautiful.

I will never forget my last year in Wyoming and the times that we shared. I love each and every one of you guys. 

See Dhanyavaad Doston Pt 2 which I talk about being homesick from Indian culture while in Brazil.

Originally posted August of 2014 on my Travel Art Blog

How Many Languages Do I Speak

Here is a video answering the question "how many languages do I speak?"

Updated Goals - Final Stretch of 2015

Only a few months left of the year.

Let's get to it, here are my language learning goals.

General - When people ask if I speak a language, say "Yes, I speak it." And then speak it.

Português - I don't want to get worse and hope to maintain my skills by listening to "Você Sabia?" on YouTube anf commenting weekly.

Hindi - Create speaking videos monthly and practice writing monthly.

Arabic - Listen to speakers. Pick up common words and Urdu words.

Somali - Listen when given the opportunity. Practice the few phrases I know.

Latin - I would love to finish reading John but that may need to wait.

Spanish - I don't want to mix Português and Spanish intentionally. If a Spanish speaker speaks English I will speak English. If they understand Português, I will speak Português.

Picture credit
See Www.feliciafollum.com
Or www.etsy.com/shop/feliciafollum

Slacker and Update!

It's official, I have been slacking in my study and in my posting. On the bright side I have been using lanuage in real life...

Here is an update of what I have done in the last few months.

Hindi - I meet with an Indian woman aproximately once per month and we practice speaking. She also corrects my writing practice. In addition there is an Indian man who works at a gas station that I only speak in Hindi with.

I have began watching a TV series on YouTube named Shaka Laka Boom Boom.

I recently met a Punjabi man (maybe I will share this story one day as well). We speak, him in Punjabi and I in Hindi, and sometimes we understand.

Urdu - I have recently met a couple new Pakistani friends.

Português - I have one Brazilian friend in the Tri-Cities. We speak Português when it is just the two of us. I also practice a bit with a friend in Brazil and I have some Brazilian friends that only speak Português, so we all chat as well.

I'm still working through Duolingo. Slowly but surely.

Spanish - I am around it quite often in my city, and try to listen but don't do much of anything. It's very difficult for me to speak as I mix it with Português a lot. 

After I finish Português on Duolingo, I do plan to work through Spanish in Portuguese or Portuguese in Spanish...so I will put them against eachother in hopes of keeping them separate...

until I'm at a decent point in one, I don't think the other will be useful and they say learning Portuguese makes Spanish very easy.

Sign Language - I use sign with a man at Cricket. I also use sign language instead of singing in church. Sadly my sign has deteriorated when it comes to conversing.

Arabic - I'm amazed by how many Islamic friends (mostly Somalian, new to America) use Arabic and I know the words from Urdu.

Somali - Similarly, I'm often surprised to see that many Hindi and Somali words are similar.
Jabati - chapati
Sambusa - samosa

Lakota - not practicing.

Latin - This is a new one for me.  I've considered reading the book of Mark in the Vulgate Bible...I'm researching the best way to learn to read Latin for this purpose.

Cultural paintings from FeliciaFollum.com

Also at Facebook.com/feliciafollumdesign

Hindi Vocabulary Lists

Assorted art from the #TheLilyPadProject

Why recreate the wheel...here are 13 great Hindi word lists to take a look at.

These lists can be used in several ways. You can memorize them or take each word and write a sentence (which I find quite helpful).

1. My First Phrases from Hindi for Christmas

2. Anything Anil Mohato is great! This is one of his vocabulary videos (video below).

3. Common verb list (short but could be learned in a week)

4. Days of the week and directions from linguanaut.com

5. Numbers  from linguanaut.com

6. Adjectives from linguanaut.com

7. Vocabulary from linguanaut.com

8. Survival Terms from linguanaut.com

9. Grammar Tense Practice from Hindi for Christmas

10. Urdu lists from linguanaut.com

11. Hindi Words that come from Arabic from Namaste-America

12. Yet another list of Arabic words in Hindi from Baheyeldin

13. A third Arabic, Urdu/Hindi, Punjabi word list from PakPassion.net

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...

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
SOLD

Chatting with South Indians

Though my South Indian friends claim to not know Hindi, they really do. I know not all Indians know hindi. I also know many can speak, read, and understand a good amount. Mere accha dost, Ananth** is one example of someone who knows Hindi but does not claim to know it because he doesn’t use it.

Which languages people use when and why is a complex and interesting conversation, but that's for another day.

Check out Ananth’s and my text conversation from a while back as well.

Me: aap aur aapke parivaar ko Diwali ki bahut bahut hardik mangalmay shubhkamanaye (Happy Diwali)
A: Aww Dhanyavaad FF ☺ ☺ ☺ bhagvan ki krupa se aap ke parivar mein bhi such aur shanty

This is where it gets interesting.

Me: tum kya kar rahe haon?

A: just eating
Me: main bhi, actually, main abhi channa masala aur chaval kha rahi hoon…dhanyavaad mera dost for introducing me
A: Cool ☺ its funny u r having Indian lunch and I ate scrambled eggs n toast
Me: aur tum English bol rahe ho aur main hindi bol rahi hoon ☺
A: Lol yes
Me: hehe Aapka din kaise ho?
A: It’s alright…

I am aware that many Indians don't often text in Hindi so it is a bit awkward for them but so many have been great sports about helping me out...Thanks Ananth**

**You know who you are...but no one else does because I changed your name to the name you chose. Miss you yaar.

India inspired Valentines Day cards