How to Learn Hindi With Sound
One of the official languages of India, Hindi is spoken by approximately 182 million people around the world, according to the Ethnologue language report. As well as being the main language of northern India, Hindi is spoken by people in Bangladesh, Nepal and South Africa. Hindi is written with a syllabic alphabet called Devanagari, which means that all consonants have an inherent vowel. As there are some significant differences between the pronunciation of Hindi and English, using sound when learning Hindi will help you to speak the language more fluently.
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Instructions
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Learn the pronunciation of the Devanagari alphabet. Use online resources such as the videos on the University of Pennsylvania Hindi alphabet pages (ccat.sas.upenn.edu/plc/hindi/alphabet) to listen to correct pronunciation of individual vowels and consonants. Repeat the sounds aloud, comparing your pronunciation to that of the recording. Pay particular attention to sounds which are uncommon in English, such as the consonant "kh," which is pronounced as the "ch" in Scottish "loch."
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Listen to the pronunciation of basic words and phrases in Hindi. Use online resources such as the newbie lessons on the I Speak Hindi website (ispeakhindi.com) to hear the pronunciation of simple concepts such as colors, numbers and days of the week in Hindi. Practice repeating the phrases aloud until you are confident that you can accurately reproduce the sounds on these audio tracks.
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Study audio lessons, such as those available for free on the University of Pennsylvania website (philae.sas.upenn.edu/Hindi/hindi.html). Work through the lessons in a logical order to develop your understanding of Hindi grammar. Download the lessons to your MP3 player and listen to them while doing the housework or traveling by public transport to increase your exposure to the spoken language. The more time you spend listening to Hindi, the better your feel for the sound and rhythm of the language will become.
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Practice what you have learned by listening to radio broadcasts in Hindi. Visit websites such as the Hindi pages of the BBC World Service (bbc.co.uk/hindi) to listen to news and current affairs online in Hindi. Try not to be discouraged if you don't automatically understand every word and concentrate instead on trying to understand the gist of the broadcast.
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Tips & Warnings
Listening to Hindi music is a fun way to increase your familiarity with the sound of spoken Hindi. Use websites such as Raaga (raaga.com) to download Hindi songs and music.
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Resources
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