A CRASH COURSE IN HINDI

After about a year of dating/being courted by my husband he asked me to learn Hindi. He stated that he wanted me to be able to speak the language. It was important to him because although, his parents spoke English their native tongue was Hindi. He further expressed that it would be a great idea for me to learn the language with our future in mind. A future inclusive of having kids and visiting his family in India (more to come on this).

Without hesitation, I told him yes. I had previously mastered/was fluent in Spanish and thought to myself it can’t be that at difficult. I dove in and started researching the best books to use to learn Hindi. I soon found the selection on-line and in book stores to be limited. I read that many had success with learning basic conversation via Pimsleur and so I purchased it.

I decided that while I was in my car I would take every chance I could to immerse myself in learning Hindi (a conversational introduction). The moment I pressed play I was ushered into Pimsleur’s version of India and tasked with introducing myself to someone new. Pimsleur made it easy to keep up with its vast repetition and interactive dialog. I felt so empowered and soon impressed my boyfriend, now husband with some basic conversational Hindi phrases. Yet, I swiftly concluded as I finished the cds that it would not be enough to truly hold a meaningful conversation.

ROSETTA STONE TO THE RESCUE?

Somewhat discouraged I sought out other Hindi language guides and books that advocated an ease of use and learning but didn’t deliver on their promise. Later, I saw an advertisement on TV for Rosetta Stone. I went online to see if Rosetta Stone was available in Hindi. It was. With a hefty price tag, I purchased it. I Feeling ambitious I started Rosetta Stone limited mastery 1-3 and thus began my love and hate of Rosetta Stone in Hindi. I could easily understand and retain the basics: the laal (red), ghar (house), and the different numbers discussed in the software. However, piecing the words into phrases and writing Sanskrit collectively became lost in translation. The software just assumed I could keep up with everything it outputted in Hindi. I went to my then boyfriend, now husband and asked for help but he couldn’t read or write Sanskrit himself. With utter frustration, the Rosetta Stone cd has been closed until I can help our daughter with her mastery of English.

Have you tried to learn a language with Pimsleur or Rosetta Stone? What has it been like? Subscribe.