Friday, December 16, 2016

Review: Teach Yourself Hindi

Back in January I committed to buying and using a textbook for Hindi for the following reasons:

  • Lack of solid and wholesome beginner-intermediate material
  • Lack of focus 
  • Desiring an offline source for vocabulary and reading practice
By the time I bought Teach Yourself Hindi I had already learned the alphabet, colors, numbers and a few greetings. This made the book very easy to slip into, as I already had a hold on the fundamentals.
Well-organized and equipped with audio, Teach Yourself Hindi is probably one of the better books I've stumbled across. Written by Rupert Snell, this 18-chapter guide claims to take the user from A1-B2 level. This I believe, especially when one considers the amount of grammar covered.

Each chapter contains two to three dialogues with new vocabulary listed beneath the Hindi. English transliterations continue until chapter five, allowing the user to slowly adapt to Devanagari. In terms of grammar, you will find gender, case declension, verb tenses, aspect and mood. By the end of the book, the user should have command of just over 1500 words - which to me, is the sole pitfall of the book. As one word in English might have both an Urdu or Sanskritic term, many words are repeated. 

However, there are many more benefits. For example, there is a plethora of supplementary material for the book via the Hindi-Urdu Flagship website at the University of Texas at Austin. Here you can find podcasts, worksheets, audio, visuals and extra readings. 

In all honesty, there is so much in the book alone that I haven't completed it. Generally I am quicker with grammar than vocabulary, and I have been stuck at about chapter 14 in trying to assimilate all the information. I have stalled in part because I did not fully realize the amount of time needed for the later chapters. In other words, I didn't fully understand the level divide, especially from the A2-B1 level, which is usually a rather large leap. I would suggest the following:
  • Chapters 1-4 | 1 week each
  • Chapters 5-10 | 2 week each
  • Chapters 11-14 | 3 week each
  • Chapters 15-18 | 4 week each
Combine the exercises in the book with dictation, SRS flashcards, materials found on the website, and dedicated practice, and I'm certain it's possible to reach the B2 level with this source. If you are interested in learning Hindi, this book is a must.

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