Archive for March, 2019
Celebrating Spring in Hindi Posted by Rachael on Mar 27, 2019
As many of you know, Holi/होली was celebrated by countless people around the world this past Wednesday and Thursday (March 20th-21st). Rather than writing another blog about this festival, which celebrates the arrival of spring, the triumph of good over evil (that is, the ascendance of humility, faithfulness and truth over ego and deception) and…
The Christchurch Tragedy Posted by Rachael on Mar 20, 2019
Along with countless others around the world (दुनिया/duniyaa), I was shocked and saddened to hear of the tragedy (त्रासदी/traasdi) that occurred in New Zealand this past Friday (शुक्रवार/shukravaar) (March 15, 2019). Hearing some of the survivors on the radio, I recognized Pakistani and Indian worshippers who narrowly escaped death (मौत/maut) during this tragic incident (घटना/ghatnaa)…
Untranslatable Words in Hindi Posted by Rachael on Mar 14, 2019
There’s no denying that this is a popular topic, whatever language you are discussing. As one would expect, Hindi possesses quite a few “untranslatable” words and concepts. In this context, “untranslatable” means simply that, at times, Hindi’s lexicon resists simple (“one-word”) translation into English. In this blog, let’s look at a few of these “puzzling”…
Learning Hindi through Poetry Posted by Rachael on Mar 7, 2019
Literature can be a powerful way to learn a new language. Although, at the most basic levels of language learning, the student may at first focus on simple vocabulary and grammatical structures, these are not what gives a language its depth and vibrancy. Particularly in South Asian culture, which has a rich oral and literary…