Archive for 'Hindi Language'
Hinglish in Advertising Posted by Rachael on May 24, 2019
As you delve deeper into your Hindi studies (हिंदी की पढ़ाई/Hindi ki parhaai), you’ll notice that English (अँग्रेज़ी/angrezi) continues – for better or worse – to make extensive inroads into the Hindi language. This is true in casual conversation (बातचीत/baatcheet), especially amongst young, urban and educated people but also among the population as a whole…
Days of the Week in Hindi Posted by Rachael on May 16, 2019
One of the first concepts you are taught in any language class are the “days of the week.” While this may entail a simple explanation in other languages, the days of the week in Hindi are rife with meaning due to their connections with Hinduism and astrology. Although many young people in India today may…
Echo Words in Hindi Posted by Rachael on May 8, 2019
While learning Hindi, you may have noticed a phenomenon known as “echo words.” This grammatical structure is fairly common and informal and most often consists of an established word, such as “चाय/chaay” (tea) and a made-up word that rhymes with it (the most common example in this case is “वाय/vaay”) that adds a more general…
Dogs in India Posted by Rachael on May 1, 2019
In some parts of the world, the sight of people doting fondly over their pet dogs (पालतू कुत्ता/paaltoo kuttaa=singular, कुत्ते/kutte=plural) is extremely commonplace. But, this cultural practice of keeping domesticated dogs and other animals for no purpose other than to look cute and provide companionship is by no means a universal phenomenon. In India, for…
Indian Elections Posted by Rachael on Apr 21, 2019
As of April 11, voting in the world’s largest democracy (लोकतंत्र/loktantra or जनतंत्र/jantantra) has officially begun. The next prime minister of India will be determined by which party or group of parties receives the most votes in forming the new parliament (संसद/sansad) (or लोक सभा/Council of the People or lower house, whose members are directly…
Commemorating the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre Posted by Rachael on Apr 14, 2019
This past Saturday, April 13th, marked the 100th anniversary of the massacre (हत्याकांड/hatyaakaand) at Jallianwala Bagh (जलियांवाला बाग़, baag=garden) that occurred on this date in the year 1919. It was in this public garden (बाग़/baag, बग़ीचा/bageechaa) in Amritsar (in the then-province of Punjab) that General Reginald Dyer, an officer in the British Indian Army, directed…
Learning Hindi by Watching TV Posted by Rachael on Apr 6, 2019
As you probably know, Netflix, Amazon and other companies interested in getting in on the streaming game have been buying up English and foreign-language content left and right, in a frenzy (उन्माद/unmaad) to obtain the best and most varied array of TV shows and movies available. Hindi language content is no exception (अपवाद/apvaad). Compared to…