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Parallel Vocabulary in Hindi Posted by Rachael on Dec 12, 2018
As you may know, Hindi is composed of a vast array of other languages. This multifaceted quality gives Hindi its richness and complexity. In this blog, we’ll explore the diversity of Hindi vocabulary through concrete examples from Hindi’s major source languages: Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit. Although Arabic and Persian are not related languages (Arabic is…
Conversational Hindi: Common Questions and Answers (Part 2) Posted by Rachael on May 24, 2018
This blog is the second part to my first blog on this topic. As a student of Hindi myself, I would sometimes become frustrated with the sheer volume of “formal Hindi” I was being taught. Of course, this Hindi was overly formal and outdated, but I wasn’t being told that––instead, this Hindi was described as…
HindiVAALE! Posted by Rachael on Feb 13, 2018
While learning Hindi, you may have noticed the ubiquitous presence of the vaala/vaale/vaali (वाला/वाले/वाली) suffixes––by the way, a suffix is any word or particle that comes AFTER another word and changes its meaning. From Merchant and Ivory’s film Shakespeare-Wallah (or “Vala”) to the chaivaala (चायवाला) on the street corner who brews up just what you…
Portuguese in Hindi (Part 2): A Tale of Trade, Travel and Cultural Tension Posted by Rachael on Jun 7, 2017
Hello again, everyone! फिर से नमस्ते सब लोग/phir se namaste sab log or, as my Portuguese-speaking friends would say it, Olá de novo gente! That’s right, this week’s blog will be a continuation of where we left off last time: a discussion of the history and legacy of the Portuguese in India. If you missed…
Portuguese in Hindi (Part 1): A Tale of Trade, Travel and Cultural Tension Posted by Rachael on May 21, 2017
For almost eight months now, I have been learning Portuguese on my own. As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, Hindi has been influenced by many other languages, and these were oftentimes those of merchants who came to the subcontinent to trade in its rich natural resources. Portuguese is one such language that has influenced Hindi…
5 Essential Tips for Learning Hindi Posted by Rachael on May 16, 2017
Learning a language as an adult, as opposed to as a child or a young adult, is a whole different ball game. Most children, and even some young adults, pick up a language without an inordinate amount of effort––their brains are a bit like sponges, soaking in any new information at the drop of a…
Hindi ki Khichri Me Punjabi ‘Suaad’ Posted by Rachael on May 2, 2017
As I’ve said before, Hindi is sometimes called a “khichdri bhasha,” (खिचड़ी भाषा, both words are feminine nouns) which basically means that it is a “mixed language” consisting of words, phrases and even sometimes grammatical structures from a variety of different languages. “Khichdri” (खिचड़ी, fem. noun) is a popular dish of ghee or clarified butter…