Book Description
This simple and effective introduction to Hindi will teach you everything you need to speak, understand, read, and write in Hindi.This program assumes no background in the language, and it explains each new concept clearly with plenty of examples, making it ideal for beginners or anyone who wants a thorough review.Living Language Hindi includes:

·A course book and six audio CDs
·Two unique sets of recordings, one for use with the book, and a second for use anywhere to review and reinforce
·Natural dialogues, clear grammar notes, vocabulary building, and key expressions
·Plenty of practice, both written and recorded
·Notes on culture, cuisine, history, geography, and more
·Real life “discovery” activities and internet resources
·An extensive two-way glossary ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Hindi Without Tears
Hindi: A Complete Course for Beginners (Book & 6 Audio CDs)Excellent material that is easy to follow.

Bahut Accha Hai!
I just love this method soo much!
I had previously bought the Teach Yourself one, but after 6 months I finally got this one. And it's so much better!
the CDs (6 of them!)
are awesome, and the lessons are extremely clear and accurate. You can really feel your progresses throughout the different steps, with exercices and reviews.
The Cultural notes also are a very good point, and a huge advantage compared to other teach yourself stuff. It helps you keep your feets on the ground!

I definitely highly recommend it! ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (12)

Great for lots of helpful sayings especially for someone who wants to know basics for touring purposes
This books is great for a tourist.Not a book you would want to learn from.I totally disagree with TRAVELER'S comment.The pronunciation is actually excellent.It even describes the way to pronounce each letter in the beginning.The system they use for pronunciation is by far one of the easiest I have seen in all the time I have studied Hindi.So pay attention to what everyone else thinks and ignore the one person who for some reason thinks it is not good pronunciation.But I will agree with what someone else said, the binding is not as great as they would like to think it is.I have barely used the book myself since I am learning grammar and the actual language, and the binding is already coming off and pages starting to almost fall out.But seriously it is a great book to learn some basic vocabulary and to pick up useful phrases for purposes of touring :)

Limited usefulness for people on a short time budget
I was disappointed in the book.There is a lot of information in it, but the author explains some of the pronunciation in terms of how you speak French, which did not help me much.The pronunciation guide is in a modified phonetic spelling which may be understood by linguists, but which was not terribly user friendly to a layman traveler who had time to study the language only very briefly before arriving in India.This was not the "down and dirty" survival phrase book I had hoped for.Lastly, being a 1981 publication, it does not really reflect all of the English jargon now incorporated in the language.

Excellent
Written simplistically and logically this little book augments basic Hindi vocabulary. Explanations are easy to understand. When studying a foreign language, this is most important. The excellently planned foundation makes it essential to someone wanting to learn this beautiful language.

Good Content - Bad Binding
I've just started using the book. So far, the content seems good. But contrary to the claim on the cover ("Sturdy binding - pages will not fall out"), the pages are already starting to fall out. Not good for a book that's going to be opened a lot.

Great Pocket Book
This book is ideal for popping in a purse or pocket.I carry it with me and when I am waiting for someone in the car, I can learn a phrase or two.I have been experimenting byteaching my husband the odd phrase or two that he shares with the Indian men where he works, and they good naturedly send him back with a phrase to try out on me in turn.The Devanagari script is a little hard on the eyes, but it gives so many useful everyday phrases that, in conjunction with other Hindi learning tools, I have found it speeds up the practical application side of the language. ... Read more

Book Description
Berlitz Phrase Books, the unparalleled market leaders, feature 1,200 current expressions visitors will hear during their travels plus cultural tips and cautions to guide visitors through social with confidence. .Essential vocabulary, phrases and mini-dialogs cover the most common travel situations .A grammar section, 2,300 entry bilingual dictionary, menu-reader .Fits in your pocket or purse ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Ya kitab bahut accha nahe hai,(this book is not very good)
This book it truly only useful IF you have a dedicated teacher of the Hindi language.The vocabulary is mismatched (some words in the book aren't in her glossary!), the individual exercises are not numbered (so its easy to lose you place!)There is no reverse -look up... no Romanization to check your pronunciation against.There are no answers to the the exercises, so I never know if I "got it correct" or was learningthings incorrectly.The book is also highly "grammar oriented" so the grammatical terms words are used instead of examples of the words themselves -- this means that your brain has to do two translation 'hops' (three if you are reading the devanagari) to get to the answer (devanagri script/hindi sound -> present obique -> meaning).The Font/Text is small, and there are no pictures, and the audio exercises are not numbered in the audio so you don't know where you are, or should be reading along in the book.Also the directions are often unclear, and combined with poor or confusing examples and unless you are highly linguistically oriented, or have a dedicated teacher (and a tutor, likely)this is not a good book to learn from.

I have used this book for two semesters, and finally someone lent me " Teach Yourself Beginner's Hindi" by Snell (not the blue Snell and Weightman) and in one chapter everything actually clicked in a way that Jain wasn't able to communicate. I also could finally feel like I could speak, instead of stumble and painstakingly grab for clues.

Well organized tutorial of Hindi grammar
Usha R. Jain has written an excellent grammar for the Hindi Language. Jain starts with the most simple grammatical constructs and proceeds to more complicated sentence structures. Each chapter builds on the rules presented in the previous chapters. Each chapter is organized into three parts. First, Jain presents a description of the grammatical rule and illustrates it with a number of example. The second sections consists of a number of exercises in which Jain presents a template sentence followed by a number of sentences which require students to make substitutions or transformations. The third section of each chapter is a set of English sentences for students to translate into Hindi. The one drawback is that the glossary is poorly organized. The glossary presents English translations of Hindi words grouped by word type (nouns, verbs, etc.) It would have been better to list all words in a single, alphabetical list. An English to Hindi glossary would also have been useful.

/9 ?$>, ,9A$ M@ 9H!!! (yah kitaab bahut acchii hai)
I have always had a desire to learn Hindi and plan on majoring in Hindi along with Arabic and finish the French degree I already started on.Finding books that are on Hindi is a task in itself.Finding a good one is another even more difficult chore. :pI found Ms. Jain's approach to be very efficient.It truly does introduce the concepts of hindi grammar gradually and in an orderly fashion.There are PLENTY of exercises as you would hope.Plenty of repetition to get the idea of each individual detail of each grammar point she is trying to teach in that particular part.It is done in a way so that you would be able to not only know how to say something and use the correct grammar, but you would also be able to substitute different nouns/adjectives/verbs etc.Of all the resources I have seen this is by far the best one.I also use Teach Yourself Hindi (Complete Course w/ the tapes), and I used Teach Yourself Hindi Script (both good for content, although rather dense and they are a great deal of information to take in so quickly and not to mention rather disorganized) I however would reccommend that you have the Teach Yourself Hindi Script for those already not familiar with reading and writing in Devanagari script.The complete course would also help aid in your studies for further vocabulary that Ms. Jain did not include.All things said now for the negatives of the book.The main thing I dislike about the books is there is no answer key to know that you got the exercises right.She gives an example like "ek kalam hai" (There is a pen) and then you have to make it say "caar kalam hai~" (There are four pens) and then the rest of the problems are just there and you just have to assume you got it right.The other downfall for alot of people (especially those not familiar with Devanagari script and/or those who cannot read it yet) is that the books includes no transliteration whatsoever.It assumes a full understanding of the script. (She does include an introductory chapter on the alphabet and how to write the consonants and vowels and everything you need)So I would highly reccommend getting the most out of that and learning the script as I said before via Teach Yourself Hindi Script then the book should pose little or no problem.All things considered this is an excellent book that is noteworthy and deserving of praise.I would definitely agree its one of the best if not best options out there.YOU WILL LEARN FROM THIS BOOK!! :)

love it
I am studying Hindi at my university, taught by a visiting Fulbright scholar. She was expecting to teach 'heritage' students, and was therefore unprepairedfor the 4 non-heritage students who registered for her class. No curriculum, no texts. She very successfully taught us to read and write Devanagari script, but we were all struggling with how to learn grammer and with beginning to speak with understanding. I was so relieved to find Usha Jain's book.It makes sense! And it is so well laid out for the beginning Hindi student.I recommend it highly, and I look forward to future texts from this very gifted teacher.

A good book even without a teacher
I've looked through several of the readily available commercial 'teach yourself' books for beginning Hindi students and none of them seemed compatible with what I wanted to know and the way I learn. They were either too technical and full of linguistic terminology or too like a traveller's phrase book with little explaination of grammar and split into the usual sections on meeting people, shopping,visiting the doctor, etc. with no explanation of how to plug different vocabulary into basic constructs so that I could learn to converse on other topics.

Usha Jain's book is much more practical and user friendly, taking you through all the basic grammatical constructs in an order that makes sense, introducing only a small amount of vocabulary but making it obvious how to plug in whatever words you need as you learn them. The pronunciation drills are very good but, if you're teaching yourself, you obviously need to record an obliging native Hindi speaker to use as a model.

If you don't already know Devanagari script, I would supplement this text with something like Rupert Snell's 'Reading Hindi Script' (dry, but nice for its inclusion of handwritten examples)or the McGraw Hill "Your First 100 Words in Hindi' (fun , comprehensive, and you get some useful vocabulary to get you started).
Once you can recognise the characters fairly readily, Usha Jain's book is definitely one of the better options out there. ... Read more

Product Description
Pimsleur has been a recognized name in language training for decades, and updated Audiofy audiobook chip editions of Pimsleur Compact courses combine a handful of cassettes or CDs onto a tiny memory card - yielding an affordable, durable, more portable product. Each Audiofy audiobook chip, hardly larger than a stamp, holds an unabridged Compact course with five hours of digital audio, and saves the last listening position automatically (unlike CDs).Created for adult learners, this Pimsleur Compact Hindi edition offers ten half-hour lessons, providing "meet and greet" conversation skills to enrich upcoming travel, begin adjusting as a new arrival, or surprise and bond a bit more closely with a foreign-born relative. Like all Pimsleur courses, the lessons emphasize good pronunciation and common courtesy, allowing practical interaction with native speakers.This Audiofy audiobook chip edition can be played on Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh desktop computers or laptops (Microsoft Windows XP/2000/Me/98, or Apple Mac OS X 10.3.9 and above) using an SD memory card slot or adapter, like those for digital cameras. Audiobook chips also move seamlessly to most Palm OS and Pocket PC handheld PDAs with SD expansion slots, as well as Treo and Windows Mobile "smartphones" (Palm OS 5.2 or Windows Mobile 2002 and above).Audiofy audiobook chips avoid the lengthy downloading or "syncing" of other digital formats. Audiofy audiobook chips offer "no look" navigation, announcing your listening position with two button clicks and letting you jump to other lessons in seconds. It's also ideal for anyone hindered by the small displays on some devices. Since university linguist Dr. Paul Pimsleur designed courses that are almost entirely audio-based, they are suitable for traveling, commuting or exercising. With Audiofy audiobook chips, this proven technique is now more convenient than ever. ... Read more

Book Description

This new and extensively revised edition of Colloquial Hindi is easy to use and completely up to date. Specially written by experienced teachers for self-study or class use, the course offers you a step-by-step approach to written and spoken Hindi. No prior knowledge of the language is required.

Colloquial Hindi is:

• interactive: with lots of new exercises for regular practice
• clear: including concise grammar notes
• practical: with useful vocabulary and simplified pronunciation guide
• complete: including answer key and reference section.

By the end of this rewarding course you will be able to communicate confidently and effectively in Hindi in a broad range of everyday situations. Two sixty minute CDs are available to complement the course. Recorded by native speakers, they will help develop your pronunciation, listening and speaking skills.

Customer Reviews (21)

If you ignore or dislike grammar buy it
It's a good option for those who cannot understand grammar or those who hate it. Personally, I'd prefer something more grammatical. The author avoids using any grammar rules and terms. I don't really like this.
Also if you don't want to learn the devanagari it's a good option. You can move throughout the whole book without using a single letter of the Hindi script

Was expecting a little more.
Although it's a great intro with lively discussions and a great deal of vocabulary is introduced and incorporated, it's not all toghether "the" best primer available, especially since it lacks heavily in regards to verbs, conjugations, and other aspects.It's GREAT for complete beginners, but a speaker with some working knowledge may find it a tad bit unchallenging.

if you're a complete newbie, i recommed getting this fair-quality book, but just know its not great
ok, this is a good book. by studying from this, you'll develop a knowledge of basic hindi grammar backed by a couple hundred words. it is broken into 2 parts. the first 10 lessons is about speaking and the second last six is about writing. i'm now on lesson 9 of the first part and spending a little reviewing the previous lessons.

i have 1 major complaint about this book. WAY TOO MUCH VOCAB IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE FIRST TEN LESSONS. by this, i mean that if u want 2 learn how to count, say colors,illnesses, and common everyday foods, u must look at the glossary.most aren't included in the dialogues. hindi #'s are very,very irregular compared 2 english and trying to look it up in the glossary and memorize like that makes things harder. (i can only count up 2 twenty so far and i'm on the 9th lesson!). the same goes for the other things i mentioned.

and 2 add a little more, the author likes to explain things clearly. but explain things clearly by using linguistic or language jargon. i had to find out on my own wat transitive and intransitive verbs were on own 4 example.

but other than these, everything seems fine to me. but i havent tried the writing lessons. and do get the cd's. but if u can't u'll survive with the cassettes(although that'll be a little harder with those)

BUT BEWARE! SUM INDIAN PEOPLE ARE RUDE AND UNFRIENDLY!(NOT EVERYONE IS LIKE THAT THANK GOODNESS). i know this personally. they might think u to be a criminally insane freak 4 ur interest in the language.

but pakistanese on the other hand are people u won't have to worry about. the ones i've met are very impressed by my limited knowledge of hindi.

good luck!

Suitable For Whetting Your Curiosity And More
I purchased both the book and the audio CD, and so far I've read maybe 8 or so pages, but have played the CDs quite a bit as a companion to my daily commute. Bhatia is my first exposure to Hindi langauge instruction. So far the experience has been enjoyable, though a lot of Hindi letters sound alike to my tin ear.

Compared to products I've used for other langauges (mostly Berlitz tapes), the Hindi CD is a vast improvement, moving beyond "set piece conversation" into more general usage.

Obviously, I'm not in a position to critique Bhatia's style of instruction or other technical details.

The CDs I received are "burned" (CD-Rs) with one-color silk screening, and not pressed. That's OK, but for extra safety, ripping a copy for general use is recommended. Keeping CD-Rs in hot cars is an express ticket to data oblivion.

My only minor gripe is that I wish that those who write about Hindi or Indian culture would stop apologizing for India's social problems. Remember, the USA broke away from Great Britain in 1776 with a population of about 3 million. India started her own path in 1947 with a population hundreds of times greater. It took the USA roughly 70-80 years to achieve social and economic milestones comparable to Europe. So just chill and remember that respect comes to those with lots of money and power (such as one gains by splitting the atom.)

User-friendly intro to an extremely important world language
Bohut acche!Tej K. Bhatia's book is an outstanding, gentle, yet comprehensive introduction to the Hindi language for a beginner.It's difficult to cite the numerous reasons why this book is so valuable for the apprehensive beginning language-learner, but I'll make an attempt to summarize the high points:

(1) Bhatia is careful not to overwhelm the beginning learner with the complexities of the Devanagari script too early.He has the perfect instructor's touch here, rendering most of the early dialogues in Roman characters while gradually easing the learner into Devanagari as he/she gains more confidence in the basics of speaking and comprehending.

(2) Bhatia's book has just enough grammar to give any Hindi learner a handy mental framework for organizing the rules of sentence construction, without being too intimidating.Happily, Hindi grammar resembles that of Mandarin Chinese in some respects, though not quite as simple as Mandarin-- it's fairly consistent, broad-brushed enough to allow sophisticated emotional and logical expression yet accessible enough that even beginning students can basically vocalize their thoughts after just a couple weeks of study.Bhatia does a fine job of really organizing this grammar in the right sequence, explaining the niceties of Hindi syntax while taking some of the language's trickier aspects (e.g. postpositions, as in Japanese, participles, causatives, the oblique) and making them seem eminently manageable.

(3) Pronunciation, often neglected in self-teaching language books, gets more than a cursory treatment here, an asset not to be downplayed!

(4) The tape/CDs have a wealth of spoken material and can be conveniently played at home, on the road or on the plane or train or bus.

(5) Bhatia's book, as the series title suggests, really focuses on Hindi as a colloquial idiom.While this may at first seem trivial, it's a very important asset to his book!In India, there are in effect two forms of Hindi-- the formalized literary version used in ceremonial and official circumstances, and the popular "Bollywood" Hindi that's used on the street and in the markets throughout India and, indeed, much of the world (including in quite a few South Asian shops in New York City, where this "common Hindi" is a sort of lingua franca).It's this colloquial Hindi (very closely resembling Urdu), essentially, that's so rapidly become a world language and taken much of the world by storm as Bollywood movies and music, among other Indian exports, become so popular.

In practice, this "colloquial Hindi" isn't even entirely Hindi, but a hybrid spoken tongue with a Hindi foundation plus plenty of contributions from Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, and other Indian as well as European languages tossed in to spice the mix, popular throughout the Subcontinent in its varieties.While Bhatia doesn't delve too much into the varied vocabulary of this "dialectical Hindi(ish)" language, his dialogues and idiomatic expressions do a fine job of conveying true conversational Hindi to the learner and thus providing a nice basis for communicating in the popular Hindi that's actually used between native speakers.

In its dialectical varieties, Hindi-Urdu has close to a billion speakers worldwide, may soon become a UN official language and-- along with Spanish and Mandarin Chinese-- may well be one of the "essential languages" of the 21st century as India continues its ascent.Moreover, since Hindi is a fellow Indo-European language, it has enough similarities to intrigue and delight a native European-language speaker and smooth the learning process.In fact, if you've already learned an important European language like French, German or Spanish-- or Farsi Persian or Dari, which Hindi-Urdu in many ways resembles-- you'll have a headstart in mastering the quirks and structures of Hindi, especially as Bhatia presents it.

Besides which, Hindi is a beautiful and poetic language that sings as much as it speaks, equally at home conveying complicated scientific concepts as in expressing the deepest emotions of the heart.Bhatia is an experienced and talented teacher of this wonderful language, and after just a couple months of studying you'll find yourself able to communicate at a decent level, maybe even humming some Hindi music during your lunch break. ... Read more

Book Description
Comprehensive Hindi includes 30 lessons of essential grammar and vocabulary -- 16 hours of real-life spoken practice sessions -- plus an introduction to reading.

Upon completion of this Level I program, you will have functional spoken proficiency with the most-frequently-used vocabulary and grammatical structures. You will be able to:

* initiate and maintain face-to-face conversations,

* deal with every day situations -- ask for information, directions, and give basic information about yourself and family,

*communicate basic information on informal topics and participate in casual conversations,

* avoid basic cultural errors and handle minimum courtesy and travel requirements,

*satisfy personal needs and limited social demands,

* establish rapport with strangers in foreign countries,

* begin reading and sounding out items with native-like pronunciation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Pimsleur is the only brand that works!!!
I am terrible at learning languages--I had to repeat every language class I took in school--but have been able to learn a sizable amount of Spanish and chunks of Hindi, Russian, French, Japanese and Italian by using Pimsleur language CD's.I have tried to use other programs and have gotten nowhere.With Pimsleur I learn quickly effectivley and in a way that makes it easy to have actual conversations with actual people.Pimsleur works because they structure your learning for you, you don't have to figure out the best way to practice/studybecause the lessons are already structured the way your brain learns best.Not having a text ensures you learn proper pronunciation by not confusing your brain with pronouncing words like they are written till after you learn how to say them right.
These tapes are terribly sexist, especially the Hindi, they always assume that you are a man, which is messed up because of the 16 or so people I know going to India (most in my school group, a few separate) only two are male.Thats messed up!!!!!Normally that would cause me not to buy a product, but with this it would be shooting myself in the foot, because there are no other programs even 50% as good as this.The comprehensive Pimsleur for Hindi is comming out in September (a month after I get back) or I would have bought that instead.Usually you can find the comprehensive versions of Pimsleur online for as cheap as $150 and worth every penny.I hope they get there act together and stop being so sexist in their newer editions.
Also, just a note, this particular Pimsleur set is more concentrated than their usual stuff I think because they weren't selling a comprehensive set origionally, so they go faster than usual which means you should expect to practice each lesson a few times.On the other hand I was happy because that meant I got more words for a lower price.

Could be better
I have Pimsleur CDs for many different languages (Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and several others) and have found it very helpful for learning different Asian languages - however, this one for Hindi was not that good.There are certain sounds in Hindi that are much easier to pronounce correctly if you know where to place your tongue.In Pimsleur programs for other languages, this kind of helpful information is usually offered, but on recordings for Hindi it was not.I still consider these CDs a valuable addition, but out of several different programs that I purchased for learning Hindi, so far I have found Colloquial Hindi to be the most useful and Rosetta Stone Hindi has also been helpful.

A good place to start...
I really enjoyed these CDs.I feel as if I've learned some useful Hindi and gotten a good start toward becoming proficient with the language.I really like the Pimsleur approach and I'm considering trying some of their other language courses.

I have only a few criticisms:

First, as other reviewers have mentioned, some of the Hindi phrases that these CDs teach are quite formal.I've had Hindi speakers tell me that the way I learned to say certain things is technically correct, but that NO ONE would actually say it like that.

The other problem is that when you're done, you're done!While this course is referred to as "Hindi 1" throughout the CDs, there is currently no path to continue learning Hindi with Pimsleur.If they released a "Hindi 2," I'd buy it.

Pimsleur Language Program - Hindi
I used this CD set to prepare for a visit to India.I had zero knowledge of Hindi before this course and I listened to the whole set of CDs not quite three times (in the car while commuting) before my trip.

The course covers a limited range of vocabulary and grammar at an elementary level; it did not make me fluent or even able to carry on a conversation.(I guess I could have conducted a very short conversation about whether or not I was Indian or American, or whether or not I spoke Hindi or English, but some things are just obvious.) However, it did give me enough knowledge to exchange pleasantries, handle basic directions and requests, and show interest in the language.

The most important things that I got from the CDs was a feel for the language.I was shocked to be able to listen to Hindi conversations and be able to pick out bits and pieces that I understood - a few words here and a few words there.I was also able to recognize certain gramatical patterns (such as questions, first and third person references, small talk phrases, time, and numbers).I was identifying with the language if not quite understanding it!If only I could have stayed longer, I could have done better!

And the pronunciation practice was invaluable.The Pimsleur repetitions really gave me an ear for the language - it no longer sounded so foreign. Because I could actually hear the language, I could remember a few additional words that I learned in India. I don't think that any other method could have given me a better start in the amount of time I invested in the Pimsleur course.

Hindi not as good as German, Japanese
I am a big fan of Pimsleur, having purchased German (4), Japanese (3), Spanish, Hebrew, Mandarin, Russian, and Hindi. So, I have no axe to grind against Pimsleur when I say that this series is not on a par with some of the others. Why? Because the language used is archaic. The words for "Miss", "Please", and others are not a part of every day Hindi. I work with a couple of dozen native Hindi speakers and they agree, to a person, that some of the phrases that I have learned and repeated are comical. Of course it's not a total loss. I am able to speak Hindi and for the most part what I've learned is useful and fun to use. Pimsleur is a great system, the Hindi tapes are worth buying, but they are simply not as good as Pimsleur's other language products. The criticisms that I have read about the lack of grammer tutorials are specious. You and I and everyone else learned to speak long before we had any notion of grammer. If you want grammer go to school or buy a book, if you want to be fluent move to India. In the absence of that buy Pimsleur. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Conversational Hindi
This program was OK,When you day conversation, you think everyday conversation. How the weather? How is your family?It would be nice if that kind of conversation was included.It is more formal as to are you American or from India.All in all this program is OK. ... Read more

Book Description

Bestselling language courses now with audio CDs!

From Danish to Spanish, Swahili to Brazilian Portuguese, the languages of the world are brought within the reach of any beginning student. Learners can use the Teach Yourself Language Courses at their own pace or as a supplement to formal courses. These complete courses are based on the very latest learning methods and designed to be enjoyable and user-friendly.

Prepared by experts in the language, each course begins with the basics and gradually promotes the student to a level of smooth and confident communication, including:

Customer Reviews (36)

Probably the best Teach Yourself language course I've seen
In fact, many Universities use this book as their textbook. I personally like to supplement it with something more systematic, but if you want something to really frame your Hindi learning, this is the way to go.

Slogging through Hindi
There is some serious slogging here.You can start right into the conversational, but each chapter is *so* dense that you don't feel like you are touching bottom!The beginners hindi version of this book is a *much* better version...

Great!
We used this book as a Hindi textbook in a university class. I still use it.

Probably not for the new student
This is a great book, but I'd recommend the "Teach Yourself Beginner's Hindi" and "Beginners Hindi Script" by the same author prior to starting this course. It throws the student straight in the deep end with conversation and beyond the first few chapters all the Hindi is written in the Devanagari script, which means you need to know it first before you can progress. The CDs are helpful with pronunciation, particularly with the retroflex consonants, which are a challenge to the English speaker!

teach yourself hindi
I've used several language cd prgrams, including Colloquial Hindi and Pimsleur, and I think Teach Yourself is the cream of the crop.I find it easy to follow, and well paced.The dialogues make sense, and follow an actual storyline.For the price, I don't think you can do better than this one. ... Read more

Book Description

For those who find learning a new language daunting, the Teach Yourself Beginner's Language Series is just what the language teacher ordered. Each friendly and practical course introduces the new language without overwhelming the learner and includes:

Customer Reviews (1)

Easy to learn and remember
Definitely get the book with audio CDs. This book is very easy to use and learn from (you just have to keep yourself motivated and pick it up at least 2-4 times a week!). The audio is great for help with real pronunciation. Some things in this book are very formal (compared to how my boyfriend and his friends speak) but you have to learn a language starting somewhere! I also suggest the same publisher's "Beginner's Hindi Script". It starts you off with how to write and basic words and lessons to get you warmed up. ... Read more

Book Description

Filled to the brim with phrases on everything from hiking to shopping and eating out, this essential phrasebook will make your trip to India and Pakistan much more enjoyable. Order your kulfi extra sweet, navigate your way through the mazes of Delhi and Lahore and chat to sacred cows with ease.

• both Hindi and Urdu script are included
• includes comprehensive dictionary and essential grammar
• extensive sections on religion and spirituality
• enjoy the local cuisine and get to know the local culture and customs
• discuss the finer points of tea, dhal, rice and roti
• cheer with the locals at a cricket match

Customer Reviews (4)

Useful and user-friendly
The books in the newer series of Lonely Planet phrasebooks are all excellent, because the authors make the assumption that the reader is an educated and literate individual, who wants to know something more about the target language than just a list of supposedly common phrases. There is a tremendous amount of information packed into this handy little book. Contrary to what another reviewer said, the book makes a very clear distinction between Hindi and Urdu words. The sections on script and grammar are well done. Overall, it is probably the best Hindi/Urdu phrasebook available.

Great compact reference
Very helpful pocket reference.

Do not go for this one.
This phrasebook does not make clear which words are Hindi and which wordsare Urdu.Not recommended for the beginner.

A very useful phrasebook
This phrasebook is excellent. It provides both Nagari and Urdu orthography. The little dictionary in the end is very exhaustive and ready-made sentences cover a wide range of needs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Concise guide to Hindi grammar, dictionary, phrasebook
I went to the same University of Wisconsin India program that Todd Scudiere graduated from, so I can attest to the quality of his prior training.

I think this is a great pocket Hindi reference, but no substitute for proper language training. The vocabulary and phrase collections are very good and accompanied by devanagari script and Roman transliteration. I am currently using the book to develop a set of Hindi flashcards.

To go further than this you will need the Oxford Hindi-English-Hindi dictionaries and a good course such as "Colloquial Hindi: The Complete Course for Beginners (Colloquial Series)." It is really tough learning how to make some of the consonant sounds just from a book or CD.

Very Helpful
I purchased this for a co-worker who is struggling to adapt to English.She has found this very helpful. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Innovative, Individualized, Easy, and Authoritative
I wrote this book for someone totally unfamiliar with the Devanagari Script, used for Hindi, Marathi, and Sanskrit languages. It can enable such person to read and write anything and everything in the Devanagari Script within a matter of a few hours. I observed this while administering the course to students in person. No claims or promises are implied here.

For those who are married into Hindi or Marathi speaking families, or interested in simple acquaintance with those languages (or in Sanskrit), the linguists, and teachers of languages may want to begin by looking at this book. This work has been expanded from 20 pages to 40+ pages, in Sanskrit:: An Appreciation Without Apprehension. Therefore, if your interest is primarily in learning Sanskrit, then buy that book instead, and save some money in long run.

Amazingly simple
Nevermind the other "script breaker" books out there - this book actually "breaks it down" in a simple and concise manner. I am already able to recognize and breakdown certain characters in the script! I haven't encountered a book, or a teacher who explains the script in this manner. I highly recommend this book!

Simple and convenient
I found this booklet presented a simple approach to learning how to read the Devanagari script. Since I can already speak and understand Hindi, I also liked the fact that the book is limited in scope and does not go beyond teaching the script, because that would be unnecessary for me.

Learning Devanagari Script from a beginner's viewpoint
I felt that "A Crash Course to Learn the Devanagari Script (For Hindi, Marathi and Sanskrit Languages)" was an excellent book for anyone who has no prior knowledge of Devanagari characters, but would liketo pick up this skill rather quickly.The book has easy to follow lessonsfor learning each of the characters (and their corresponding phoneticsounds) of the Hindi/Marathi/Sanskrit languages, and enables the reader tomaster the memorization rapidly.Also, you can measure your progress byutilizing the numerous writing exercises in the book.These can help youto gauge your speed of recognition of the characters and your ability tosound out the more difficult combinations of letters.

Overall, this is agood book for beginners, and could be a helpful "pocket guide"for more advanced students learning the Devanagari script. ... Read more

Book Description

For those who find learning a new language daunting, the Teach Yourself Beginner's Language Series is just what the language teacher ordered. Each friendly and practical course introduces the new language without overwhelming the learner and includes:

Customer Reviews (4)

Good course, but takes perseverence
This course is divided into twelve chapters.I figured, "Hey - I have twelve weeks before I go to India.A chapter a week -- that's doable."Well, it wasn't, at least not for me.I like the layout of the book, the grammar notes are clear, and the exercises are helpful, but I find myself going at a slow pace.Despite what another reviewer says, you NEVER have to learn the Devanagari script with this course.(I started to learn it, but then realized I didn't need it to make friends, eat, sleep, or shop.)Exercises are given in both script and romanization throughout the book.I wish there was more dialogue practice on the CDs, but I ended up buying the "Teach Yourself Hindi Conversation" CDs which provide extra listening and speaking practice.All in all, this course may be more than you need to survive in India for a month or so, but it's certainly worth starting with.

Fun, easy to follow along!
I bought this book after almost completing Rupert Snell's book, 'Hindi (Teach Yourself Complete Course)'. I was finding the last few chapters a little challenging and hoped this book would 'fill in the gaps' so to speak.

It was a wise investment! Even though much of the material is covered in Snell's 'Complete Course', it still contains many little valuable tips and nuances not found in the Complete Course that makes this purchase worthwhile. The audio CD is better as well; it's a bit slower/clearer and easier to follow along.

Ideally I should have picked up this book first but I wasn't aware it existed at the time.

Great for the beginner
I am enjoying this. It is entirely adequate for a beginner and novice in Hindi. The audio is especially useful and easy to follow along with.

Economical and fast
This is all you'll need to get up to speed with basic Hindi, so unless you really need to become an expert, this should do it.I got the book to learn enough Hindi to at least have some idea what is going in in Bollywood films.I didn't want to spend months on the project.This is the perfect resource for a one month basic blitz.
The book is example oriented, but does present the grammar you will need too.The book uses devanagari script (with tranlisterations to begin with).I actually prefer this.Trying to learn hindi, urdu or arabic without learning the alphabet is generally an exercise in futility.Transliteration conventions are not standard enough, and it's generally frustrating trying to get pronunciations right if you are memorizing transliterations.If you're going to use text at all with these languages, you should learn the alphabet.It is after all just an alphabet, and it will only take a couple of days of effort to get down.
The CD's are well recorded with native voices in small variety of accents.The CD tracks generally identify where they come from, so it's pretty easy to let the CD's drive your learning if you work that way.(I do - copying the CD's to my ipod.) ... Read more

Book Description
Learn Hindi Through English, Dimensions: 18x12x1 cm. ... Read more

Book Description
In a blow against the British Empire, Khan suggests that London deliberately set India's Hindu and Muslim populations against each other in the 1800s by artificially splitting their one language in two, then burying the evidence in obscure scholarly works outside the public view. "Divide and rule" - the British were experts at that. All language is political - and so is the boundary between one language and another. The author analyzes the origins of Urdu, one of the earliest known languages, and propounds the iconoclastic views that, (1) Hindi came from pre-Aryan Dravidian and Austric-Munda (rooted in the Middle East/Mesopotamia), not from Aryan Sanskrit, and (2) Hindi's script came from the Aramaic system, similar to Greek. Urdu/Hindi: An Artificial Divide integrates the "out of Africa" linguistic evolution theory with the fossil linguistics of the Middle East, and discards the theory that Sanskrit descended from a hypothetical proto-Indo European language and by degeneration created dialects, Urdu/Hindi and others. It shows that several tribes from the Middle East created the hybrid by cumulative evolution. The oldest groups, Austric and Dravidian, starting in 8000 BC, provided the grammar/syntax plus about 60% of vocabulary, Sanskrit added 10% after 1500 BC and Arabic/Persian 20-30% after AD 800. The book reveals Mesopotamia as the linguistic melting pot of Sumerian, Babylonian, Elamite, Hittite-Hurrian-Mitanni, with a common script and vocabularies shared mutually and passed on to Indo-European, Sanskrit, Dravidian, Arabic and then to Hindi/Urdu; in fact the author locates oldest evidence of Sanskrit in Syria. The book exposes the myths of Sanskrit or Hebrew as "revealed" languages and examines the fiction of linguistic races, i.e. Aryan, Semitic. The book supports the "one world concept" and reveals the potential of Urdu/Hindi to unite all genetic elements, races and regions of the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent. Khan bolsters his hypothesis with copious technical linguistic examples and quotes masters of Urdu/Hindi prose and poetry of the last three centuries, showcasing the passionate expressiveness of the language. * Abdul Jamil Khan, MD, served as chairman of a teaching hospital and as a professor of pediatrics he taught infant speech development in New York. From there, his research has extended into linguistics and history. His impetus stems from his early education, as he learned six languages by 10th grade and had to face political claims regarding "Divine Arabic" and "Divine Sanskrit," and experienced the tragedies of the British division of India and its language. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Creationists challengend
Asthe author ,I do appreciate all comments with gratitude/thanks.Some

readers have really been distressed as the book delinks the linguistic

classification " Semitic/ Aryan-Indo-european "based on Noahs'three children/ or indian myth of Sanskrit as the mother of all ; these being the "matter of faith".The book really rekindles the cold war between the

priestology and scientific evolution which got started with the mesopotamian discoveries; The linguistic families meanwhile are believed

as a " FINAL scientific" discovery; the book has reopened the old wound and reignited the debate" REVELATION vs EVOLUTION". Feel embarassed to

give 5 stars to my own book but am convinced that Languages evolved in

africa ,polished in mideast and diseminated by the farmers; this is the

state of art in linguistics.

Excellent !
The Politics of Language is a book written in an interesting way in its centuries old historical prospective as the human societies developed and started integrating.
Language helped people to know each other irrespective of their faith and believe.
However, Britain , who ruled India after the fall of Mughal umpire , used language aspolitical weapon to dive Hindu and Muslim by getting their brain washed that Hindi is Hindu and Urdu is Muslim.
The political use of language by British India , as writer Abdul Jamail Khan has dwelt in length in his book, is a scientific analysishow the rulers divide the people to achieve their objective.
Dr Khan , s book is a valuable addition in the languages books written by
other writers but his book urges people all over the world to avoid hating each
on the basis of language as for centuries language has a great force in integrating the society.

An Impeccable Gem
Dr. Jamil Khan does not shy away from introducing a new theory: that the British Empire deliberately created an "artificial divide" in the language of the Indian Hindus and Muslims. Instead of going along with the masses, Dr.Khan painstakingly researches and questions what has been largely accepted for generations-and offers an answer that fits even better.

He discusses how, contrary to what the British said at the time, that people of Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi heritage are the descendants of common ancestors and share the same culture. Dr. Khan says that despite what others believe, Urdu was not derived from Arabic/Farsi, rather Urdu words were already in existence even before the Arab conquests in India. He traces Sanskrit back to Syria and Turkey.

Well-researched and well-written, the book gives in-depth information and creates a great deal of interest in a seemingly dry subject. Once begun, it is hard to put the book down. Simple, clear language and easy-to-read tables make the book even more enjoyable. This book is a gem for those who have even the remotest interest in history and linguistics: it is a must-read. The author must be congratulated and commended by linguists for his bold and unbiased effort to introduce a new-and perhaps more accurate-theory, challenging one that has been generally accepted for generations.

Revealing !
The book presents the science of the evolution of written language dating its origin some 6000 years ago to the Middle East/ Mesopotamia. The reader is guided through a wonderfully educational and eye-opening tour of the development of language and its migration and transformation as it traveled across continents. The early chapters are exquisitely detailed, defining a sound foundation on which the remainder of the book is developed. Moreover, by the time one traverses through these pages, the facts and messages become abundantly clear.

The author, backed by meticulously researched historical facts, provides example after example of the dating of selected Urdu words as far back as 3000 years bc ! Furthermore, the reader is educated of the ugly interests of the ruling British empire, and how it manipulated the psyche of its subjects by lending religious and nationalistic identities to one language over another. The book is sprayed with countless examples of the ways in which the British used the politics of manipulating language to weaken the bonds of this integrated, religiously diverse society and divided the population and ultimately the subcontinent by labeling Urdu as Foreign and Muslim while Hindi being Patriotic and Hindu.

The author boldly goes on to uncover and correctly describe how the British appealed to the psyche of the pseudoproud Indians by also claiming themselves as Aryan and thereby winning the hearts of their Indian Aryan "brethren." These energized fanatics pursued their agenda resulting in the loss of Urdu as the national language just after the tail end of British rule in 1947. The Phoenetic and Gene theories the author eloquently describes are also quite interesting and convincing.

This tragic history of the Partition was a personal childhood ordeal that the author vividly describes and has wonderfully translated to tangible emotions that the reader can comprehend. As we move along through the later chapters, the author describes an ambitious revival of Urdu and related cultural activities not only in India through arts, cinema and poetry, but also through the emigrating populations throughout the Middle East, Europe and the West.

The Politics of Language is a wonderfully articulate book that is both educational and a revealing commentary on the surreptitious manipulation by a foreign power to divide a once strong and unified society. The author should be congratulated for such a profound and elucidating piece of work.

Linguistic Analysis
The author must be congratulated for an indepth review of a very sensitive topic. His analysis is impartial and thought provoking. This author must be
complimented for his zeal and relentless pursuit of linguistic history.I wish that more people read his work and learn the truth based on research and facts. ... Read more

Book Description

SPEAK ENGLISH TO LEARN ENGLISH

The Pimsleur Method will have you speaking English in just a few short, easy-to-use lessons.

Learn at your own pace, comfortably and conveniently.

No books to study. No memorization drills.

LEARN ENGLISH AS YOU LEARNED HINDI

You learned Hindi by listening. With Pimsleur, you listen to learn English. This Language Program was developed by renowned memory expert, Dr. Paul Pimsleur. His research led him to the realization that the most important use of memory is in language learning. Based on this, Dr. Pimsleur designed a learning program that works for any language. The Pimsleur Language Program is an integrated system which immerses you in the language, encouraging you to hear, understand and use the language all at the same time.

Now you can take advantage of Dr. Pimsleur's research. At the completion of these eight lessons you will comfortably understand and speak at a beginner level. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Outdated but at least somewhat useful
This dictionary is fairly out of date and is missing several common words which should be there.However, I have been using it for over 3 years and have been able to find most of the entries I was looking for.It also contains lists of Hindi sayings and vocabulary grouped by category (such as colours, parts of the body, animals, etc.) which I found helpful.You probably won't find a better dictionary with both Hindi-English and English-Hindi listings.

Not this one, turn around and run
I own no less than four Hindi-English dictionaries.Why so many?Because I bought this one first.It is hard to read, has many useless words and is missing some fairly common words.If you really need one, get The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary.It isn't both ways, but if you need both, then also find An English-Hindi Dictionary by Father Camille Bulcke.

Not for beginners
I expected transliteration (roman script) along with Hindi script. This dictionary has only Hindi script and is useless unless you know Hindi script. I returned it. . .

Great for learners
I am 11 years old learning Hindi and find this dictionary a lot of help ... Read more

Book Description

Unravel the mystery of Hindi script

Customer Reviews (2)

Good for kids
I'm teaching my daughter to read Hindi, and this book has helped. The flashcards are great. It helped me to introduce basic Hindi vocabulary to my kindergarten.

Terrible Beginner Book
I bought this book in order to familiarize myself with Devanagari script prior to tackling my Hindi grammar book. This is a terrible book for learning the script. It may serve as a good exercise book if you are already somewhat familiar with the characters. However, it gives a very brief 4 page explanation on the script and the rules and when explaining rules says, "This is mostly true in modern Hindi but to keep this book simple...." and so you are left with a brief explanation that may not even be completely accurate. The rest of the book is just flashcards and exercises where you connect words to pictures except that you were NEVER taught how to write the characters or how to join them into a word. I am buying Rupert Snell's book in order to learn the script. Once I have a decent understanding I will move on to the exercises in this book to test my knowledge. ... Read more