Why I chose Hindi.
I’ve wanted to learn a new language for a while, but then I asked myself: which one would actually be useful? In the US, many people learn Spanish because of geography. In Australia, we’re surrounded by ocean, not border checkpoints. While my daughter was doing work experience at the local library, she discovered that our town has a large Nepali population — though I don’t plan on climbing Everest anytime soon.
When I looked into it, I realized I was more likely to meet someone who speaks Hindi. There are ~600 million people worldwide who speak Hindi, compared to ~30 million who speak Nepali. I also checked the languages spoken in my town: English is spoken in ~86% of homes, Nepali ~1%, Hindi ~0.2%, along with smaller groups speaking Punjabi, Mandarin, and Tagalog. Add in a new e-pal in India, and it was settled — Hindi it is!
Why Now?
Why now? Why Not!
As Henry Ford said
“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.”
I’m 49 this year, if I wait until I feel ready, I may be waiting forever. The kids make me feel old enough as it is. I’m sure any parent could relate to that.
Side Rant: I had to explain to my 24-year-old son last week what I meant by a watch pot never boils. : End Rant
I am also a big believer of you can do anything you put your mind to, and sometimes you need to show yourself and other that this is true. (all these sayings I have today, maybe I am old 😊 Just missing the analogy of back in my day, when dinosaurs roamed the earth.)
What I hope to gain.
I hope to gain some new knowledge, and the joy of being able to say I know 2 languages. (Makes me sound smart 😊 ) Who knows — maybe one day I’ll overhear someone speaking Hindi and actually understand them!
With ~600million speaking Hindi I’m sure I can butcher at least one conversation.
I also love the idea of proving to myself and the kids that Mum is not too old to learn something new.
Duolingo: my first impressions
I am using Duolingo to learn Hindi, so far, I have done the first 2 lessons which is sounding the letters and linking them to their text in Hindi.
I find Duolingo easy to use, and quick courses, so I can absorb it at my own pace. Time will tell if this method works — especially since I don’t have anyone to correct my pronunciation yet
Ling: Easy Language Learning: My First Impressions
I also tried Ling and found it more engaging because I was learning words and phrases, not just letters.
For example, I learned:
- I am a woman
- I am a man
- I am a girl
- I am a boy
It felt like I could hold some sort of conversation much faster than by just learning letters.
I plan to continue using both apps and see which one makes the most impact — or whether using two actually speeds up my learning progress.
This is part of my 300 Goals
Week 1 of learning Hindi