Customer Reviews

Hindi in a Flash Kit Volume 1 (Tuttle Flash Cards)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My review and recommendations.
I. Before acquiring this item, the possible purchaser should know something. From the Introduction, p. 3: "is is assumed in this set that the student is already able to read the Devanagari script with some fluency." This was a little unexpected, but beginning on the next page is a smart setup which, with a touch of practice, can be utilized to self-teach the script. Thus, I recommend someone photocopy the spread of pages 4 and 5 of the included 31 p. booklet; keep a copy at their desk, in their car, and by the bed, referring to it several times throughout the day for a few days. This will begin the transformation of associating the characters of the script with the sound the mind should hear and the mouth should say when a particular Devanagari character is viewed. After at least 1/3 of the characters are learned, begin the cards.
II. The cards themselves are just a little larger than business cards, and are rather sturdy (though not indestructible). Grabbing a few cards (I started with 4 today, will build up to 10 over the next month)a day and putting them in a jacket pocket, these can be glanced while in an elevator, waiting in line, on lunch, on toilet, etc. Try to match a card with an item, event or something you would say that day. For instance, I took card 224 with me to the health club today and asked the clerk "How much paisa for the creatine?" Eventually, through gradual replacement, instead of saying your nose itches, you will think/say your nak itches. This process will certainly seem ridiculous to some. I used it to teach myself French, Latin (I've done tutoring in this), Anc. Greek (partially), and will now do this with Devanagari/Hindi and then Sanskrit and Tamil within the next few years.
III. I do recommend this product. I own over a dozen Hindi books and programs, and this is the set of 2 main items I recommend using: (1) This item, and (2) Living Language's "Hindi: A Complete Course for Beginners" with a fantastic coursebook and 6 audio CD's (though matching lesson 1 and text has a flaw, this is corrected by lesson 2). Acquire the free online Byki software (I like better than Ros. Stone -- [...]) program, but use it ONLY after familiarity with the script. I know item 2 is a bit expensive, but it is most thorough, and will take you far. Do a little every day. Don't force yourself to cram a chapter of an item in one sitting, rather make small visits 2-4 times through the day to this info. Worst case scenario, take a handful of these cards wherever you go. Small, compact, full of knowledge. Save your money. With these three items (2 purchased, 1 free) you will do the job and this investment will last for (I calculate) nearly a year of learning.
IV. I will buy Volume II the very first day it is available. Hello, people at Tuttle, do you realize you've created a market for Vol. II? I want it!

This is, probably, one of the best products on the market for learning Hindi vocabulary. For me it works much better than electronic word lists, such as BYKI, etc. The typographic quality is excellent, and it includes the card index in both sequential and Hindi alphabetic order.

To use this product fully a person has to know the Devanagari script and the basics of Hindi grammar, which is required to understand the related expressions and sentences demonstrating the word use.

The card words are selected thoughtfully and will help serious language learners. Adjectives, and often verbs, are given in pairs of opposites, which is very helpful. And many related words, such as some synonyms, are very useful as well, although many synonyms, such as 3 for "sky" and 4 for "but" can be confusing because there is no way to figure out which ones are more common since it's not clear in which order they are listed. There are some repetitions and redundancies, but, in general, one can expect to learn 3 times more words than given in the card index.

Some expressions are very useful as well, but not as much as the words themselves. The main sentence on the back of each card is simple, but very common in every day use. They also demonstrate the basic use of Hindi tenses. More variety for similar words, such as days of the week, would be beneficial. Most idioms and proverbs have little relevance for a beginner.

Also, most verb cards contain compound verbs, which are extremely common in Hindi, and which meanings in many cases don't differ from those of single verbs. Again, it can be confusing for the beginner to select what to learn and use. And to appreciate this information adequate knowledge of grammar is required.

And, the last, the set certainly emphasises the verb learning, which, along with with the verbal and sentence structure, determines the mastery any language.

So, overall, the set is very useful, for both beginner and intermediate Hindi learners. And I am really looking forward to see Volume II.

As an active learner of Hindi, I find these flashcards to be an excellent source of reference material for practice with words that are relevant to everyday language. My only gripe is that I can't find volume 2!!

These cards are useful to extend your vocabulary, unless you already have a good command of Hindi. They show one main word and 4 related words in each card. There are only two things I don't like.
- The first one is that some times the fourth word is the most sanscritized version of the one you are learning, and that means it is rarely used by Hindi speakers and not worth learning for a beginner.
- The second thing is there are some wrong English transliterations. For instance, the cards show pehla, instead of pahla. This leads you to write the wrong character if you go from English to Hindi (pe instead of pa). People from India really write pehla if they are using English characters, and it sounds more like pe, but the fact that is popular or coincides with the pronunciation does not make it correct and does not help a student. It's just confusing if you are learning to write. I recommend you learn the Hindi script thoroughly before going with these cards, if you can read the Hindi word in the card, you will be able to spot these mistakes, and then the cards will be very useful for you.

I am so glad that the cards mainly use the Hindi script, I get really frustrated trying to learn and being coddled with English approximations for Hindi sounds.

There are so many words here, and each word card has related words to learn. I've just finished learning all the main words, but now I can go back and learn all the associated words.

Many of the cards also have idioms and native phrases that are great to learn.

Every word is put into an example sentence.

I have never seen flashcards so complete with everything you could want.

I really wish they would come out with a Hindi Vol. 2 now!

So far I am absolutely in love with these cards.

They are organized logically, they are clearly written, designed and printed (not always the case with hindi texts), the continuity and they are convenient, and really interlock language into more than a word list or grammar.

Its probably not something that you could learn the language from, since it will be helpful to know what they are doing with the way the sentence gender and tense changes the word endings... But once you have a clue -- at least enough to know to watch for it, this tool will be brilliantly helpful!

Since I can't learn Hindi "Matrix" style, these cards are the next best (inexpensive) thing. They are helpful in building a vocabulary, and with sentence structure. Looking forward to volume 2.

The romanization is different for a significant quantity of letters, more like Spanish than English, so as to make it necessary to frequently refer to the pronunciation guide until memorized. Carrying the prununciation guide defeats two of the benefits (portability and convinience) of 'flash cards'. Still, any serious student, as soon as the character's sounds are mastered, will find these cards a useful tool in building vocabulary. If not for this I would rate this set a four (4).

The magic of learning Hindi appears to be in learning the sounds of the 46 Hindi characters. Romanization of these characters is provided on these cards which makes for quick learning EXCEPT that the romanization rules used on these cards is different that the ones I learned in my North American school. The romanization is more like Spanish than English. Also, the manual lists 51 distinct sounds. This may surprise those expecting only 46 or one for each script.

For example:
- The letter 'a' with a line above is a hard A sound (eh) as in day.
- This system softens that sound to the 'a' sound in father.

- The letter 'u' with a line above is a hard U sound (uuw) as in tube.
- This system softens that sound to the 'oo' sound in book.

- The letter 'i' with a line above is a hard I sound (aye) as is tide.
- This system uses a hard 'e' sound as in feed.

There are 448 cards and each card uses the word in four different phrases or contexts (not just conjugates). This is a definite PLUS in learning grammer, context, etc. The manual is almost as useful as the cards themselves. The manual is divided into lists which are organized by card sequence, Devanagari script and English. Each list gives the card number, Devanagari Script, romanization and english phrase/translation. There is plenty of material to challenge the user and develop proficiency.

The packaging is sturdy and attractive. The printing is clear and crisp and the cards semi-rigid. The overall quality is good but less so that the Vis-Ed Bilingual seris with which I am more familiar. Still, a quality product and a bargain at the price. Don't hesitate to order.

This was a little more than I wanted to spend, but it is a good set of flashcards. If you are the type of learner that benefits from flashcards, you will like the way it has an example of the word in a sentence, Roman alphabet transcription, and 5 related words on the card.