17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Adequate book if you're willing to invest the time, April 20, 2006
This review is from: Teach Yourself Hindi Complete Course (Paperback)
Of the few books that are available to anyone who is interested in learning Hindi on their own, this is probably one of the better books on the market. Though there are things that I like about the book, there are just as many things that I feel could be improved upon. Here are the main points why I think this book is better than most:
1) The explantions are clear as long as you understand most of the basic elements of language (i.e. subject, object, verb, noun, pronoun, adverb, etc.), and the different tenses (i.e. present, subjunctive, past, future, perfective, etc.)
2) In most cases, the book gives sufficient examples to explain any particular grammatical point.
3) The dialogues are available on CDs, which are much more convenient than cassette tapes.
4) It is well structured and easy to follow, which makes it just as handy as a reference.
5) It includes a very useful appendix and glossary, and every chapter has "test" exercises at the end of the chapter with an answer key in the back of the book.
There are things about the book that annoy me as well, such as:
1) The lesson order of the book. You aren't introduced to verbs or the Hindi sentence structure until a bit later in the book, where it seemed to me that it should have been introduced much earlier.
2) Word grouping does not seem to exist in this book. That is, rather than introduce the vocabulary for clothes, colors, and parts of the body in the same lesson (which is helpful for memorization and associating words with one another), you might learn the word for 'face' in one chapter and the word for 'eye' in another.
3) In order to reinforce any newly acquired knowledge, the book should have exercises after each section rather than just at the end of each chapter. By the time I finished a chapter, I had sometimes forgotten what I had learned in the beginning.
4) The CDs should have gone over the dialogues line-by-line at a slow pace at first, then repeat them at a normal conversational pace. There are points in some of the dialogues where it is hard to decipher one word from the next, and other points where the dialogues seemed choppy and unnatural. Additionally, the CDs would go over some (but not all) of the answers to the end-of-chapter questions. I thought it would be better if they had made a seperate disc for all of the answers, and focused on pronunciation exercises and/or listen-and- respond type exercises.
Overall, if you're willing to dedicate 2 hours a day for six months or so, then you're likely to be successful at having an intermediate knowledge of Hindi. One word of caution: DO TAKE THE TIME IN THE BEGINNING TO LEARN THE DEVANAGARI SCRIPT. It will pay off very quickly. If you do not, you can not proceed past Chapter 5.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If the will is there, you will speak Hindi, March 16, 2004
This review is from: Teach Yourself Hindi Complete Course (Paperback)
Before opening this book, I wouldn't believe you could learn a language from a book. But the authors have done an amazing job of simplifying the language, breaking it down into the basic elements and conveying it all to the reader. Three factors make this book exceptional:
Structure: every chapter in the book is built on the ones preceding it. Initially it is frustrating, because verbs, the cornerstone of any language, are not introduced until chapter 5. But the preparations are essential.
Exercises: the exercises at the end of each chapter cover and reiterate the important aspects and stress translations in a sentence-context. All the answers are provided at the end of the book.
Size: The book is small enough to travel with. The information in the book is very concise, but very detailed. Make sure to read and re-read every sentence starting with the introduction, as you may miss important points.
Hindi is not a difficult language, conjugations are straightforward and unusual verbs are few. After two months of studying for about an hour a day I was able to converse with Indians, albeit in very basic Hindi, but certainly get my meaning across and understand theirs. Most all Indians were very keen on taking the time to listen to me and speak slowly, especially the ones who spoke little English and found it a rare opportunity to communicate with a foreigner. If you're willing to invest your time, this book will indeed teach you Hindi!
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