Customer Reviews

Teach Yourself Hindi Complete Course

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

 

 

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.

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!

This "Second Edition" of Teach Yourself Hindi is a real improvement over the previous edition. The lessons have been arranged in a more logical manner and the vocabulary is much more up to date. The dialogs are also more current in subject matter. The Grammar is explained in a more concise manner with better examples than the first edition. The Devanagari script is used throughout the book - with the first five lessons being transliterated completely. Which brings us to the only drawback to the book - the script is not covered in any depth. This can be a problem for some beginners. For a more complete study of the writing system the beginner should try the book "Teach Yourself Hindi Script" by the same author. If you get the book with the tapes it is one of the better Hindi resources that is readily available today.

Teach Yourself Hindi is an excellent value book for self teaching of the Hindi Language. Being only a relatively small book it does give lots of examples or have large numbers of excercises. Also, I suspect the size means that the book cannot be structured to make learning easier. So this book requires a concerted effort to get through. It is important to work through each concept until it is understood.

Anyone who does put the effort in this book will give them a comprehensive understanding of the Hindi language. It is however completely unsuitable for somone who wants to learn a few phrases. I highly recomend using this book with the audio CDs as well as other resources that you can get your hads on, from the internet for example, and especially Bollywood movies.

I used this book - in conjunction with Teach Yourself Urdu - as my primary text while studying Hindi and Urdu at Zabaan Language School in New Delhi. I have worked through several language instruction books in both the school setting and on my own, and this book has definitely been the best. When I arrived in India, I didn't know any Hindi or Urdu (only "Namaste"), nor could I read. After working through the book (which took about four months), I was able to communicate with people on the streets at a level I had never expected. I was able to watch Bollywood films and understand about 60 or more percent of the dialogue. The vocabulary and grammar are presented in a way that beautifully matches their frequency on the streets. The progression is beautifully designed, leading the learner on a seamless track to understanding Hindi, with each lesson fitting neatly on top of the previous one.

The presentation itself is wonderful. I have used other Teach Yourself books, but this had the best layout. Each chapter is broken down into two (or three) dialogues. The first dialogue is presented, followed by a vocabulary list, then a brilliantly written description of the new grammar introduced in the dialogue. The second dialogue acts is presented in the middle, followed by its new vocabulary and grammar. At the end of the chapter are amazing exercises (I did every single exercise in this book), and then a full list of the chapter vocabulary. This makes copying and learning the vocabulary much easier than most texts I've worked with.

The dialogues themselves are the stars of the book. Instead of standalone snippets, the book follows the story of a family living in Delhi. This context is not only immensely helpful - as it covers real life day-to-day situations - but it is also immensely entertaining. By the end of the book, I couldn't wait to see what would happen with the story. Moreover, the language they use feels authentic, the patois and tone displayed by characters take on the stereotypical reality of various archetypes. Some - like the "Shudd Hindi"-speaking uncle - are a real (albeit exaggerated) peek into the subtleties of Indian life and politics.

I was learning Urdu concurrently, and though we used a resource for that, as well, this book was our primary text for introducing grammatical concepts. Snell introduces ideas and rules in easy-to-read language that feels comfortable. It never quite seems like a soulless, mechanical instruction manual. Snell really has a voice and personality as a writer that shines even during the most complex grammar discussion. After introducing them in simple language, he manages to delve into the nuances that govern the language - giving you both the hard and fast rules as well as the looser ones that govern everyday writing and speaking.

I will say that the script instruction could be quite difficult on one's own (for pronunciation, a physical teacher is very difficult to replace), but the point at which the book weans the reader off transliteration is perfect and was actually a great help to my progress reading the script. I cannot recommend this book enough if you are planning to learn Hindi (or Urdu, for that matter).

Great guide providing you have outside help as well. Very detailed oriented and not for the traveler who expects to learn a few phrases to get by. This course requires a lot of work.

First off, the main reason I give this book 4 stars instead of 5 is because it is a book. You cannot expect to be able to learn a language just by using books. You simply have to practice communicating with people, listening to conversations, etc in order to actually learn a language.

First, I found the outline to be pretty good. At first, I found some of the vocabulary to be strange. For example, I wondered why one of the first 100 words I should learn would be sandal? However, when I finally made it to India after studying 3 chapters of this book, I found that sandal was one of the top 10 words I used the most. Also, when I was in India, with my Indian friends, I showed them this book and they had no problems with any of the vocabulary, expressions, etc. However, when I showed them my other 2 sources that I used for Hindi, they frequently laughed, so this is a good choice if you want to learn real practical language, instead of rare overly formal expressions.

Another bonus to this book is that it follows an actual story. This might not count for much, but after a few chapters, I was actually interested in what the next scenario would be for the main character, Pratap. Any extra motivation for learning a language is good, especially when you have to learn it from a book.

The other downside to this book, besides the fact that it is a book, is that it really does take time and dedication. Each chapter usually took me at least a couple of ours before I could memorize the vocabulary, do the exercises, etc. And since it is a book, those were long hours too.

In summary, if you want to buy a good book for learning Hindi (other than basic traveler's expressions), then this is a decent option.

There is no cd included with this book...and have not been able to purchase it separately.

The book is very well organised, and I think the structure is well-thought out. I have learnt much because of this book, and I think that it is an excellent book upon which to begin study of Hindi language. The stories also make it somewhaat more cohesive, as well as more interesting. I rate the book highly, as well as the series.

it is ok and grammar point are well explained but i have the assimil as well to complete. Just this one would not be enough.