Should I Learn To Read And Write In Devanagari Language, Or Learn To Speak Hindi 1st?

by admin on December 21, 2009

I’m very passionate about learning Hindi. As of right now, my Hindi is minimal but I am gradually learning and understanding basic sentences. I think that if I were to learn how to speak Hindi first, it would be much easier for me to transition into learning how to read and write Devanagari (Hindi) language. So, what do you guys think….am I headed the right way, or should I try learning how to read and write first?

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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

purdylad December 21, 2009 at 3:34 pm

probably better to speak. here’s my argument: my family’s half indian and when in public its very handy to understand hindi to speak to your family and friends…also, you’ll be able to understand indian movies….i mean honestly, i have no freaking clue how to read or write hindi and neither does most of my family…i think my grandparents and great aunts and uncles, etc. are the only ones who know how to read and write it, and that’s because they learned it growing up in india….the rest of us will never need to read or write it, but speaking and understanding will be VERY VERY VERY useful trust me….in the long run, are you going to be writing and reading notes in hindi, or wanting to listen to movies and songs and people talking? im not saying learning how to read and write it isn’t useful, but speaking and understanding should definitely come first. besides, it will help you learn to read and write beacuse you’re not going to be able to understand what the heck you’re writing and reading means!

hjgfjhgf December 21, 2009 at 4:00 pm

It depends on what your goal is. For conversational Hindi only, you can probably get by with listening and imitating the words. But if you want to be able to read and understand even simple children’s books in Hindi, you will need to read and write in the script as well. The script is very easy to learn actually.
To compose your own sentences though, you need to have a basic understanding of Hindi grammar. I would get the book Teach Yourself Beginner’s Hindi by Rupert Snell as a reference. You can read the Hindi in Roman script in that book and not have to worry about the script for a long time.

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