hindi learning resources
Course Books
Teach Yourself Hindi by Rupert Snell
With over 50,000 copies sold, this is the most popular
course book for Hindi as a foreign language. It takes the student from the very
beginnings by introducing the devanagari characters and simple conversational
etiquette, and ends by touching on some of the variations between colloquial
speech and formal writing. The 2000 word vocabulary introduced in the book is
sufficient for everyday conversation, and the dialogues and other examples of
language usage give the student a superb introduction to the colour and warmth
of Hindi. A completely revised edition with new dialogues was published this
summer (2000).
Reference Books
Oxford Hindi-English dictionary by R S McGregor.
An essential dictionary for Hindi students. Its
distinction over many of the Indian publications is the inclusion of Urdu
words, commonly used in colloquial speech, which other dictionaries tend
to ignore in favour of a more formal sanskritised Hindi. The layout and
explanations are very clear, with variations in usage and etymological
references given.
The Advanced Student's English-Hindi Dictionary by
Hardev Bahri
A mammoth book with over a thousand pages of
words given with full translation of idiomatic meanings and phrases. Bahri
has designed the dictionary as a dual-language reference book that can
be equally useful to Hindi-speaking learners of English. Like McGregor,
he refers to words in common everyday usage as well as the higher forms
of both languages found in literature. By showing the meanings of a word
in various contexts, this book is an excellent resource for language usage,
although some of the English idioms belong to the days of the Raj!
Collins Gem Pocket English-Hindi Dictionary
This little yellow gem is the handiest book for
quick reference of English to Hindi translation. Despite its size it contains
more words than Bahri's brick-like book, the limitation of this is that
the Hindi words given often need to be cross-referenced with a Hindi-English
dictionary to make certain of the context. Again Urdu words are found alongside
the sanskrit-derived equivalents.
Sadly out of print in the U.K but a revised edition
is now available in India.
Outline of Hindi Grammar by R S McGregor
This book is also used as a coursebook in some
Universities, giving a comprehensive introduction to Hindi usage with exercises.
Less user-friendly than Teach Yourself, it has been occasionally criticised
for over-burdening the student with grammatical terms. Nevertheless, if
you can overcome (or ignore) the grammar terminology, then Outline provides
many useful examples of Hindi usage not found in other course books.
Hindi for non-Hindi speaking people by Kavita Kumar
This book is not really for beginners of Hindi language,
but as a reference for Hindi usage and grammar it rivals McGregor's Outline
with its superb presentation and clear explanations. Grammatical constructions
are introduced in simple terms and illustrated often by a few example sentences.
A workbook is available to accompany this very useful reference guide to Hindi.
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