Author: david

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News

Happy New Year 2015!

Happy new year!

Last year, I added about 30 new pages to the site. I also made some significant revisions to certain articles and experimented with a new format (e.g. The Subjunctive Mood).

I decided to delete the Facebook and Twitter accounts for the site. I’m sorry if this disappoints anyone, but I have many reasons for doing so. Facebook’s content syndication strategy only shared my posts with less than 1% of the people who had subscribed to the page on average. Also, very few people participated in the page. Likewise, there were very few “followers” on Twitter, and little engagement. Furthermore, I do not desire to maintain a personal Facebook or Twitter account (or a “dummy” account for the purpose of administration). That’s okay; it just means that these sites are not worthwhile forums for hindilanguage.info.

E-mail subscriptions and Disqus comments are good ways to subscribe to updates and participate in discussions.

As always, I’ll continue to promptly reply to questions.

I hope to continue to improve the quality of the articles on the site. If you have any feedback, let me know.

Categories
English Blog

No Transliterations

I’ve received several requests to add transliterations to this website.

A transliteration is simply a way of writing Hindi words using the English alphabet, e.g. “aap kaise hain?”.

I entertained these requests very seriously, but I have finally concluded that I will not add transliterations.

Now, I reserve the right to change my mind in the future, of course. I take the suggestions and comments of people who use this site seriously, and I appreciate feedback. I spent a lot of time experimenting with code for performing automatic transliteration, and I thought about these issues a lot.  I would like to explain my rationale for the sake of those people who are interested in transliteration.

1. Automatic Transliteration is Difficult

There are thousands of words on this site written in Devanagari. Manually updating every word to include a parallel transliteration is totally impractical. So, the only way to add transliterations is to use automatic transliteration. In other words, I would have to write software that transliterates the Devanagari text on my website.

There are three general approaches to automatic transliteration:

  • Use a unique symbol for each Devanagari symbol
  • Use a rule-based algorithm
  • Use a statistical algorithm

I’ll explain why none of these is really a good option.

Unique Symbols

The simplest approach is to assign a unique symbol to each Devanagari letter. Some transliteration schemes like ITRANS do this. ITRANS has a different purpose though: it is intended to encode Devanagari, but not necessarily to make it highly legible. Consider an example: the city “चंडीगढ़” is typically written “Chandigarh”. In ITRANS, this is written “cha.nDiiga.Dh”; this is not easily legible. It is also aesthetically displeasing; the mixture of capital letters with lowercase letters and intervening symbols like “.” make it look odd. However, this is not meant as a criticism of ITRANS; its goals are different. If I add transliterations to the site, the purpose is to add legible text for people who can’t read Devanagari.

Now, I could simply choose different symbols. However, this will produce confusing transliterations, due to the phenomenon of “schwa deletion” in Hindi, and other factors. For instance, “करना” would be transliterated as “karana” not as “karna”.

Rule Based Approach

The next approach is to use a rule-based algorithm. I wrote such an algorithm, and it actually works pretty well. Here is a small sample:

हालांकि यह निराशा की बात तो है लेकिन आश्चर्य की बात नहीं कि इतने कम विद्यालय हिंदी सिखाते हैं. अंग्रेजी के अलावा अमेरिका में सबसे अधिक बोली जाने वाली भाषा स्पेनिश है, और फ्रेंच भाषा ने अंग्रेजी भाषा पर बहुत प्रभाव डाला है, इस लिए आश्चर्य की बात नहीं है कि ये दो भाषाएं सबसे अधिक सिखाई जाने वाली भाषाएं हैं. अमेरिकन जनता यूरोपीय भाषाओं से जितना परिचित है हिंदी से उतना नहीं.

[hālānki yah nirāshā kī bāt tō hai lēkin āshchary kī bāt nahīn ki itnē kam vidyālay hindī sikhātē hain. angrējī kē alāvā amērikā mēn sabsē adhik bōlī jānē vālī bhāshā spēnish hai, aur frēnch bhāshā nē angrējī bhāshā par bahut prabhāv ḍālā hai, is liē āshchary kī bāt nahīn hai ki yē dō bhāshāēn sabsē adhik sikhāī jānē vālī bhāshāēn hain. amērikan jantā yūrōpīy bhāshāōn sē jitnā parichit hai hindī sē utnā nahīn]

However, I don’t want to use it for several reasons.

First, such algorithms are fairly complex, which means it will be difficult to develop and maintain. Here are some of the tricky details that the algorithm has to deal with:

Schwa Deletion

For instance, the algorithm must determine when to add the default vowel (अ), and when to suppress it. In the word “करना”, people generally do not transliterate the middle vowel, because it is not pronounced. Thus, most people write “karna”. There is a simple rule that can predict this: since there are vowels on both sides, this vowel is suppressed.

However, this rule fails on a word like अर्थव्यवस्था, which is generally transliterated “arthvyavastha”. The rule will suppress the second “a”: “arthvyavstha”. We could modify the rule so that it doesn’t suppress vowels followed by a conjunct. However, this will again produce an undesirable transliteration: “arthavyavastha”. The rule cannot possibly recognize the fact that अर्थव्यवस्था is a compound word, and thus is an exception to the normal rule.

Mismatch of Phonemes

As one example, consider the transliteration of “व”. This is a phoneme in Hindi. In other words, it represents a set of sounds (“w” and “v”), not a single sound. Hindi speakers don’t differentiate these sounds, so it doesn’t matter. But, the English alphabet does differentiate, so what do we do? Defining rules for this case is very tricky too. For instance, we want to write “wala” for वाला, but “vah” for “वह”.

In Hindi, there are four sounds that the English alphabet represents with “t”. Likewise, there are four sounds that the English alphabet represents with “d”. My original idea was to use diacritical marks like dots and lines to distinguish these letters. Thus, “ḍ” for “ड” but “d” for “द”. I would use “h” to represent aspiration, e.g.  “ḍh” for ढ. However, this is not natural (Hindi speakers don’t actually write transliterations this way) and this requires the reader to be familiar with my fairly arbitrary conventions.

Statistical Algorithms

The next type of algorithm uses statistical methods, such as “conditional random fields” or “maximum entropy models” to derive a transliteration scheme from a large parallel corpus of Hindi words and their respective transliterations. Once a model is constructed from the corpus, and algorithm can select the transliteration that has the highest probability of being correct based on certain features of the Hindi word. This is impractical for my purposes, since I don’t have such a corpus, and this is far too much effort; I’m not trying to earn a PhD in natural language processing or artificial intelligence, folks!

Parsing Page Content

The second aspect of automatic transliteration is where to add the transliterations. Here are some options:

  • If the user hovers the mouse over a word, show its transliteration
  • Try to append transliterations of sentences next to the sentences
  • Add an option to transliterate the entire page, replacing Devanagari text

I don’t really like any of these options.

Many users probably won’t realize that a mouseover feature exists, and it doesn’t allow a person to read more than one word at a time.

It is very difficult to delimit sentences that are interspersed with arbitrary HTML content. I would run the risk of corrupting pages if I modify them to include transliterations.

I could transliterate the entire page, but then the user won’t be able to read Devanagari text and transliterations in parallel.

2. Automatic Transliteration Defeats its Own Purpose

What exactly is the goal of an automatic transliteration? Well, I assume that the goal is to enable people who can’t read Devanagari to read and pronounce Hindi text. However, no matter how good the transliteration scheme is, the reader will have to become familiar with Hindi before it makes any sense. How would someone know that “h” represents aspiration and “d” is a dental consonant in “dh”, unless they first learn about Hindi phonetics anyway? If the reader is going to learn about Hindi consonants and vowels, why not just learn Devanagari?

Now, learning how to read transliterated Hindi is a very good thing to do, since most Hindi speakers use it when typing (and even writing) Hindi. But, it is only really legible if you are already familiar with the language.

3. Devanagari is a Nearly Ideal Transcription of the Sounds of Hindi

The Devanagari script represents the sounds of the Hindi language almost perfectly. Each letter represents a distinct sound, with few exceptions. People who are learning Hindi actually have a huge advantage. They can “sound out” almost any word that they read. Contrast this with learning how to pronounce English words!

4. I Want to Encourage People to Learn Devanagari

By only writing in Devanagari, I encourage people to learn it. I have provided some good resources for learning Devanagari on this site. I encourage people to learn it first.

Now, I realize that different people have different goals. A person might want to learn a few phrases without investing the effort to learn Devanagari. However, I cannot accommodate everyone on my site.

5. There Are Tools Like “Google Translate”

Google Translate will produce transliterations and back-transliterations. You can use it to hear the pronunciation of words too. People can use this tool while learning Hindi.

6. Automatic Transliterations Won’t Be Natural

Automatic transliterations (except those produced by a statistical algorithm) are not “natural”, i.e. Hindi speakers don’t actually write that way.

In summary, I have seriously entertained the idea of adding transliterations, but I ultimately decided that I will not add them.

Categories
English Blog

How To Learn Hindi

Recently, I’ve met several non-natives who speak English very well. I asked them how they learned English so well, and, interestingly, every one of them had the same response:

“I watched a lot of television and movies”.

Their consistent testimony suggests that input is the key to language learning. This is no secret; many people regard input as the most fundamental aspect of language acquisition.

This website has a wealth of information that is very useful to Hindi learners, but you won’t learn Hindi just by studying Hindi; you need a lot of input and a lot of practice. This website is a great tool, but you need more to understand Hindi well.

Input

“Input” simply refers to the activity of reading Hindi and listening to Hindi. You need a LOT of input if you want to learn Hindi well. This is the most important aspect of learning Hindi; to learn Hindi well, you need a TON of input. It is not possible to say how much a person needs, but if you really want to learn Hindi well, then it will probably take several years worth of consistent daily input.

Reading

For reading, I suggest news websites like BBC Hindi. BBC Hindi has a good mixture of writing styles and content. There are other online Hindi news sites, such as Aaj Tak and Jagran, but they contain a lot of tabloid journalism and annoying advertisements. For the purpose of language learning, though, it doesn’t matter, as long as you can find some interesting content. You can also read blogs for less formal, more colloquial Hindi. It’s a good idea to vary the content so that your input isn’t too biased. I try to read at least 10 news articles every day, but there’s no reason to set an arbitrary goal like “10 per day”; try to enjoy the process of getting input. You won’t get “burned out”, and you’ll, well, enjoy it! I read articles that seem interesting, such as science and technology articles, foreign affairs, entertainment news, blogs, etc. I also like to read printed material too. I read Hindi short stories, books, and other material.

When reading, sometimes I am intentional, and sometimes I am not. I just do whatever I feel like doing. If I want to stop and look up a word in a dictionary, I do; otherwise, I ignore it. If I want to re-read a sentence, I do; otherwise, I just keep going. If I want to analyze the grammar, I do; but, often, I just try to read continuously and enjoy the content. Developing the skill to notice things in context is very useful for a language learner.

In my experience, I’ve learned a lot of words, grammar, and idioms just by reading. In the beginning, reading was laborious, but over time my speed has improved greatly. Don’t get discouraged, just keep reading!

Listening

Fortunately, the Hindi film and television industry is prolific, so there’s no shortage of material! There are many movies and television series available in Hindi. I usually try to watch at least one hour of Hindi television each day. It’s a good excuse to watch T.V.! I prefer T.V. to movies generally, since the show becomes familiar and this familiarity makes it easier to learn. Repeating the same content can be beneficial; watching the same T.V. show or movie multiple times is fine, as long as you don’t get bored and as long as you are still learning. You can watch television shows on YouTube. Some Indian television networks have official YouTube channels, such as Star Classics, SAB TV, or Zee TV.

You’ll learn a lot of grammar and vocabulary just by listening and reading. You’ll eventually notice that you know new grammatical constructions and new vocabulary, and you might not even remember how you learned it!

Getting Started

But, how does an absolute beginner get started? It is very important that the input that you receive is comprehensible. If you understand little or nothing of the input, then you probably will not benefit from it. I studied grammar and vocabulary first, then I began to get a lot of input. In other words, I started with a little understanding from studying, the input increased my understanding, then I could understand more of the input, which increased my understanding even more, then I could understand more input… this process continues, and understanding gradually accelerates. It’s a “snowball” effect.

Transcripts can be useful for a beginner or intermediate learner too. I’ve created a few transcripts on this site. The learner can read the transcript while listening to the audio recording. Creating transcripts is good practice for more advanced learners, but it is a very tedious process.

Output

“Output” refers to speaking and writing Hindi. You will need a lot of input before you can produce any output. You can begin speaking whenever you feel the desire to speak.

It is important to practice with a native speaker. Practicing with non-native speakers can be harmful, since they can’t properly validate your output, and you might acquire some bad habits.

You can begin by writing. Chat programs are a good way to practice initially. You have more time to compose sentences, and you can be certain about what the other person is saying since you have a transcript right in front of you! I often “chat” on IM programs with family members and friends in Hindi.

Speaking will be very difficult for most people. It will be awkward, frustrating, and embarrassing. You will struggle. You simply have to persevere. Eventually, you will learn to speak if you practice enough. Most natives will be very kind and encouraging toward your efforts; however, they will probably overwhelm you in conversation, and they will often be impatient, supplying translations rather than waiting for your response, etc. It is a common experience for an American to hear a foreigner speaking English, but it is a very rare experience for an Indian to hear a foreigner speaking Hindi. As a result, you will become a spectacle. This can be quite embarrassing, but, it is only because they are so fascinated. Don’t get discouraged; keep going! Eventually, you will have to endure the struggle of beginning to speak, but you don’t have to do anything until you are ready.

Vocabulary

Many people like SRS systems like Anki for vocabulary. I also think they are a good way to create a catalog of words and to review them. I personally don’t like to use them, however. I prefer to acquire vocabulary naturally. Learning vocabulary and grammar naturally is better than staring at flash cards. You will learn how to use words in context rather than just a gloss for the word. Knowing a translation for a word doesn’t tell you how to use it, although cleverly designed flashcards could overcome some of these limitations. The experience is much more vivid with multimedia too, which makes it easier to remember.

Summary

So, in summary, if you want to learn Hindi really well, get copious amounts of input by reading, watching T.V., listening to podcasts, etc., and when you are ready, practice speaking a lot with native speakers.

Really, there is no single “right” way to learn Hindi. If something works for you, then keep doing it. However, certain general principles apply to everyone; everyone will need lots of exposure (input) to the language in order to learn it properly.

My Mistakes

I’ve made a few mistakes in language learning:

First, I simply assumed that learning a foreign language well as an adult is not a practical goal. I now am convinced that this is false. As a result of this attitude, I didn’t make a serious effort to learn. I am fascinated by language, so I studied Hindi, but study doesn’t always result in ability.

Second, I studied too much. I came from a background where I studied grammar intensely. I studied classical/koine Greek, which is taught grammatically, since the goal is to read texts and analyze them. Thus, when I started to learn Hindi, I applied the same techniques of intense grammar analysis. Of course, language is a skill; I don’t regret learning grammar; I have an analytical mind, and I enjoy analyzing grammar. However, skill is only acquired through practice and experience.

Lastly, I didn’t get enough input. It was frustrating in the beginning since I understood very little. This was discouraging, so I didn’t listen to enough Hindi. I didn’t understand the importance of input. But, despite all of this, I did listen to a fair amount of Hindi, and eventually I understood more and more. It took me a while to realize how effective input is. Now I realize how helpful input has been, and I intend to get a lot more of it! I want the majority of my effort to be based on input.

So, my learning experience has been inefficient, but, now that I understand my mistakes, I will correct them.

I’m proud of what I’ve learned so far, but I am not satisfied. I am able to understand spoken Hindi well enough to transcribe entire podcasts and T.V. episodes word for word, but I still struggle to understand spoken Hindi sometimes. I can write Hindi well in blog posts, etc. I can speak Hindi, but I am diffident, which will only improve with practice.

I still have a lot to learn. Learning a language isn’t a goal, per se, but a process.

My personal goal for the upcoming year is to get a lot of input and to practice speaking with my wife very consistently. I’m confident that, if I am diligent, I can dramatically improve my ability over the next year.

I hope this will help you to learn Hindi. If you’d like, share your experience with learning Hindi.

Categories
News

Happy New Year 2014!

Happy new year!

I was very productive in 2013. I added 119 pages to the site.

The site received 193,837 page views, 134,790 visits, 3,696,995 hits, with an average of 531 page views per day, and a maximum of 925 page views per day. The Facebook page now has 11,120 “likes”.

The site now has 275 pages/posts.

Over a year ago, I posted a list of plans for 2013. Fortunately, I accomplished most of these plans:

  • I added a new “lessons” feature, with 5 lessons, including audio recordings
  • I greatly increased the content – more than 119 new posts/pages!
  • I improved the format of the Q&A section, and added a few more pages to it
  • I added a lot of “notes”
  • I revised a few of the grammar articles (such as the subjunctive mood)
  • Every new article in 2013 was proofread by a native Hindi speaker; the majority of the content on the site has been checked. There are surely still some errors, but I take accuracy very seriously.
  • Added a little more content about Devanagari – one lesson, and an article about typing Devanagari
  • I added a lot of audio recordings within the lessons
  • I added a few reviews of websites related to Hindi
  • I added the overview page to summarize the site’s content
  • I updated the about page with more information about myself and the site
  • I added several new links
  • I started the indexes section, and added information about family relationships, including a diagram
  • I added several transcripts of Hindi T.V. shows
  • I started a Hindi blog, with several posts
  • I started an English blog
  • I posted a lot of content on Facebook

This would not have happened without the support of Aeterna Studio, who implemented the technical side of many of these features. Thanks, Aeterna!

I’m happy with these accomplishments. The site has a lot of information now, and is fairly comprehensive. I’m glad that I’ve documented Hindi grammar and created a great reference.

I’d like to thank Kateryna, Dorothea, Tim, Michael, and especially Andrei. Thank you very much for your participation and support!

So, what are the plans for 2014?

I think in 2014 I will try to improve the content of the existing articles rather than to add new content. You can read about the new format of grammar articles here.

On the technical side of things, better SEO would be nice.

However, my main goal for 2014 is to focus on my own personal goals for learning Hindi much more intensely. I might blog about my experience and give tips for learning Hindi.

Happy new year!

Categories
News

New Grammar Article Format

I have created a new format for the grammar articles. So far, I’ve converted one page to the new format: The Subjunctive Mood. Look at the page to see the new features.

Some important features include:

  • A table of contents at the beginning of the article with hyperlinks for navigation
  • A hierarchical organization
  • An introductory section with examples, including examples that a person might have encountered, such as movie titles, airport announcements, sentences from signs, common expressions, etc.
  • Color-coded boxes for examples, definitions, forms, and important notes.
  • The parts of each example sentence that are relevant to the topic are highlighted in bold
  • Color coding to show how words inflect
  • More tables, including master tables
  • LOTS of examples
  • A section that compares English grammar, with examples
Categories
Hindi Blog

बहुभाषी बच्चों का पालन-पोषण करना

मेरा एक बच्चा है, श्लोक, और मेरा और मेरी पत्नी का मंशा है कि हम और बच्चे पैदा करें.

मेरे लिए बहुत महत्वपूर्ण है कि मेरे सब बच्चे हिंदी सीखें. मैं चाहता हूं कि वे अपनी माता और अपने परिवार से हिंदी में बात करने के सक्षम हों. मैं चाहता हूं कि वे अपनी माता और उसकी संस्कृति को बेहतर ढंग से समझ सकें. मैं नहीं चाहता कि उन्हें बड़े होकर कुछ अफ़सोस होगा. कई लोग बहुत समय दूसरी भाषा सिखने में बिताते हैं; ऐसे लोग चाहते होंगे कि उन्हें ऐसा अवसर मिला होता. मेरे बच्चों को यह अवसर है, जो मैं नहीं चाहता कि गंवाया जाए. बहुभाषी होने का बहुत लाभ होता है. आखिर कौन अज्ञानता को ज्ञान से अच्छी समझेगा?

लेकिन लगता है कि यह लक्ष्य हासिल करना काफी कठिन साबित हो सकता है, क्यूंकि मैं ऐसे बहुत लोगों को जानता हूं जो एक से अधिक भाषाएं बोलते हों, जिनके बच्चे हों, और अपने देश से बाहर रहते हों, और उनका बयान है कि उनके अनुभव में उनके बच्चे स्थानीय भाषा में बात करना अधिक पसंद करते हैं. मैं बहुत अमेरिका में रहने वाले भारतीय लोगों को जानता हूं, जिनके बच्चे यहीं पैदा हुए, और उनके बच्चे सामान्य तौर पर सिर्फ अंग्रेजी बोलते हैं. लेकिन, ऐसे बच्चों में से कोई हिंदी बोलते हैं (या दूसरे भारतीय भाषाएं). तो अंतर क्या है?

इस विषय पर बहुत लेख और किताबें लिखी गई हैं, लेकिन अनुभव सिद्धांत से ज़यादा उपयोगी होता है. क्या आपको ऐसी परिस्थितियों में बच्चे पालने का अनुभव है? अगर आप कुछ सलाह दे सकते हैं, तो दीजिए.

Categories
News

New Comment Options

In order to make commenting more convenient, I have enabled e-mail comments (i.e. commenting with an e-mail address and nickname) and guest comments in the Disqus comment system on the site.

Categories
News

New Feature: Lessons

The first few lessons are now available. I have published 4 lessons so far: an introduction to Devanagari, a lesson about Devanagari vowels, a lesson about velar consonants, and lesson about Hindi nouns.

I am writing drafts for other lessons. I will continue to tweak the format of the lessons that I have published.

Categories
Hindi Blog

आखिर हिन्दी में दिलचस्पी की कमी क्यों

जैसे मैंने पहले भी कहा है, हालांकि हिन्दी दुनिया की सबसे अधिक बोली और समझी जाने वाली भाषाओं में से एक है, पर इस भाषा में दुनिया भर में बहुत दिलचस्पी नहीं है. मेरे जैसे उन लोगों के लिए यह निराशा की बात तो है जिन्हें हिन्दी में दिलचस्पी है, लेकिन बड़ी आश्चर्य की बात नहीं है. हिन्दी की तुलना में लोग अधिकतर यूरोपीय भाषाओं से अधिक परिचित होते हैं.

हालांकि, लोग दुनियाभर में भारतीय संस्कृति से परिचित हैं. योग, बॉलीवुड, हिन्दुस्तानी खाना, और हिन्दू धर्म भी बहुत लोकप्रिय है. लेकिन इन सब वस्तुओं के प्रति दिलचस्पी होने के बावजूद, जनता की हिन्दी के प्रति दिलचस्पी नहीं बढ़ी है. संस्कृति में दिलचस्पी भाषा में दिलचस्पी अब तक प्रोत्साहित नहीं कर पाई है.

अमेरिका में जनता हिन्दी के बारे में अनजान है. लोग अक्सर मुझसे पूछते हैं कि क्या आपकी बीवी ‘हिन्दू’ बोलती है.

मेरे अनुभव में जिन लोगों की हिन्दी में दिलचस्पी होती है, उनकी दिलचस्पी बहुत अगंभीर होती है. दरअसल ऐसे लोगों की बॉलीवुड या योग आदि में दिलचस्पी है. वे ‘नमस्ते’ के अलावा कुछ नहीं सीखना चाहते.

लेकिन ऐसे लोगों की आलोचना करने की मंशा से मैं ये सब बातें नहीं लिख रहा हूं. मुझे बस थोड़ी निराशा हुई क्यूंकि मैंने हिंदी सिखाने का बहुत प्रयास किया है पर कम लोगों ने मेरे प्रयास पर ध्यान दिया है, जबकि दूसरी वेबसाइटें जिन्होंने इतना प्रयास नहीं किया है, उन्हें बहुत ध्यान मिला है. जब मैंने कारण सोचा, तो मुझे यह पता चला कि इसका कारन यह होगा कि मेरी वेबसाइट दूसरी वेबसाइटों की अपेक्षा अधिक गंभीर है, और अधिकतर लोगों की ऐसी गंभीरता में कोई रूचि नहीं है.

इस वेबसाइट पर सब लोगों का स्वागत है, उनकी हिंदी में दिलचस्पी चाहे कितनी भी क्यों न हो.

लेकिन काश कि और लोगों की हिंदी में गंभीर रूचि होती.

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hindilanguage.info is two years old!

hindilanguage.info is now two years old! I created this site on April 3rd, 2011. Here’s an image of the original site:

old-site

When I began to study Hindi, I was disappointed to discover that there is very little information about this language online. Thus, I decided to make a website dedicated to providing information about the Hindi language. Originally, I created a grammar reference. I wanted to provide a comprehensive grammar reference for the Hindi language. By the end of 2011, I had written over 90 articles about Hindi grammar.

In 2012, Aeterna Studio began creating a new site design.

Now, in 2013, the site has expanded beyond its original intent. I’ve added “notes”, lessons, vocabulary, a blog, and even more features.

I look forward to many new additions.