Hari's Corner

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Musings on learning a language

Filed under: Life and Leisure by Hari
Posted on Wed, Aug 22, 2018 at 21:49 IST (last updated: Wed, Aug 22, 2018 @ 21:49 IST)

Grammar and vocabulary are fundamental to learning any language. Recently I have made good progress in learning Hindi, through this excellent book. I don't believe in the popular notion that you can simply learn a language by following television dramas or movies in that language. It's all about context, and simply hearing is not equivalent to listening and understanding.

But I also think that learning a language becomes progressively more difficult as you age, since you need to internalize a lot of stuff that otherwise comes naturally during childhood. Luckily I had some basic grounding in Hindi since my school days, so that process was easier. Also having a solid footing in two languages since childhood makes learning a third language much easier, since you have internalized two different sets of grammar and vocabulary already.  In my case, Tamil grammar rules are closer to their Hindi equivalents which makes my learning smoother. I think learning Hindi through English alone is tougher than through another Indian language.

Now I plan to follow the lessons in this book to solidify my knowledge and eventually become adept at everyday conversation and also reading/writing.

Finally, इसे पढने के लिए बहुत धन्यवाद!

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