Namaste class,

There was no Hindi class on Sunday, October 19, however, there was the Divali program that afternoon from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Congratulations to all those who took part in the program! Performing on stage helps you overcome your fears (stage fright) and is an important part in becoming a more confident person.

I understand that the last assignment I gave (to write ten sentences in Hindi on the topic ‘My Family’) was a bit tough, so I am going to list some sample sentences that you can use in your essay. You do not have to use every single sentence. I will give a question, then list multiple sentences to answer that question, so you can choose what best suits you. I will separate each batch of sentences with a line.

Regards,
Vasudev.

Namaste class,

In our Hindi class dated Sunday, October 12, we did not have any homework from the previous week, so we went straight to the next lesson in Hindi Vivek Part One, lesson 10 on page 41. I read and translated the lesson, then called on random students to read.

After this, we covered lesson 7 on page 93 (My Family – मेरा परिवार) of the Hindi Prabhaat Part 1 book. We covered the text up to page 94, and I assigned exercise 1 for homework. The exercise is a comprehension exercise, with the answers being given in the passage that precedes it.

I then gave another homework assignment to complete. This was to write ten sentences on the topic “My Family”, in which you describe your own family. You are to do this homework on loose leaf file pages, so that I can collect and correct them.

An interesting website I came across is Shabdkosh (http://www.shabdkosh.com/). ‘Shabhkosh’ is the Hindi word for dictionary. You can translate from English to Hindi or Hindi to English. When the word is translated into Hindi, you can click a link to pronounce the word in Hindi.

Note also that there will be no class at Gurudev Shiksha Niketan on Sunday, October 19, as there will be a Divali programme there from 2:30 PM to 5:30 PM, and we will have to prepare the venue. I will collect homework on the following week, Sunday, October 26.

Regards,
Vasudev.
p.s. Should you have any questions regarding class or the assignment, feel free to email me.

Namaste class,

In our Hindi class dated Sunday, October 5, we translated the homework from the previous week.

1. Every day, we go to school by bus.
हर दिन हम बस से स्कूल जाते हैं ।

2. Give the pen to Rohan.
रोहन को कलम दो ।

3. The black cat sits on the table.
काली बिल्ली मेज़ पर बैठता है ।

4. Place the tabla in the bag.
बैग में तबला रखो ।

Then we went straight to the next lesson in the Hindi Vivek Part 1, lesson 9 on page 40, where I read and translated the lesson.

After this, wee covered lesson 5 on page 79 (Simple conversation – सरल बातचीत) of the Hindi Prabhaat Part 1 book. We covered the text up to page 81.

I did not assign any homework for the following week, as the bell rang early. However, please review the basic questions and answers covered in class.

Regards,
Vasudev.

Namaste class,

In our Hindi class dated Sunday, September 28, we did not have any homework from the previous week. So we went straight to the next lesson in the Hindi Vivek Part 1, lesson 8 on page 39. After reading and translating the lesson, I called random students to read.

Afterwards, I gave you some sentences to translate from English into Hindi:
1. Every day, we go to school by bus.
2. Give the pen to Rohan.
3. The black cat sits on the table.
4. Place the tabla in the bag.

You may use the following words to translate the sentences above. The rest of words can be found in the text book or using notes from previous classes.

Vocabulary:

Every day – हर दिन
School – स्कूल
Bag – बैग
To place – रखना
To give – देना

For next class, I want to cover the next lesson in the Hindi Vivek Part 1, as well as some some basic conversation from the Hindi Prabhaat Part 1, lesson 5 on page 79 (Simple conversation – सरल बातचीत), so please go through these two lessons for next class.

Regards,
Vasudev.

Bonus: There has been some talk on the Internet about learning a foreign language in as little as three months. Have a look at this article:
How To Learn A Foreign Language In 3 Months

It gives some useful tips that you can apply to help you learn any language faster.

Here is a YouTube video from Benny Lewis, the person quoted in the above article:
TEDxSanAntonio – Benny Lewis – Fluent in Three Months – Rapid Language Hacking

The video is a bit long, about 18 minutes, but it also gives some tips for learning a new language.

Namaste class,

In our Hindi class dated Sunday, September 21, we corrected the homework on the board. I forgot that I had given you some verbs to change to the imperatives. Here are the answers to that exercise:

The second exercise was corrected on the board:

1. किरण, तू गाना गा । किरण, तुम गाना गाओ । किरण जी, आप गाना जाइए ।
2. राज, तू किताब खोल । राज, तुम किताब खोलो । राज जी, आप किताब खोलिए ।
3. राजा, तू अखबार पढ़ । राजा, तुम अखबार पढ़ो । राजा जी, आप अखबार पढ़िए ।
4. कविता, तू चाय पी । कविता, तुम चाय पिओ । कविता जी, आप चाय पीजिए ।
5. रीटा, तू काम कर । रीटा, तुम काम करो । रीटा जी, आप काम कीजिए ।

After correcting the homework, we went to the next lesson of the Hindi Vivek Part 1 book, lesson 7 (पाठ ७) on page 38. I read out the vocabulary and translated the lesson.

Then I went on to prepositions in Hindi. Prepositions are words which show the relationship between two nouns or elements in a sentence. For example, the pen is in my hand, or the book is on the table.

There are five simple postpositions in Hindi:
में – in
पर – on
से – from, with, by
तक – up to, as far as, until
को – to

Prepositions are called ‘post-positions’ in Hindi as they come after noun. Here are some examples:

हाथ में – in the hand
मैदान में – in the field
कमरे में – in the room

मेज पर – on the table
जमीन पर – on the ground
छत पर – on the roof

बस से – by bus
यहाँ से – from here
मुझ से – than me

आज तक – until today
अब तक – until now
डेबे तक – up to/as far as Debe

राम को – to Raam
आप को – to you
शाम को – at evening

Try reading the above sentences aloud so that you can remember them.

The bell rang early, so I did not assign any homework for the week. As I’ve mentioned before, we will need to go through all fifty numbers , so continue reading and learning them, as I will take them up at some point.

Regards,
Vasudev.

Namaste class,

In our Hindi class dated Sunday, September 14, we went straight to the next lesson of the Hindi Vivek Part 1 book, lesson 6 (पाठ ६) on page 37. I read out the vocabulary and translated the lesson, then had various students read.

Next, I gave some exercises from Hindi Prabhaat Book One on the board. From the Imperatives lesson (page 107), I placed some words from exercise one on the board. The object of the lesson was, given the verbs in the left column, fill in the verbs to be used with तू, तुम and आप.

For homework, you are supposed to do exercise two of the lesson.

Here is the example:

मीना, तू हिंदी पढ़ । मीना, तुम हिंदी पढ़ो । मीनाजी, आप हिंदी पढ़िए ।

Following the above model, complete the following sentences for homework:

1. किरण, तू गाना गा
2. राज, तू किताब खोल
3. राजा, तू अखबार पढ़
4. कविता, तू चाय पी
5. रीटा, तू काम कर

I would like to complete the exercises from the Imperatives lesson, to ensure that we all understand it. Then I want to move on to prepositions (prepositions are called ‘postpositions’ in Hindi).

Regards,
Vasudev.

Namaste class,

In our Hindi class dated Sunday, September 7, we first corrected the homework that was given the previous week on the board:

1. तुम गीत गाओ
2. आप वीणा बजाइए
3. तुम शीशा साफ़ करो
4. आप इलायची खाइए
5. तुम नारियल का पानी पिओ

I reviewed forming imperative sentences (orders, instructions or commands). I then read and translated the lesson on page 36 (पाठ ५). Because class ended early, there was no written homework. But you have to continue to write out the next Hindi vocabulary lessons in your text book with translation.

I did not include the imperatives from the board in the last email, so I will list them here:

Remember that the ‘infinitives’ are that form of the verb before it has changed according to number (singular or plural) or gender (masculine or feminine).

Regards,
Vasudev.

Namaste class,

In our Hindi class dated Sunday, August 31, we first corrected the homework that was given the previous week on the board:

1. Rajeev reads the blue book.
राजीव नीली किताब पढ़ता है.

2. Every day, Sudesh plays the sitar.
हर दिन, सुदेश सितार बजाता है.

3. Sharda sings Raag Bahaar.
शारदा राग बहार गाती है.

4. The horse runs in the field.
घोड़ा खेत में दौड़ता है.

I read and translated the lesson on page 35. For homework, you had to change the first five sentences by using a different subject instead of तू:

1. गीत गा (तुम)
2. वीणा बजा (आप)
3. शीशा साफ़ कर (तुम)
4. इलायची खा (आप)
5. नारियल का पानी पी (तुम)

Also, continue writing out the Hindi vocabulary lessons in your text book with translation.

Regards,
Vasudev.

Namaste class,

In our Hindi class dated Sunday, August 24, we went through the lesson on page 34 (पाठ ३). I read and translated the lesson, and gave some sentences to convert from English to Hindi:

1. Rajeev reads the blue book.
2. Every day, Sudesh plays the sitar.
3. Sharda sings Raag Bahaar.
4. The horse runs in the field.

Also, continue writing out the Hindi vocabulary lessons in your text book with translation.

Regards,
Vasudev.