Hindi Syllables

Hindi is the national language of India. It is derived from Sanskrit, the oldest of all living languages. It is written in Devanagari script and has a rich literary heritage. Many universities offer courses in Hindi language and literature. Although 90% Indians can speak and understand Hindi, surprisingly over 70% can't read or write it. Very few self learning books are available. This is the first serious attempt to make a live Hindi teacher available to learners 24 hours a day. The medium of instructions is English and approach is so innovative that it will meet  needs of Indians and foreigners alike.

Hindi is written in Devanagri script (lipee), originally borrowed from Sanskrit, mother of all Indian languages (bhasha). As many world languages have also borrowed or adopted words (shabd) from Sanskrit, learning Hindi is relatively easy for most people. English language has 5 vowels and 21 consonants. Hindi has 12 vowels (suwr) and 39 consonants  (viyanjan). The first two chapters will introduce you to these vowels and consonants. This will be followed by key to pronunciation and phonetic symbols. Remember - Hindi is a phonetic language. Unlike English, where you have to memorize spelling of each word, Hindi is written as it is spoken. Your initial work and patience at learning Hindi’s extra alphabets (varan) will help you speak, read and write very easily. Young learners should be encouraged to visit these pages frequently for practice. You should also consult these pages before starting to write (type) in Hindi.

Vowels on the next flash presentation are interactive. By mousing over each vowel you will be able to see its corresponding Roman character as well as an example of how it is used in Hindi. By pressing mouse button you will also hear the way it is spoken. Familiarize yourself with pronunciation of each vowel and try to produce each sound repeatedly so that you will be able to speak subsequent words and sentences correctly.