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Beginning Hindi is a complete first-year language textbook designed to help learners acquire the language by actively using it in realistic situations. The book and its accompanying audio files–available on the Press website–contain all that is needed to complete one full year of study, including clear explanations of language structures; useful, fun, and engaging activities; and an organizational format that makes it easy to chart student progress. Beginning Hindi parallels the authors' textbook Beginning Urdu and can be used side-by-side with it in classrooms that teach both languages in the same course. This is a fun, engaging, and well-tested approach to learning Hindi.
FEATURES
Develops all four skills—listening, speaking, reading, writing—through a wide range of tasks and activities, including role-plays, games, and short conversations.
Alongside Beginning Urdu, can support parallel instruction of both Hindi and Urdu in a single classroom.
Includes 41 chapters in eight units, organized around functional themes such as home and family, everyday life, the marketplace, personal responsibilities, and travel.
Can be used as a first-year, class-based textbook or a tool for independent study.
Provides a review for each unit that includes review activities, tips for increasing fluency, and sets of questions to help personalize learning.
Introduces grammar in a straightforward and practical way that is integrated with practical uses.
Includes an English-Hindi and Hindi-English glossary
Contains an appendix of advanced grammar.
Includes common idiomatic expressions and proverbs in each unit. A list of Bollywood film songs to go with each unit is also included.
Table of Contents
About Beginning Hindi
How to Use This Book: For Teachers
How to Use This Book: For Students and Independent Learners
About the Hindi Language
The Sound System and Script of Hindi
Part 1: The Sound System of Hindi
Part 2: The Hindi Script
Unit 1: Me and My School
1. Introductions
2. Me and My Classmates
3. My Classroom
4. Describing Classroom Items
5. Giving Commands and Making Requests
6. Unit 1 Review Activities
Unit 2: My Family and My Home
7. Locating Places and Objects
8. Identifying Family Members
9. Describing Family Members
10. My Home, My Belongings
11. Making Comparisons
12. Unit 2 Review Activities
Unit 3: Daily Life
13. My Daily Routine 1
14. My Daily Routine 2
15. Describing Events in Progress
16. Weather and Climate
17. Unit 3 Review Activities
Unit 4: In the Market
18. Expressing Likes, Needs, and Desires
19. Choosing Items and Expressing Measures
20. Discussing Prices
21. Unit 4 Review Activities
Unit 5: My Childhood
22. My Childhood Home
23. Describing One’s Childhood
24. Describing a Scene in the Past
25. Expressions of Time
26. Unit 5 Review Activities
Unit 6: Rules and Responsibilities
27. Rules and Regulations
28. Expressing Compulsion
29. Giving and Following Instructions
30. Unit 6 Review Activities
Unit 7: A Trip to South Asia
31. My Plans
32. My Travel Plans: Definite and Possible
33. Arranging Transportation and Lodging
34. Finding One’s Way
35. Seeking Information for Travel Plans
36. Unit 7 Review Activities
Unit 8: Past Events and Experiences
37. My Weekend
38. Narrating a Story
39. My Experience and Accomplishments
40. At the Doctor
41. Unit 8 Review Activities
Appendix 1: Numbers
Appendix 2: Grammar Supplement
Appendix 3: Additional Informational for Teachers
Glossary
Hindi-English
English-Hindi
Reviews
"Beginning Hindi: A Complete Course is an essential teaching tool containing real-world dialogues, inventive classroom role-plays, and clear grammar lessons. Comprehensive and practical, this much-needed book dynamically incorporates Indian culture and history into the practice of all four language skills—a welcome boon for Hindi students and teachers worldwide."—Jason Grunebaum, senior lecturer in Hindi, University of Chicago
"Beginning Hindi is an outstanding theme-based complete course, in an easy-to-follow style, comprising a series of meticulously arranged and graded units."—Pinderjeet Gill, University of Michigan
"Beginning Hindi is a complete textbook addressing all the four linguistic skills for beginners: speaking, listening, reading and writing. The book is full of culturally appropriate tasks and fun activities for a serious learner. Whether studying Hindi independently or in a classroom, the book builds grammatical accuracy systematically, which is an important facet of higher level of proficiency."—Surendra Gambhir, University of Pennsylvania
About the Author
Joshua Pien teaches Hindi and Urdu at the University of Pennsylvania. Previously he worked as a Hindi-Urdu language specialist at the National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland. He has also taught Hindi at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, and the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Fauzia Farooqui teaches Hindi and Urdu at Princeton University. She has also taught Hindi/Urdu at various other institutions, including the University of Virginia, the Defense Language Institute, University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin, and the American Institute of Indian Studies in Lucknow, India.
